Mercury 3.0 Lower Unit Reverse Gear Backlash

[sbd9902]

Hello,

I have a 1998 Mercury 225XL 3.0 Carb Model. I am rebuilding the lower unit. I have the pinion depth set at .025". The forward gear backlash is set at .018". I am coming up with .054" for the reverse gear backlash. Just outside of the .030"-.050" range that it calls for. I know it says that the reverse lash is not adjustable. But just to see, I installed a .020" shim between the reverse gear and the large ball bearing in the carrier housing. That brought the backlash down to .034", within the range. My questions are: Is this acceptable to do? What would be the ramifications of doing this? Should I also take .020" off of the thrust spacer to keep the spacing there the same? Or would I be ok just running the .054"? All gears and bearings are new Mercury OEM parts.


Thanks in advance,


Sean

 

[Faztbullet]

Run it at .054.....Next time don't waste your money, buy a SEI unit. Unless you got the parts at a steal you could have bought one(3 yr warranty too)

 

[sbd9902]

Yeah, I was getting close to the price of an SEI unit. But it turned out to be a good father/son project so it was worth it.

Thank you for the response.