I recently acquired a boat with a Suzuki DT85 outboard (poss. 1983, but not sure), and as it hasn't been run in many many years I decided to check out the water pump to see if it needed replacement, which it does. Not knowing exactly what I was doing when I removed the lower unit, I pulled the shifting rod (clutch rod, proper term?) out of the gear case and now can't get it to go all the way back in, it seems to be about a 1/4th inch too high, so the seal on the rod wont seat properly. With the rod being out of position, the prop only spins in what would be forward motion when the shaft is turned by hand clockwise. I can't get the gears to change into what would be neutral or reverse. I would really rather not have to take all the gears out if there is any way to fix this without doing so. If the gears need to come out and I decide to take it to a local boat mechanic in Southern California, about how much should I expect to pay for labor assuming all the parts are fine?
Thanks!
Thanks!