What did I miss? Merc 650 lower unit installation

Replaced the impeller on my Mercury 650 today. When I went to fire it up the motor it was stuck in forward gear.

I followed my manuals instructions regarding the orientation on the reverse gear cam but it said nothing about having the lower unit in neutral.

Do I understand this correctly that I should have had both the lower unit and the gear selector in neutral when reinstalling the lower unit?

I am guessing that was my mistake.

Now I rotated the gear selector several times but never felt any sort of gear shifting. Should I have been rotating the drive shaft or propeller at the same time to feel the gear changing? How do I shift the lower unit into neutral?

Re: What did I miss? Merc 650 lower unit installation

Done this a few times myself. On the lower unit, behind the driveshaft there is a small splined shaft. That is the gear selector. Grasp it with pliers..(careful here..don't mark up the shaft with the pliers). It will turn clockwise & anti-clockwise with the pliers. You will feel 2 indents..(it only turns a little between the indents, so don't force it). As you can see, the centre position will be neutral. Prove this by turning the prop both directions by hand, it should move freely with no drag. If there is drag in either direction, you are in gear. After you have found neutral, be sure the control lever is in the neutral position and you're good to go. Careful not to move that little shaft when trying to slip the lower unit back in place.
Hope this helps.

Re: What did I miss? Merc 650 lower unit installation

I'm in the same position as we speak. I'm doing a 'dry fit' on the linkage before I even put the new pump in.
The Seloc Manual says to have the high point of the cam facing the front of the gear case when it is in nuetral. I've tried several positions and finally got things to mesh by having the shifer in fwd. and the cam rotated one notch clockwise. It seems to shift but sounds a little 'clacky'. Prop shaft rotates clockwise in fwd., both directions in Neutral, and is solid in reverse. If I rotate the flywheel the prop shaft moves in the correct direction. All that being said, I'm still doubting myself. Any tips are appreciated.

Re: What did I miss? Merc 650 lower unit installation

I did a little searching here and found a solution.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=284851

Smooth as silk now