Mercury blueband 65hp lower unit removal

Hi guys, im fairly new to the boating scene (and forums) and i appologise if this is a silly question, but;

I have just picked up a blueband mercury 6s (650 thunderbolt) which has not been run for 12 months.
I rewired it all and checked over everything (fixed some minor issues) cranked it over (had to belt the starter several times lol) and she turned over and over, then fired and basically runs very well, but is not pumping water (atleast not coming from the pee hole)

So ive proceeded to remove the lower unit to check out the impellor and for the life of me it just will not come out. Ive loosened all the bolts as per a diagram ive found it has slightly come apart but now seems to be stuck.

I have a feeling it could be the gear shifter rod but i cannot find anywhere to disconnect it from? Keen to get the boat on the water tommorrow so any help would be much appreciated ;-)

Re: Mercury blueband 65hp lower unit removal

Did you get the one under the trim tab?

Oh, and what year is it?

Re: Mercury blueband 65hp lower unit removal

Yea i got the one under the tab, im unsure of exact year i am yet to find a serial number, any hints on where i may find it?

Cheers for the reply

Re: Mercury blueband 65hp lower unit removal

It should be on the transom clamp facing the front of the boat.

Re: Mercury blueband 65hp lower unit removal

My merc blue band 650 has it on the passenger side front of the transom clamp, basically above the LH clamp screw and on the RH side of the power head near the top rear corner. I've read that one should be on a dime sized plate on or near the carb

Re: Mercury blueband 65hp lower unit removal

A guy had a similar problem on a similar engine, age and hp, just a few days, maybe a week ago. Back track through this forum and find it. He got his loose and told how. And yes the shift linkage may be the smoking gun.

Mark