Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

I'm trying to reinstall my Alpha One Gen II outdrive after a transom rebuild. I've been following the manual and I watched achris' excellent video on Youtube.

My problem is that I cannot get the shift shaft coupler to line up straight fore and aft when the shifter is in forward; at best, it's about 15-20 degrees off. The shift shaft lever at the top of the shift shaft seems to be hitting the square fixture on the end of the shift cable.

I'm not sure if I need to adjust the shift cable, or if I'm doing something else wrong. I did reassemble the shift cables in pretty much the same way they came off before the transom was replaced.

Is this a basic shift cable adjustment? Most of the instructions for adjusting it seem to assume the drive is already on. I haven't found any instructions for adjusting it just so I can get the drive back on...

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Jim

Re: Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

should be like this when the slide is more to the aft position. this pic has it in neutral not foward.

Re: Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

This is what mine looks like with the shifter in forward:



Here's a view of the shift shaft coupler from below:



Not sure why it won't line up correctly...

Re: Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

Is that shift slide upside down? The two arms of the slide should be on top and capture the small wheel on the underside of the upper shift shaft lever. Just doesn't look right.

Re: Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

stonyloam said:

Is that shift slide upside down? The two arms of the slide should be on top and capture the small wheel on the underside of the upper shift shaft lever. Just doesn't look right.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what looks to be the problem.

Re: Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

Did you have the aluminum arm off? I've assembled it 90* out before, won't let you get the outdrive on...

Re: Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

It IS upside down! It must have happened when I had the gimbal housing off the boat while I was replacing the transom core and the decks.

Can I just disconnect the other end of the cable (where it attaches to the shift assembly on the engine) and turn the cable and shift slide 180 degrees?

Jim

Re: Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

JASinIL2006 said:

It IS upside down! It must have happened when I had the gimbal housing off the boat while I was replacing the transom core and the decks.

Can I just disconnect the other end of the cable (where it attaches to the shift assembly on the engine) and turn the cable and shift slide 180 degrees?

Click to expand...

Read chris's note above, the slide should be free to rotate on the cable. If you put the control in forward the slide will move aft and you may have enough room to just turn it over. Make sure it is all well lubed. Good luck.

Re: Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

OK, I'll give it a try when I get home.

Thanks!
Jim

Re: Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

JASinIL2006 said:

It IS upside down! It must have happened when I had the gimbal housing off the boat while I was replacing the transom core and the decks.

Can I just disconnect the other end of the cable (where it attaches to the shift assembly on the engine) and turn the cable and shift slide 180 degrees?

Jim

Click to expand...

Ayuh,... That piece swivels/ rotates, independent of the cable core...

Like Stony says, shift it to Forward, 'n there's plenty of space to spin it over...

Re: Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

It worked! That's all that was wrong; somehow the shift slide assembly just got turned over. After spinning it around and lining up the stub on the shift shaft lever, everything looks like it should!

Thanks guys! You saved the day! Now it's time to watch achris' video once more on installing the outdrive...

Jim

Re: Shift shaft coupler not lining up correctly for re-install of outdrive

Drive is on and torqued down! Wasn't too bad at all. Thanks again for the help, guys!

Jim