1998 Merc 90 HP Lower Unit Shaft

[DonSSDD]

I had a shop replace my lower unit seals and when I went to reinstall it, it was locked in the forward gear. It started in forward and stayed there no matter where I moved the shifter.

I took out this shaft: http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL164/2040090/3952594/409722538.jpg

How do I fit it back in the lower unit?

Thanks,

Don

 

[racerone]

It was a simple job before you removed that shaft.-------Lower unit must be in the same gear as the control box when assembling.---Usually forward works best.----They tend to go into forward gear when you are not looking and the control is still in nuetral.

 

[DonSSDD]

I took the shaft out because it wouldn't shift gears, when I turned the shaft, it moved about 1/2 turn with no resistance. Down the hole the shaft fits into, I can't see where it would fit in, no "female" gears or if they are there, they are stripped.

 

[Texasmark]

I have a '02 of that engine. The spline sticking up from the LU has 6 splines as I remember, sex male. The female the same on the shaft inside the mid section. The shifter, inside the lower unit, is a twist 3 position detent cam with a pointed cam follower on the prop shaft. To shift between the 3 gears, there are 3 distinct meshes of the follower in the cam cavities. If you can't feel that then something is wrong.

Mark

 

[racerone]

Simple ------If it shifted fine before the work was done there is nothing wrong with the parts.------------------It was assembled wrong.-------You must verify the shifter and lower unit are in the same gear when assembling !!!!

 

[DonSSDD]

Thanks for the help, I've had the LU off several times before with no issues, sounds like a cam you mention is messed up.