'85 115 Johnson drive shaft play

[surrender]

Changing seals and noticed that when I turn turn the drive shaft in forward,reverse or neutral, if Iam pushing down(in towards the pinion gear, not side to side) there is a slight noise and rubbing or bumping feeling. If i pull out on the shaft everything turns without any bumping or noise. The amount of play in and out is no more then a 16th of an inch I would guess. My question is when new water pump is installed and new seals , and when the lower is reinstalled on the motor will the drive shaft be pushed down resulting in the noise or will installation take care of the issue? Or do I have a bigger problem and need to look at shims or check the pinion gear?

 

[boobie]

Re: '85 115 Johnson drive shaft play

If you're not having any prob with the g/c just put it back on and check the g/c oil first. When the mtr is running, the gears push themselves away from each other. Same as when you were pulling up on the d/s.

 

[surrender]

Re: '85 115 Johnson drive shaft play

Thanks Boobie. I though that might be the case. The reason I noticed it is during waterpump service and seal replacement turned drive shaft and it sounded kinda bad. Waiting on sealkit,waterpump kit, and misc other parts and will put back together