Bell housing shift linkage seal

[Chris51280]

How important is it to keep water away from the shift cable and the shift linkage. There is the upper bushing with a seal. #6. The ujoints are sealed off with the o-ring between the upper unit and the bell housing

 

[Chris51280]

It also is kinda weird since they face down

 

[Rick Stephens]

When I got water into my lower shift cable I'd have to take it out and use electrical contact cleaner to get all the water out before my drive would shift without over-activating the interrupt. You do not want water in there.

And seal lips ALWAYS face towards the liquid they are intended to keep out. Another example, if there is water on one side and oil on the other, there will be two seals, one facing up and the other facing down.

 

[harringtondav]

It's important enough that Merc designed the bell housing to out drive gasket to keep water out of this area. That large O ring is a second line of defense against water. The bell housing gasket and shift shaft seals are the first line of defense. I'd call the shift shaft seals a "must have".

 

[Chris51280]

What kit do I buy. I'm not sure there is a problem but then again, maybe I should change them,just in case.

 

[Chris51280]

I did buy a 18-2622 kit from Jeff besos. Was an open box for 8 bucks.guess that's all

 

[nola mike]

And seal lips ALWAYS face towards the liquid they are intended to keep out. Another example, if there is water on one side and oil on the other, there will be two seals, one facing up and the other facing down.

USUALLY, not ALWAYS

 

[Rick Stephens]

USUALLY, not ALWAYS

Ok.

It's ALWAYS worth looking at the Merc manual to be sure :^)

 

[Chris51280]

from the looks of it, they are already in the bushing as a kit. so no worries there

 

[Chris51280]

Is there a good way to get those bushings out. I'm guessing they are a pita

 

[nola mike]

Yeah, the seals are already in there. Not hard to get in and out. I made a puller out of some nuts, bolts, sockets etc. Used it to pull the old one and press the new one.A search would probably get you in the direction of what you need.

 

[Chris51280]

Ok, I'm confused. There is a large bushing in my kit that I do not have in my assembly. Looking in the manual, it says that it was installed after a certain serial number. Mine is not one of them. I can't find that bushing tbe seal in the parts list. I would upload pictures but they do not work right now

 

[Chris51280]

I guess after a little more research, the large bushing supersedes the small seal and bushing that is in there now. Now I just have to get the set screw open. That will be a pain in the neck

 

[Rick Stephens]

You are correct. The large seal housing replaced the small ones for all applications. Lasts longer. Use a little heat on the set screw. They use red locktite on them. And make sure your screwdriver fits the slot perfectly.

 

[nola mike]

If this is what I'm thinking of, I think it took me about 2 nanoseconds to strip that screw. Drilled it out and replaced the shift arm. Don't remember if that came as part of a kit or if I bought separately.

 

[Chris51280]

Changed the seal today. That screw is a pain in the neck. Had to heat it up with the torch. Tried not to burn everything else around it. The rest was easy. Used a 5/16 threaded rod to get the bushing out with sockets that are just a bit smaller. The bushing came out very easy. I left the bottom alone since it did not have more clearance than the new bushing. So no need to replace. The seal was definitely worn out.