Did I screw up my lower unit?

[Betterthannothin]

I wanted to rebuild my waterpump myself so I ordered the kit and went to work. I called the guy at the local Merc shop and he told me to remove the lower unit while in gear, so I did. Now for the life of me I can't get it back on. Is there a way to get it back in neutral or am I missing something.

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

[Betterthannothin]

Re: Did I screw up my lower unit?

Oh sorry it's a 1986 merc 75 HP 4 cyd 2 stroke.

 

[Leandro822]

Re: Did I screw up my lower unit?

Do you have your lower unit bolt in your engine or it wont go in? If you have it in and you cannot get it back to neutral you probably mist when you put it back together that there are two peaces thats slide together(one inside of the other) it happened to me when i replace my water pump too i had it stuck in neutral and it wouldn't change gears.

 

[Betterthannothin]

Re: Did I screw up my lower unit?

No, I can't get it to seat enough to get a bolt started and I don't want to force it. I can get the shift link to line up no problem but it seems as though there is something else not allowing the L/U to fully engage.

 

[Leandro822]

Re: Did I screw up my lower unit?

You have to play with it a little bit with you drive-shaft in order to slide in your engine i had to do the same when i did mine, just rotate it until it slides back in.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Did I screw up my lower unit?

The reason you do it in gear is so you can twist the prop a bit to get the driveshaft spline to line up.

I usually get the admiral to pull on a strong arm and socket on the flywheel nut. Same thing, line up the spline. It should let you guide the water tube into the starter guide, then get the drive spline started, then get the shifter spline started, then just lifting the weight of the LU, lift it into place and start a bolt.

One guy can do it, but it's easier with a little help and heckling, er encouragement.

 

[Betterthannothin]

Re: Did I screw up my lower unit?

Thanks for the help guys, after getting the shift link lined up I had a buddy turn the flywheel by hand and it slid right in.