Thanks, guys. I replaced the two washers on the shift shaft before I reassembled the unit. I remember distinctly because the stainless steel washer was bent and the rubber washer (oil seal) underneath) was missing... and I ordered both parts after I saw that... and reassembled the water pump and added shift washers in my nice warm basement. The rubber washer I have is far larger than the shift shaft washers suggested. The mystery washer is in a plastic bag on my board.
Anyway, we had a nice day this week so I put the boat in the water for a two hour test...no leaks into the bilge from the out drive vent! Yay! No noise at full R or L turns so gimbal seems OK. Yay! No problems shifting except when setting up to put the boat on the trailer. The ramp is shallow so the drive was up... and it stalled several times. No stalling while testing in the middle of the lake. Not sure why this is but will go through the steps to adjust the cable and see what happens.
Our boat is 29 years old, looks great, and we don't have the bucks to repower or have a dealer do all this stuff, so if we want to enjoy some days on the water I need to do it myself. You guys have been great. Hope I can contribute from time to time to repay the help I received. Thanks again.
