Leaking outdrive and reversed shift positions??

[CPro]

I have had a slow oil leak in the outdrive that I have been in the process of diagnosing. Drive oil was leaking out of the weep holes on the lower half. I've replaced the impeller (unrelated, I know) and the seals and bushings around the shift shaft. Since I have had this all apart, I have noticed that the leak appears to be coming from the upper half and running down the shift shaft receiver on the upper half. However, after reinstalling the shift shaft, the shift shaft positions now appear to be switched. When you look at the drive from the top, the shift receiver is straight ahead for forward gear, and it rotates 45 degrees CW for reverse. The only way I can get the shift shaft in the lower half to line up in this way is to point the bent end of the shift shaft backwards! The boat is a 1997 Sea Pro with what appears to be a 1998 Alpha one (the shift shaft assembly is different between these years).

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Trevor

 

[Bt Doctur]

you most likely reassembled the unit incorrectly. Guessing this is an Alpha drive so the lower splined shaft is turned fully clockwise for fwd and when mated to the brass shoe, the brass shoe points in a straight line. The Alpha GEN II does not have this feature.

 

[CPro]

OK, here is hopefully a better description of the issue. When the boat is in fwd, the shoe is pointing straight. When the boat is in reverse the shoe is 45 degrees CCW from this position. However, when the bent end of the shift shaft points straight ahead, the lower half is in reverse. From this position, the shift shaft rotates 45 degrees CCW and goes into position. Somehow, the lower half has gotten "out of sync" with the upper half. If I point the bent end of the shift shaft aft, then it would appear to be aligned correctly but I know this is wrong.

Could something have shifted when I pulled the shift shaft out initially? I'm stumped...

Thanks in advance..

Trev

 

[CPro]

OK, here is hopefully a better description of the issue. When the boat is in fwd, the shoe is pointing straight. When the boat is in reverse the shoe is 45 degrees CCW from this position. However, when the bent end of the shift shaft points straight ahead, the lower half is in reverse. From this position, the shift shaft rotates 45 degrees CCW and goes into position. Somehow, the lower half has gotten "out of sync" with the upper half. If I point the bent end of the shift shaft aft, then it would appear to be aligned correctly but I know this is wrong.

Could something have shifted when I pulled the shift shaft out initially? I'm stumped...

Thanks in advance..

Trev

 

[Bt Doctur]

If this is a GEN II that has the shift rod just bent over, then you could have altered the shift system.How did you lay the drive down when you removed and installed the shaft?

 

[Bt Doctur]

 

[CPro]

Thanks for the pics!
I leaned the lower half up against a log while i retracted the shift shaft. It was slightly nose down. Now it seems like everything is reversed somehow? I'm making this judgement based on the fact that when the shift shaft is straight ahead, if I rotate the prop CCW (i.e. in the reverse direction), the shaft going to the upper half rotates with it. I assume that this means that the lower half is actually in reverse when in this condition? Is this accurate? Maybe I am overthinking it since the torque actually comes in through the driveshaft to the prop. When I spin the prop, I'm actually applying torque from the propeller to the driveshaft which is the reverse of normal operation...?

 

[CPro]

OK, I thought about it some more and I think I may have it right now. I set it up so that the shift shaft range of motion matches the range of motion of the shoe...I think this will work. Will install it and test it tonight...

Thanks for the advise
Trevor

 

[Bt Doctur]

you need to think about how the prop works. in fwd it spins to the right because the gears are turning it. should you turn the prop CCW it will turn the driveshaft backwards but the drive is still in fwd gear.

 

[CPro]

That's what I think I was missing the first time around. I didn't disassemble the propeller shaft assembly in the lower half...so only so much could have changed!

Thanks,
Trev