Mercruiser 165 Impeller replacement

[crs5357]

After impeller replacement, I am having trouble<br />getting the lower unit bottom section to "mate"<br />with the upper section. I can get them within<br />about a quarter inch. What advice is there for<br />getting the linkage to seat with the shift shaft,<br />which I assume to be the problem.

 

[hoot]

Re: Mercruiser 165 Impeller replacement

look at the front of the drive close to where they match up. the male and female parts of the shift shaft should be visible. they have to line up. the shoe has to fit inside the holder.

 

[crs5357]

Re: Mercruiser 165 Impeller replacement

Is this basically trial and error? The brass<br />linkage with the cotter key through it only seems to fully push up in one position, with the<br />loop side of the cotter key facing 12 o clock. I have tried to line up the shift shaft teeth to<br />correspond to the brass linkage cogs. Is there <br />a trick to getting the final fitting, i.e., trial and error moving the shift shaft a few degrees and then re-attempting the process?<br /><br />It is pretty tough to manipulate the linkage with<br />the lower unit stuffed up within a quarter inch<br />of the other section. Thanks!

 

[tommays]

Re: Mercruiser 165 Impeller replacement

the boat shifter should be in forward and the lower should be shifted in to forward manualy by turning the drive shaft and move the shift link <br /><br />when its in gear dont move it and the links should line up very close no force should be needed<br /><br />tommays

 

[hoot]

Re: Mercruiser 165 Impeller replacement

http://www.mercstuff.com/waterpumpinst.htm <br /><br />see if this helps

 

[gspig]

Re: Mercruiser 165 Impeller replacement

You may need a second set of hands. Are putting the lower on with the upper still mounted on the boat? It can be done, I have done it. Make sure the lower is in forward gear. Make sure the gear select on the boat is in forward. Put the connecting linkage from the upper pointing straight towards the front. Now raise the lower unit and make sure the connecting linkage sits on the shift shaft in the lower. The second set of hands will be handy, wiggle the connecting linkage while continuing to raise the lower unit. The foot of the connecting linkage should fit into a U groove for the gear select. You may also need to rotate the prop shaft counter-clockwise to engage the splines in the lower unit driveshaft. Now quickly thread a new lock nut on one of the housing studs before you drop the whole thing. Easy huh.

 

[crs5357]

Re: Mercruiser 165 Impeller replacement

This is helpful. Will try again. By "U GROOVE"<br />I assume you mean the teeth on the round shift shaft.

 

[gspig]

Re: Mercruiser 165 Impeller replacement

By U groove, I mean part of the shift linkage housed in the gimbal housing. The part I described as connecting linkage is the part held in the upper housing with a cotter pin. It is round with a small flat bar on top. It has internal spines that fit on the shift rod in the lower housing. The flat bar fits inside a u shaped pocket in the shift linkage attached to the gimbal housing.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Mercruiser 165 Impeller replacement

r, i feel for you. 3 weeks ago i was doing the same maint to my 165. do what everyone is saying here. be in forward at the remote, put shift shaft on lower unit in fwd via counter clockwise rotation of propeller while turning shift shaft with a small socket, line up your water tube. make sure ya got your upper drive shaft o ring on, every time i had to start over when i did mine the o-ring stayed up in the spined area, the lower drive shaft seal would dislodge it when i missed. above all. keep trying, i was highly upset. took me 50 trys with my boy. but we got it. i think it was the water tube that was troubleing me, but ya don't know cause ya can't see inside when it don't fit. bummer ay. happy boatin, jim

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Mercruiser 165 Impeller replacement

A tip for the future guys, an easy way to get the lower end to stay in gear while you wiggle the beast in is to use electrical tape, tape the prop to the cavitation plate (stretch the tape) to keep the gears engaged.

 

[steve n carol]

Re: Mercruiser 165 Impeller replacement

or a bungee cord. myself, I remove the entire leg so I can check the engine alighnment, and the water pocket, (thankyou achris), and replace the impeller. AND then with upper and lower on the bench, (horizontally), slide the two together. Since both pieces are off and apart, I can also pressure and vacuume test the parts while they are seperate, (thankyou again, achris), and eisier to move around. Then have carolyn install the leg, I mean outdrive....sl