No reverse on alpha 1 after reinstall of lower unit

[TheguyDirk]

1974 SeaRay 200 - assumed alpha 1 outdrive (I think the MC-1 is setup the same?)

I took off the lower unit to replaced the impeller on the water pump on the new to me out-drive. No problems there and I had taken it off with the shifter next to the driver seat in the forward pos. Once off, spinning CCW would spin the drive shaft so I know it is in gear.
Went to reinstall and it took a lot of shimmying and time rotating the prop CCW for the splines to line up but i got it back together. I have forward and neutral but when I put it in reverse from the driver seat I hear the gear clicking like it is almost into reverse when I spin the prop CW.
Not sure of where my issues are. When I reinstalled the LU the splines on the shifter tube lined up with the shaft in the lower just fine and I have the rubber and steel washer on the bushing. The little U-notch in the shifter bushing is facing straight forward to back as well. What am I missing? I could spin the shift tube around but I never changed it from forward, it was able to drop some and spin and I assume it just wasn't mated to the top splines.
I keep seeing how I should be able to change the LU gear by hand super easy and I never really tried to but I don't recall it easily slipping between gears when I was messing around.

 

[alldodge]

Going to need to remove and then split the drive again

With drive off and separated rotate the shift shaft with one hand while rotating the prop CCW. When the prop locks in the CCW rotation, place a bungee cord or something else to keep the prop engaged.

Now place the two halves back together making sure the shift foot on the upper half is facing straight forward.
Ensure throttle lever is in FWD position,

Install drive and once all back together installed, remove the bungee

 

[TheguyDirk]

What would the shift foot look like on the upper half? I never rotated the shifter on the upper half could that intermediate female shaft be clocked wrong? Should the cotter pin be facing straight in line with the boat, I can have it drop and spin it when the lower unit was off.

 

[alldodge]

The lower is on which gets locked in place. The upper just needs to slide onto the lower and face forward
It is clocked wrong and this is why you have the issue
It should look like this when installed and in neutral. Its straight forward when installing

 

[TheguyDirk]

So I messed around with it more and had the shift lever straight in line and prop locked. Same issue not quite into reverse. It’s trying to rotate the shifter horseshoe ccw.
i did take a look again at the u dips on the bushing and mine somehow got clocked to the 1oclock pos. In theory this should be straight as well right? If so how do I move it, I attempted to turn the lu shift shaft but felt like something was gonna break. Had some rotation before catching.

 

[achris]

You need to remove whole drive from the boat. Then line up the lower and intermediate shift shafts and put the 2 halves of the drive together. THEN put the drive back on the boat. Trying to put the lower back onto the upper with the upper still on the boat ends up with the sorts of problems you have...

Chris....

 

[TheguyDirk]

Chris,

What risks would there be to taking the upper off? There's a gasket but would the splines on the upper shaft drive have a chance of not mating?
I verified that I am in forward gear on the lower unit. The upper shift foot looks to be straight but maybe a tad bit ccw, but i assume I can move it with some cable adjustments right? It all slides back in until the last 1in and then it feels like I'm riding the splines on the lower units driveshaft and can't seem to get them lined up even with turning the prop ccw. What tricks might I be missing?

 

[alldodge]

There is eight points on the lower shift shaft. It could slip one point and the shifting will be off.

Your drive was shifting fine before doing work, it now doesn't shift correctly, so your method isn't working somehow. You could try again and make sure the throttle is not in throttle only mode and is pushed full forward.

 

[TheguyDirk]

Updating: I realized the throw on the lower shift shaft isnt that much and that was working perfectly. I am following both the manual and all the guides where I turn the shift shaft CW (to lock in forward) and then bungee the prop to hold tension CCW. I then slip the LU into the upper unit and I am getting to the very last 1" and can feel the driveshaft splines bumping on the upper unit splines. I end up taking the bungee off and spin the prop ccw to try to line up the splines and can feel them bumping against each other but wont quite seat. I have an O-ring on the driveshaft that I replaced since there wasn't one previously, I have a feeling that's what is hanging me up. Do people normally run without those? I didn't see one when removing so I assume someone ran without it in the past. I worry about the oil seal is all.

 

[Fishermark]

There are several things you need to line up when installing the lower to the upper - including the water pipe into the plastic guide.

The o ring at the top of the drive shaft does not get used. Mercruiser did away with it years ago. They found out it actually caused more problems than it solved.

 

[TheguyDirk]

I was making sure the water tube was not being the problem and have tried it without it just to test. I think i cannot get that top o-ring to slide past the grease seal honestly. I was just wary since I noticed it was gone and the water pump kit I had had a perfect fit o-ring so I assumed mine just decayed/was forgotten over the years. I will try it without.

 

[achris]

Remove the o ring from the top of the drive shaft. Do not use it.

 

[TheguyDirk]

I cleaned the shaft again of all old grease and used a pick to clean inside the upper unit of grease and am not using the o-ring. Badaboom goes on with still a bit of jimmying.
Back to the old problem, no reverse and I kade sure I was in forward putting it in on both upper and lower. Here are the pictures of my full forward and then full reverse. To me it’s looking a bit like the shift cable is out of adjustment.

 

[TheguyDirk]

Previous pics did not post

 

[alldodge]

There should be a washer on the shaft foot to keep it up

Hey achris have a pic for him?

 

[TheguyDirk]

My bad let me clarify. It is held up, the picture of full forward is prior to me putting on the LU so it’s just hanging there.

 

[alldodge]

OK, so if you still do not have FWD/N/REV then the cable is not adjusted correctly or something is bent.

Putting the drive on and if your unable to get the drive shaft to slide in, pushing the pro further CCW will rotate the drive shaft

 

[TheguyDirk]

I was able to get reverse by manually moving the shifting assembly where the cables attach. Every time I would adjust the cables to reach reverse I would test it by shifting to full forward and back and would lose reverse. I noticed a lot of fluid coming from what I assume is a hydraulic system of sorts that looks to be hosed into the transom/outdrive housing. Is the shifting done hydraulically? I can see how lack of fluid or a leak might be causing issues. Manually hitting reverse I was very very close and I think at times hitting the trans shutoff switch.
When I was able to get reverse and spin the prop it locked cw like it is supposed to but rotating ccw there was a lot of resistance and it would feel like it rode over a tooth and snapped back into place. It sounded and felt awful. I am guessing this is not normal but am unsure why.
btw, thank you all for helping me through this.

 

[alldodge]

Is the shifting done hydraulically?

No its all mechanical. Loosing fluid means it has to be fixed
I don't know the issue you have because I've not run into this kind of problem nor heard of another unless something was bent