Problem re-assembling 4.3L 175HP MercC

[96Speedster]

Hi guys,

Pretty much a newb to boating until about 2 months ago when I picked up a 96 Seadoo Speedster - been learning about the jet boats but have a question regarding my father in laws 21' - 86 Searay with a 4.3L V6 175HP Mercruiser outboard/outdrive? Not sure what the difference is....

Anyhow, the boat's prop ended up hitting a huge 5 ft tall rock and did some damage namely mangle the prop and bend the lower fin just below the prop. We took off the lower unit of the Mercruiser and got it repaired. Problem is during the re-assembly.

We can get everything re-assembled fin except that the shift lever between FWD, NEU, and REV is nearly impossible to shift and the prop no matter the lever setting (if we get it in there) only spins in the forward position when off and with the engine running.

I know there is a shaft in there that controls the FWD,NEU, and REV spinning but I will be damned if i know how to get it to work while assembling. There must be some trick or something because it doesn't seem that difficult to work properly.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as the boat is sitting on the trailer until I get her back together.

Thanks

 

[ziggy]

Re: Problem re-assembling 4.3L 175HP MercC

did you have everything in fwd during reassembly... the remote and the lower. sounds like yer mating the lower to the upper.... bondo has a trick i used when helping to mate the upper and lower. works good too. shift the lower into fwd. keeping load on the prop. prop locks ccw is fwd... bungee cord it to the vent plate to keep it loaded and in fwd.... don't forget the flat washer on the top of the shift shaft. don't forget the quad ring.....

ccw prop lock = fwd
cw prop lock = rev.
in neu. prop will freewheel in either direction.......

 

[96Speedster]

Re: Problem re-assembling 4.3L 175HP MercC

I am guessing the remote means the gear selector inside the boat...

With that being the case I actually had the boat in FWD, the lower in FWD and tried mating the lower to upper. The problem I ran into is that one of the shafts wouldn't line up exactly. I had to rotate the prop slightly then it slid into place but had that problem.

What your saying is that if I move the in boat gear selector to FWD and rotate the lower shaft to FWD then hold onto the prop with pressure CCW, the units should mate together?

I do have the shift washer on there, not sure what the quad ring is?

 

[ziggy]

Re: Problem re-assembling 4.3L 175HP MercC

What your saying is that if I move the in boat gear selector to FWD and rotate the lower shaft to FWD then hold onto the prop with pressure CCW, the units should mate together?

yes, at that point the shift shafts are in time for lack of a better way to say it... it's normal to have to turn the drive shaft to get the splines to line up with the upper. the quad ring is the little oil seal that goes between the upper and lower. it seals where the gear lub transfers between the upper and lower....