Problem reattaching shift spine after reinstalling lower unit 1975 Mercury 20HP

[heed316]

I had to replace the impeller on my motor so I dropped the lower unit. Everything went fine with that. When I go to reattach the lower unit, the shifting baffle won't reach the lower unit shift spine now. It sat in there just fine when I removed it, now it's almost as like it's not long enough to reach. I'm assuming this is something simple that I'm screwing up. I've attached pictures to show the offset and how short it is. Help is needed :facepalm: ...

 

[heed316]

Re: Problem reattaching shift spine after reinstalling lower unit 1975 Mercury 20HP

Well, I figured it out. Don't I feel stupid...after checking the lower unit multiple times for something I may have done wrong, checking and rechecking everything down there, I eventually find out that the plastic piece does indeed move lower. I had tried gripping it with pliers but it wouldn't budge which is where the issue really began. After a few hours of messing around with the lower unit, I decided to take a flat head and tried prying it a little lower. Wouldn't you know it, it loosened right up and lowered to where it should be. Everything is reconnected now and working as it should. Figured I'd update this in case someone in the future does the same thing I did. (at least I learned a lot about the lower unit!)