Remove quadrant gear and Stern leg is stuck in down position

[LovemySeaswirl]

Hello How do you loosen the pivot caps to see if the ball gears have jammed up?

 

[kenny nunez]

Remove the rubber bumpers and just loosen each of the mounting bolts 1 turn. There is no way the ball gears can restrict the drive from coming off.
With the bolts loose you should be able to shake the drive enough to remove the quadrant gear.

 

[LovemySeaswirl]

The quad gear is already removed. I need to put the quad gear back on BUT the drive leg is stuck in the full down position and 2 men tried and cannot manually lift it (it doesn't budge).

Next Ill loosen the pivot cap bolts. Do you need to remove the pivot cap cover to remove the pivot cap bolts? They look hard to get to.

What is the purpose of connecting a ratchet strap to something? Is it to provide more force to pull the drive or is it to keep the drive from falling on the ground? Want to know what to connect the ratchet strap to.
Picture of pivot cap bolts and removed quad gear attached.

 

[Scott Danforth]

connect the ratchet strap to the lower unit

the two large hex bolts are the cap bolts. just a turn is all that is needed.

 

[kenny nunez]

When the drive is down does the steering go in both directions without a bind? Pump some grease into those fittings while the bolts are loose.
I cannot imagine what would keep the drive from not being able to lift by hand with the quadrant gear removed.

 

[froggy1150]

Here is my guess. After you removed quad and let it drop it must have hit hard on the 2 alignment pins and got wedged because it did move at some point. Loosen or remove side caps, loosen pivot bearing caps and lube with something. Attach (choke) a ratchet to the bottom of the outdrive leg and attach the other end to a truck, tree or a heavy mama...
Put tension on strap and wiggle and shake drive. Dont pull too hard cuz you dont want to break anything and spray penettant on those tapered pins.

 

[LovemySeaswirl]

Im thrilled to report success in getting the drive unstuck, getting the quad gear back on, and the tilt motor is working perfectly, using the tilt switch, it automatically tilts the drive up and down. Thank you all for you time and advice! it WORKED!!

What I did:
I loosened the pivot bolts and the stern drive manually lifted easily, no ratchet strap was needed.
I pumped grease into the fittings while the pivot bolts were loose.
With the drive in full up position, I bolted the quad gear back on.
I sprayed penetrant on the tapered alignment pins.
I packed the tilt clutch box with marine grease (after cleaning it out real well, it had some water mixed in with the oil).
I put marine grease on the quad gear and small gear it connects/interlocks with because it looked a little brownish or rusty. Question: Is greasing the quad gear and small gear okay? or will it attract dirt and grit into the gears?

 

[southkogs]

Question: Is greasing the quad gear and small gear okay? or will it attract dirt and grit into the gears?

Dunno' about attracting dirt and grit, but I never greased those gears. Cleaned 'em often enough, but never greased them.

 

[kenny nunez]

When lowering the drive do not hold the tilt switch down until the drive hits the end of travel. Just tap the switch a few times until it is full down, if the drive comes down too fast it is possible to either wring off the end of either the tilt motor shaft, the tilt shaft or shear off the drive pins on the shaft.
The quadrant does not need to be greased.

 

[LovemySeaswirl]

Thanks for the advice on tapping the tilt switch to lower drive to avoid future problems. Ill wipe off as much grease as possible from quad gear and small interlocking gear.