removing lower unit

[teleman]

I went to winterize my boat this weekend. started it up with muffs on and noticed that there was no tattle tale stream. its a 1980 40 horse blue band mercury outboard motor. I had no problems with it this summer and it ran fine the last time I used it. I am trying to remove the lower unit thinking that I need to take a look at the impellor or water pump. but,i can't get the lower unit off. I think I have found/removed all the bolts that need to be removed,and I have separated it alittle bit. but something is keeping it from coming off. is there something up in the top of the motor that has to be disconnected? should I have the shift control in neutral? I checked the hole where the tattle tale stream comes out to make sure it wasn't plugged up with mud or something and its not. what am I missing here? appreciate any help or answers I can get. thanks.

 

[Texasmark]

On larger engines there is a bolt under the trim tab and as I recall the classic 4 cyl 40 had one too......Don't know about the 3 cyl engines but a peek will only take you a minute or so to find out. Access the trim tab bolt is via a hole in the top rear of the midsection housing (the part that sticks out to the rear.....aft) about 1 ?" above the anti vent plate. Originally the hole was covered with a plastic plug for aesthetic purposes. After removing that and the tab, remembering at what angle it was positioned....a scribe mark from the housing to the tab is what I used to use for realignment purposes you can proceed to the next step.

With the tab removed, look up and into into the hole (under the anti vent plate) that was exposed when the tab was removed. There is probably a hex socket bolt there that needs to come out too. A long shank hex Allen works better than a regular shank length. Other than that, corrosion between the drive shaft and the crankshaft would be your next obstacle, especially on an engine of that vintage and most especially if operated in salt water. Archives have many iterations of folks solving that problem.