Lower unit not going in gear?? Mercruiser alpha1 gen2

Hello All,

I have a 1996 SeaRay 175 bowrider that has a mercruiser 3.0 alpha1 gen2 I/O. I disconnected the lower unit to replace the impellar. I followed directions to have it in forward gear before removing it and made sure to add bungies to keep the prop from moving. I put it back in and can tell its not in gear, prop will spin both ways in forward, actually seems to be wherever the handle is?? So have pulled it off again and trying to make sure they are both in the same gear(upper and lower) I pushed the handle all the way forward inside the boat, and had read somewhere that to make sure the lower unit is in forward gear, turn the prop counterclockwise while turning the shift shaft clockwise and when the prop locks in place it's in forward gear. Mine prop never locks in place, I can continue to turn the prop counter clockwise. Did I miss something? Is this the correct way to make sure the lower unit is in forward? Any help would be greatly appreciated
Gene

its almost impossible to not get a GEN II to slip up normally, Did the prop lock CCW ? Was the control box actually in fwd gear ? Meaning the receivers opening was in a straight line? If yes then you put it together correctly and the problem is elsewhere

Bt Doctur said:

its almost impossible to not get a GEN II to slip up normally, Did the prop lock CCW ? Was the control box actually in fwd gear ? Meaning the receivers opening was in a straight line? If yes then you put it together correctly and the problem is elsewhere

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Thanks for the reply, the prop did not lock CCW, thats where I "think" the problem is? I moved the shift shaft CW while turning the prop CCW but it never locked in(kept spinning CCW)...the shift shaft is facing forward so I assumed its in the forward position but shouldn't it lock? And not sure about almost impossible not to get it to slip in correctly because a slight movement of the prop CW moved the shift shaft out of forward. So if its suppose to lock, what could be the issue?

if you look at the receiver part, it must be in a straight line in full fwd gear.
The drive when in fwd gear locked .the top arm in in a straight line

Thanks again for the reply, but not sure your understanding what I'm asking. My question is with the lower end removed should the prop lock in CCW position after the shift shaft is in forward?? Like its not able to spin anymore in CCW. At this point it doesn't matter what position the upper end receiver is in since its separated?? I understand once I put it back together the receiver should also be in a straight line

gthoman said:

. My question is with the lower end removed should the prop lock in CCW position after the shift shaft is in forward?? Like its not able to spin anymore in CCW.

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Yes. You should be able to lock the prop when turning the CCW if the halves are separated

unless you also removed the shift shaft itself it will lock when turned clockwise in a straight line and the prop turned CCW

nola mike said:

Yes. You should be able to lock the prop when turning the CCW if the halves are separated

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Great, thanks! So what could be the issue if I have the lower end sitting on a bench and turning the shift shaft CW and prop CCW and the prop does not lock? It seems the shift shaft is as far to the right(CW) as it can be(facing straight), but I can keep turning the prop CCW

gthoman said:

Great, thanks! So what could be the issue if I have the lower end sitting on a bench and turning the shift shaft CW and prop CCW and the prop does not lock? It seems the shift shaft is as far to the right(CW) as it can be(facing straight), but I can keep turning the prop CCW

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does the prop lock in either direction if the shift shaft is turned all the way in both directions? Sometimes the prop needs to be moving a bit for the gears to engage.

nola mike said:

does the prop lock in either direction if the shift shaft is turned all the way in both directions? Sometimes the prop needs to be moving a bit for the gears to engage.

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Will have to test that once I get back to the lake/boar, it's currently not at my house and hope to get to the lake in the next week or so, will update the thread once I start working on it again, but will try to keep it in first and see if I continue to go CCW with the prop if it will lock in place. I'll also try the other gears and see if it locks. Thanks again

gthoman said:

Will have to test that once I get back to the lake/boar, it's currently not at my house and hope to get to the lake in the next week or so, will update the thread once I start working on it again, but will try to keep it in first and see if I continue to go CCW with the prop if it will lock in place. I'll also try the other gears and see if it locks. Thanks again

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gthoman said:

Will have to test that once I get back to the lake/boar, it's currently not at my house and hope to get to the lake in the next week or so, will update the thread once I start working on it again, but will try to keep it in first and see if I continue to go CCW with the prop if it will lock in place. I'll also try the other gears and see if it locks. Thanks again

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So, went back to the lake this weekend and could not get the prop to lock CCW when in forward. Went to neutral, moved shift shaft to the next position CCW and the prop spun freely in both directions. Went to reverse, next position over and spun in both directions also, next resistance. Also, when I tried to move the shift shaft back CW to neutral or forward it would not go, I spun the prop and eventually it seemed to allow me to move it. Also, the shift shaft was able to pop up and move, not sure if that should be something that you can do? By "pop up" I mean if I pulled up on the shift shaft it seemed to come out of the teeth? or whatever its connected to and I was able to move it. Then could push it back down, should I be able to do that? So, is there anything else I can do/inspect or does this seem like something internal that either I/mechanic need to tear apart or something I can still do from the top, like detach the shift shaft and pull it all the way out, but then not sure what I need to look for. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Will be going back for Labor Day

the shaft cannot be removed until you unscrew the cover

I understand that, but if I remove the screws and take out the shift shaft, is there something I can look for? Basically I'm looking for next steps. With the lower unit detached and sitting on a bench, prop not seeming to want to lock in place in any gear(forward, reverse) is there something that I can attempt or look at to try to fix the issue without tearing it open(removing prop, pulling out the gears)? Basically if this was your lower unit and had the same symptoms what would you do next? Is this past the point of simple testing and need to break out the special tools to rebuild the gears. Which I assume would be a rebuild or new lower unit