lower unit issues trying to crack it open.

[chosos]

I have an 87 force 50 and i was going to attempt to do the impeller job this weekend, but i ran into a few issues going by the clymer's manual (which really has no good instruction for the job).

I have since found franks post, and am trying to figure out if that matches up to the 2cyl force engines as well, but i'm still stuck at the issue below...

I have the 4 bolts holding up the lower loosened, but it only drops like 1/2 inch, which is barely room to access the shaft /intermediate shaft with the retaining pin / cotter pin in it. The shaft was too far up, and I tried putting the boat into forward, but I the shift linkage didn't appear to drop down any to give us better access.

I can probably squeeze something in there to pull the cotter pin out, but i'm fairly certain I wont be able to get another pin into that same spot because of the lack of clearance there. I'm also worried about dropping the cotter pin / retaining pins into the lower.

is there some trick to this? also, i was told to be careful with some copper tube that is held in place by an o-ring. does that try to pull down with the lower?

any tips at all would be appreciated.

 

[Robert D]

Re: lower unit issues trying to crack it open.

Did you locate a bolt under the exhaust snout???? Not sure about the 50 hp models, but most of the larger engines have a hidden bolt under the exhaust snout.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: lower unit issues trying to crack it open.

If that 50 is the same as earlier ones, you need to remove the midleg shroud. (six bolts, three in the front near the kingpin and three in the rear.) It splits and comes off easily. Under it is a long hex coupler threaded opposite on both ends. You must remove this to separate the shift rods and drop the lower unit. Leave the lock nut close to its original position so you know about where to stop when re-mounting the lower.