utskicat
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2015
- Messages
- 41
MC-1 lower unit will not lock into forward gear while separated after water pump replacement
I have an old Mercruiser 888 (MC-1) drive. I just completed replacing the entire water pump and base and was getting ready to mate the upper and lower back together. I cannot get the lower to lock into forward. (Trying to do this by turning shift shaft clockwise while turning prop counter clockwise.) I can however get the lower to lock into reverse by turning the shift shaft ccw and the prop cw.
I have googled for several hours and tried various ideas with no avail. Here is what I have tried:
0. First I removed new water pump so I could observe drive shaft turning and not have pressure on impeller if turning backwards.
1. Put tape on shift shaft splines and used pliers to gently add some more pressure to turn it cw. No change.
2. Turned entire lower so that prop shaft is pointing down. Automatically locks in reverse (and takes a lot of pressure to turn shift shaft since its weighted)
3. Turned entire lower so that prop shaft is pointing up. Shift shaft is now automatically holding far cw and when I rotate prop shaft ccw, you can feel and hear it trying to engage gear but it does not fully engage and hold.
Any ideas what's going on? Everything worked before I took the drive apart. I'm praying I don't have a clutch dog or gear problem...
I have an old Mercruiser 888 (MC-1) drive. I just completed replacing the entire water pump and base and was getting ready to mate the upper and lower back together. I cannot get the lower to lock into forward. (Trying to do this by turning shift shaft clockwise while turning prop counter clockwise.) I can however get the lower to lock into reverse by turning the shift shaft ccw and the prop cw.
I have googled for several hours and tried various ideas with no avail. Here is what I have tried:
0. First I removed new water pump so I could observe drive shaft turning and not have pressure on impeller if turning backwards.
1. Put tape on shift shaft splines and used pliers to gently add some more pressure to turn it cw. No change.
2. Turned entire lower so that prop shaft is pointing down. Automatically locks in reverse (and takes a lot of pressure to turn shift shaft since its weighted)
3. Turned entire lower so that prop shaft is pointing up. Shift shaft is now automatically holding far cw and when I rotate prop shaft ccw, you can feel and hear it trying to engage gear but it does not fully engage and hold.
Any ideas what's going on? Everything worked before I took the drive apart. I'm praying I don't have a clutch dog or gear problem...
