Mercruiser Alpha one Gen 1 shifting issues after water pump change

[Pizzaguy]

Hi guys,
I'm new to this forum, I'm hoping to find some help as I am a little perplexed. I recently dropped my lower unit to replace the water pump. I forgot to put the gear shift in forward or I disassembled it. I got the pump rebuilt put it back together tested it and I had no forward gear. I dropped the lower unit again tested it again had all my gears except when trying to go past idle speed in reverse it would trip the kill switch. Everything worked fine before I dropped lower unit, all I did was change the pump. I would appreciate any insight anybody can give me. And I thank you in advance for your help.

 

[Bt Doctur]

most likely your off a tooth on the lower spline.Drain the drive
you should have the control box in full fwd. Then turn the splined shaft in the lower fully clockwise untill the prop is locked CCW. bungee there is necessary.insert lower unit slightly turning prop CCW about an inch or so align the driiveshaft
Hold unit in place with the forward nut .
Now make sure the upper brass shoe is lined up exactly in a straight line and will slide on the splined shaft DO NOT FORCE OR ATTEMPT TO PULL TOGETHER WITH THE NUTS
install the 2 side nut and tighten, install remaining nuts and allen bolt ,install trim tab

 

[thumpar]

Do what Bt Doctur said. I did it wrong the first time too.

 

[Pizzaguy]

Well I followed your instructions and it worked well on the trailer with muffs on it I shifted back and forth 4-5 times between F-N-R. I took it to the river and it went back to tripping the kill switch in reverse. I brought it back home, dropped lower again to check alignment of shift shaft, it seemed as though the the brass collar was sliding down out of the bracket once installed, so I checked for the washer there was a rubber and steel one on the lower unit shift shaft. I did notice the bracket the shift shaft sits in was not in the 12 o'clock position just slightly off to right when looking front to back. I wasn't sure if there was leeway for this, I tried to move it to 12 but wouldn't budge. I thought maybe I had bent something in the upper part of the outdrive, so I pulled the whole outdrive off. Since I had it off just for curiosity I move the gear shift into reverse and it's still tripped the kill switch. So my thought is the lower cable is binding and needs to be replaced. Any helpful tips as I'm doing this job and do I need to make sure that bracket is exactly at 12 position? I noticed there is a set screw on that it can be loosened and possibly turned back.

 

[thumpar]

Lower shift cable most likely. It shouldn’t activate going into gear.