Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

[Karla45]

I am about to put my lower unit back on. What I need to know is if I adjust the shift rod to neutral, which way should I manually be able to move the prop? Also, if I manually turn the prop to the right and it stops does that mean it is in reverse and if turn to left and it stops does it mean it is in forward? When in neutral should it make a clicking sound when turned in either direction? I have a 1989 Force 85HP, 2 piece driveshaft.

The difficulty I am having getting it back on is getting the shift rod lined up to go through the hole and also getting the drive shaft splines in crankshaft. I have been turning the flywheel clockwise but it does not seem to help get it lined up. I thought that I read somewhere that it is easier to turn the prop shaft to align the drive shaft splines to crankcase. I considerd this but right now if I turn the prop shaft in either direction it does not turn the driveshaft. How do I get the driveshaft to spin by moving the prop shaft?

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

The shift rod can be adjusted after you mount the lower.
Push down on the shift rod(front top of the drive) and lift up on the right ear of the prop as you look from the rear.It should turn the prop shaft and in turn it will turn the drive shaft.
It will help align the splines.J
If needed I can take some pics tomorrow.
Glad you started a new thread.J

 

[droach77]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

It sounds like somthing else is holding you from seating the LU on. YOu should be able to feel the splines meet when turning the flywheel or the prop, it should fall into place when turning either one. They can be tricky to line up , triple check everything and be patiant, it should come together for you. The clicking is normal when in gear not in neutral.....neutral should be no noise no friction and a free turning prop in both directions. good luck


dave

 

[Karla45]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

One of the reasons I wanted to know this information on prop direction is so when I do adjust after installed I will be able to test in the driveway before I go out on the water. The pictures will help Jerry. I am trying to imagine being able to push down on the shift rod since shift rod is not above the hole that it goes thru at this point while turning the prop while trying to push up on lower unit to get drive shaft aligned. I guess I was thinking that if I adjusted the rod so that it is in either forward or reverse before install that I would be able to turn the drive shaft by turning the prop shaft then, would this be right?

Also, I marked the shift rod before I took the lower unit off so I would know where it is supposed to be.

Right now when I turn the prop shaft with my hand it does not make the drive shaft turn. I am not putting the prop on until it is on the lower because my stand is not high enough for me to it on before hand.

 

[fucawi]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

Stand not high enough ...I fit mine with the motor tilted so I can look to see if its aligned...once you get the touch of how to do it it will almost fall off and jump back in !! well almost !

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

These Forces are simple.No matter what gear you took it off. It will go right back to where it should be.
Unless you changed the shifter or cables.
I say push down on the shift rod cause as put it up in the housing it might hit and get pushed down anyway.
Will get the pics as soon as I can.
The drive can get real heavy and sometimes tricky to reinstall.
Prop it up,I use a stool.
Remember the water tube.

 

[Karla45]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

Well since I had to unscrew the shift rod(at the bellows, aka rubber boot)because it is a two piece rod in order to get the gear housing cover off, the rod is not screwed in or out like it was when I took the lower unit off. So, I am pretty sure that I will have to do some adjusting. Just seems like it would be easier to try and adjust the shift rod now while it is off since it is more accessible not to mention that it is really hot here and working in the shade of the garage is much better than sweating in the hot sun. I would have to get my hand up into the housing in able to push the shift rod down, since like I said was never able to get it to go up thru the hole enough to be able push down on it. I guess it is hanging up somewhere else to keep the rod from moving up further in the hole so I can push down on it. Maybe I misunderstanding what you are trying to say or something.

I just did what you were talking about while I have the lower unit on my stand in garage (just to get an idea of what should happen). When I turned the prop shaft by hand the driveshaft only moved a little and then locked in place. Should the driveshaft be turning more or is this normal for it to stop. I also had to push the shift rod down pretty hard in order to get it to do this? Maybe I should just go back to turning the flywheel. I am sure I will get the lower unit back on.

 

[Karla45]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

Stand not high enough ...I fit mine with the motor tilted so I can look to see if its aligned...once you get the touch of how to do it it will almost fall off and jump back in !! well almost !

I am referring to the stand for the lower unit that I use to work on it. I am not using it to try and reconnect the lower unit. I did have the motor tilted up. I am sure I will get it with a little more patience.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

Hope this helps.
Push down on the rod in the one pic.All the time spinning the prop either way.Then the prop pic.Pull up on the right hand side(one with the red thing)This will help spin the drive shaft.
A pair of Vice-grips will work.

 

[Karla45]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

Thanks

 

[Karla45]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

One more question before I attempt to put lower back on again. Since I have the motor tilted the shift rod coupler keeps falling off. WOuld it be okay to put some triple guard grease on the rod that coupler goes on to make it a little sticky so it will not fall off while I am trying to get the lower unit put back on. I am not sure if I can wait until after I have the lower unit back on to put the coupler back on or if I need to have the coupler on when I install. Not sure if will have enough clearance after lower is installed. My guess is that all I would have to do is push down on the rod to get the rod under and lined up with hole on coupler after I have the lower back on.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

Wait till the lower is back on. You won't get luck enough to line it right up anyway.J

 

[Karla45]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

Well got the lower back on. Since mine is 2 piece drive shaft we put the top drive shaft in first with the coupler and then we just lined the lower drive shaft up with the coupler and put the lower unit on. Since we had the motor trimmed up it kept the upper drive shaft from falling out. Much easier to do this way!. I ran out of daylight so not able to test but I did notice that when I tryed to manually turn the prop shaft it would not turn either way, it was locked at both directions. Since I had the boat in nuetral when I took if off I would think that I should be able to turn the prop either way freely. So what now? What do I need to adjust or do to fix this? I forgot t mention in my post that I have a 1989 Force 85HP.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

You get the shift connector hooked up?
If it's in neutral(shifter)the connector should make it shift into neutral when you hook it up.
Reach in with a pair of needle nose pliers and pull up on the shift rod as you turn the prop.

 

[Karla45]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

The shift rod is already hooked up with the coupler, cotter, & pin. The problem was that I had unscrewed the shift rod too much in order to get it to go high enough so I could put the pin in the coupler hole. The prop now spins in both directions if turned by hand, it is definetly in neutral. The problem is that now when I start the motor and put it in forward the prop does not turn nor will it turn when I put it in reverse. So what do I need to do? It would help me greatly if someone could give me a little more detail on what is going on.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

If it's already connected,never mind!!

 

[Karla45]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

The shift rod is already hooked up with the coupler, cotter, & pin. The problem was that I had unscrewed the shift rod too much in order to get it to go high enough so I could put the pin in the coupler hole. The prop now spins in both directions if turned by hand, it is definetly in neutral. The problem is that now when I start the motor and put it in forward the prop does not turn nor will it turn when I put it in reverse. So what do I need to do? It would help me greatly if someone could give me a little more detail on what is going on.

okay what now. I think I am just going to have to start another post for this part.

 

[Karla45]

Re: Question about prop when in neutral, forward, & reverse

I was finally able to get things adjusted right and got some really good insight into what to be looking for when testing to make sure you have the shift rod adjusted properly. If you go to this thread http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=517738 it gives good detail to help understand and know what to do