Shift Shaft on '98 20hp Mercury

[Knot Working]

First, I want to say thanks for all the help you guys have offered. I have read insightful information allowing a novice like myself to bring a motor with frozen pistons back to life. Long story short, after putting her all back together- she started on the first try! Problem is after putting her in the water for my first test drive, I was shocked to find that she would only go in reverse. Again, after reading informative post of others making the same mistake, I realized that I probably did not have lower unit and upper in the same gear after changing water pump.

My question is, how can I get the units to the same gear on this model?

Thanks in advance.

Murray-

 

[Bondo]

Re: Shift Shaft on '98 20hp Mercury

Pull it back apart,.......

Shift the controller to Forward,......

Shift the Lowerunit to Forward,+ Hold it There,....
(I use a bungee cord, from the cav. plate, around the propshaft,+ back to the cav. plate, to keep pressure on the gears)

Then Reinstall the lowerunit.......

 

[Knot Working]

Re: Shift Shaft on '98 20hp Mercury

Thanks Bondo,
Took 20 minutes and worked perfectly!! Thanks for the quick response which allowed me and the wife to have a great day on the water.

Murray-