Trouble hooking up shift lever on 40 johnson 85 model

Becauseican

Seaman
Joined
Jun 15, 2010
Messages
54
I am trying to replace the lower unit back into motor but the shift lever rod does not come out the top.i pull the lever up before inserting it but from sliding it in it always pushes it down into reverse making the lever even shorter. is there a trick to keeping it up? also im not sure if the guy who removed the lower unit turned the lever making it shorter. is that possable? if so how far should i unscrew it before trying to insert it into motor? Thanks for any tips
 
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