1962 9.8hp Mercury Lower Unit re-install

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  • December 27, 2019 at 1:55 pm #190100
    ronb777
    Participant

      I removed the lower unit of my 1962 9.8 hp Mercury outboard in order to replace the water pump impeller and now I can not get the lower unit re-installed. I can not get it any closer together than 3 inches. It’s like pushing against a brick wall. Is there a correct procedure for doing this? Any tips you can give me? Thank you.

      December 27, 2019 at 8:13 pm #190121
      Buccaneer
      Participant

        US Member

        The “cheapy” PDF manual I have say “reinstall opposite of removal”…….. 🙁
        3” is a long way to be off and have it be an engagement problem of the shift
        rod, water tube, or drive shaft.
        I’d look in the midsection with the lower unit off, and try to study
        where something is hitting. I’ve used long alignment bolts on some motors
        to help guide every thing straight as I was installing the lower unit.
        Are you trying to engage the water tube at the pump, or in the bottom of the
        power head?

        Prepare to be boarded!

        December 28, 2019 at 10:39 pm #190167
        seakaye12
        Participant

          US Member

          I would suggest that you take a very close look at the shift shaft and the splines on it. Try and figure out what position the shift lever needs to be in to have the splines align. It can only go together one way at those splines. I have found that sometimes when everything is “ready to go” a slight fiddling of the shift lever allows everything to go together.

          December 28, 2019 at 11:46 pm #190169
          fifty20ne
          Participant

            US MEMBER PAY BY CHECK

            Anther idea to try is to
            Protect the cover with
            Some blankets or such
            And turn motor upside
            Down in a vertical position
            May need someone to
            Assist? And use a flashlight
            To check alignment of
            Driveshaft, water tube, etc..
            Don’t force it, but some verygentle tapping may help!
            May also need to turn prop
            One way or other to get the
            Driveshaft splines to align.

            Good luck,

            Bob

            January 1, 2020 at 12:28 am #190379
            20mercman
            Participant

              These can be a challenge to get back together. As has been suggested, some folks do place the motor upside down to do this. These have a short shift shaft that meets about 4″ above the lower unit. These are notorious for being hard to align. If you are 3″ away, I bet that you are having issues with getting the drive shaft into the hole through the power head adapter plate. Be sure to keep the lower unit square to the drive shaft housing. Once you get the drive shaft through the adapter, you will need to make sure the water tube enters the alignment tube on the water pump. At that point, you then can engage the shift shaft. As I said, they are a bit tricky, but once you get the hang if it, they go in fairly easily. Later models, (1969 I think) they lengthened the shift shaft and it makes it a lot easier to install.

              Steve

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