Frozen lower shift cable

"I picked up an 84 century w/

"I picked up an 84 century w/ a mercruiser 470 and alpha one. i finally got most everything together, and readied myself to pull the od to replace the lower shift cable, gimbal, and bellows only to find the lower shift cable is froze in place in neutral. It won't let me shift it into forward in order to remove the drive. never had this trouble on one before, so i am at a loss. Anyone know how to "unfreeze" one, or how to get the od off without damaging the shift lever or shift dog?
Any help would be appreciated!"

Just undo and remove the lower

Just undo and remove the lower gear case. This will disconnect the lower and upper shift shafts regardless of position.

Rod

"thanks! I've done my own

"thanks! I've done my own transom kit repairs before, but never opened the outdrive itself, anything i need to keep from falling out?"

"Nope.

It would be a good i

"Nope.

It would be a good idea to get a blowup drawing, but basically there are 2 nuts along each side, one up in front behind the anode plate that will be hard to get to, and one up in the trim tab cavity.
Drain the oil first and undo the trim cylinders at the outboard end.
You will need a new quad seal gasket for reassembly.

Please tell me you are not going to attempt to change the lower shift cable without the aid of a suitable manual?

Also on a 24 year old boat I would strongly suggest that you change all the bellows and water hose while you are at it, as well as the gimbal bearing, and the water pump impeller. For the latter you will need the upper and lower gear cases split anyway.

Rod"

"thanks, I have done the gimba

"thanks, I have done the gimbal, bellows and shift cable before, those are not new to me. not getiing the shift lever to move into forward is new to me, and i have not split the od before. took it in to a shop to have the impeller changed. i believe that one should be willing to admit their limits! the inside of the od i did not feel was in mine. according to the manual there are alot of small parts and shims in there!
I guess it is a good time to learn, since i don't want to spend the money to have the shop do all this. i'll be using a manual."

"jeff;
Splitting the upper an

"jeff;
Splitting the upper and lower cases and changing the impeller is actually a pretty easy job, particularly if you have done all the other stuff before.
You would have no problem with it.

Rod"