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%3cBR%3eG LAMB Gear case question

gonzo25

Member
"G.Lamb... just in time sai

"G.Lamb... just in time said to run this by you that you were more familiar with Force.

working on an 87 Force 50 hp. A model
i am trying to rebuild the water pump and couldn't get the lower unit to drop, after several hours of working it i was able to get it off, but the drive shaft was stuck in the power head, still is stuck in the power head. anyway, in my manual, on almost every model it says if the drive shaft comes out of the gear case that you will have to take the gear case apart to fix it. on my model it doesn't say that, it says if the drive shaft is corroded to remove it with the pump parts and clean it with sand paper. my model is also one of a few that has a two piece gear case. i have done this job before and the drive shaft stayed in the gear case and slid out of the power head easily and the whole job only took an hour, but for some reason the drive shaft is stuck in the power head.any thoughts on that or suggestions on getting it out? and the main question is, now that the drive shaft has come out of the gear case, am i going to have to take this apart to line up the pinon gears? and if i do can this be done by just taking the upper gear case off and leaving the lower gear case in tack? i am sure i would find out soon enough by taking it apart, but i would like to know what to expect before i start taking it apart, especially if i don't have to. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks George"
 
"George, you don't have to

"George, you don't have to tear apart the gear case on that model to get the drive shaft back into the pinion gear.

Your drive shaft will have splines on both ends so when it is time to put it back, I would get it to seat in the lower unit first (simply twist the driveshaft until you feel the splines mate up and you can tap it back in with a rubber mallet to get it to seat correctly. Then assemble as normal from there - mate it up with the powerhead by either rotating the flywheel a bit (or the propshaft if you have it in gear).

That's the easy part


The hard part may be getting the shaft out of the powerhead, which you should try to do.

I would separate the powerhead from the exhaust housing (leg) and turn it upside down so that the shaft is pointing straight up. Give it a good spray down with liquid wrench (or a similar product) and leave it overnight - see if it will free up - you can tap the shaft with a hammer (gently) to try and un-freeze it.

If that don't work a propane torch may be your friend - heat it up where it mates with the crank and see if some heat will persuade it to let go.

There is probably numerous other methods to try and get it unstuck that you can try.

If it really becomes a chore, you can leave it alone and with a bit of piddling around get everything back together with it stuck in the head - in that case you do need to put the lower unit in gear and rotate the prop shaft until you can get the lower end of the crank to mate up properly with the pinion.

If you do go that route, make sure that you use some decent lube on the lower splines, you don't want both ends of the driveshaft to seize in place - that really wouldn't be fun the next time you need to get at the lower unit..."
 
"hey Graham

i can't tha


"hey Graham

i can't thank you enough for taking the time to give such good instructions and details. that is some real good news, i was not looking forward to taking the gear case apart.
if you ever have any questions about things around the house maybe i can return the favor, i am a general building contractor in san diego. once again thanks for giving up your time.
Sincerely George Sanden"
 
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