Remove just the lower unit

"just completed a job today. c

"just completed a job today. customer replaced his own water pump. (alpha 1) removed just the lower, left the upper bolted to the bell housing. would not go into fwd. gear. must have jammed something putting it back on. the shift crank was bent. had to completly tear down the lower to replace it. that cost about $600. by the way, when I removed the drive, found the bellows was bad. had to replace the u-joints and gimbal bearing too. another $450. the good news? this guy saved $6 on a gasket. (not really, since I had to replace it anyway) My point? if you need to pull the drive, pull the drive!! someone on this forum once said "that's easy for you. you have a stand" well, yes I do. you can make one with a scrap of plywood, and a couple of 2x4s. then you will have one too. what's that, $10? I subscribe to this forum to help the do it yourselfers. please take the extra time to do it right. I really hate making out a bill like this. it was totally unnecessary. sorry about the rant, but I'm really steamed. S."

"Scott
Could not agree with y

"Scott
Could not agree with you more, it doese not matter what job you have to do it is always easier to pull the leg and do the repair on the bench.
Every time I have quoted a pump, I quote to remove the leg so that I can check the rest of the crap while I am there, If the customer doesn't like it he can take the job elsewhere.

Cheers
Peter C"

"Scott:

Instead of getting

"Scott:

Instead of getting "steamed" over a BYM trying to save a buck, you could relish in the fact that he came to your business, you helped him by teaching him the right way the job should be done and have a happy customer because his boat works. He may not like it that his bank account is lower--it was his fault; you both gained from his short sightedness and he will probably come back to you if you treated him with respect as a good businessman should. You should have been grinning like the Chessire Cat in "Alice in Wonderland" because he trusted your expertise. Let it roll off your hand and into your bank account. Have a few beers. Cheers."

"Guy

I can see your point b

"Guy

I can see your point but I can tell you as a repairer that nothing urks me more than when someone brings me a half done job as I then have to do it twice to make sure that what ever the customer has done is right first and eliminate any problems he may have caused.

I try to encourage people to have a go at a repair and constantly do just that on this forum, but I normaly add that they should get a manual, have a good read and be clear about the task ahead and if they are unsure to seek help from someone with knowledge about the task.

But I suppose that is the nature of the beast, to charge first and ask questions later, hopefully as more and more people use this forum they will realise that it costs nothing to ask questions first and get good advice from collectivly over hundreds of years experiance in marine repairs so they can have the confidence to do the job right the first time.

Now I think I will just put up my feet, have a rum or 5 and ponder what little nasties are hidden behind my workshop door waiting for me in the morning.

Cheers Gentleman

You Know Who"

"Right on guys! I could not ag

"Right on guys! I could not agree more Scott.
It is so much easier to remove the drive and do it right the first time. In my experience it is much easier to do the pump change in a stand or a bench vise than it is to wrestle the lower back onto the upper while on the boat. And you get to inspect the U joints, gimbal, coupler and bellows at the same time.
Rod"

I saw a sign in a mechanics sh

I saw a sign in a mechanics shop once that read:

Regular hourly rate- $40/hr
If you wait- $50/hr
If you watch- $60/hr
If you help- $70/hr
If you laugh- $80/hr
If you worked on it first- $150/hr

I'm sure some of you have seen it before but it's funny anyway.
Graham

Grahame
Its an oldy but a go

Grahame
Its an oldy but a goody and probably practised quite regularly in some repairers workshops.
Cheers
Peter C

"I know you guys dont care for

"I know you guys dont care for people who do their own repair work, but this boat only cost me 400 dollars so I couldnt see spending more on a repair than the boats worth. Heres my question, I removed the lower unit, replaced the water pump, now when I try to put the lower unit back on, it lacks about a half inch of pulling all the way up, it stops just short of the bolts going through the caseing.I tried spinning the engine several times by just bumping the starter to no avail. I just read where that might be too much. Another thing, the copper water tube that fits in the rear of the water pump came out with the lower unit when it was removed. I was told thats not supposed to happen, if not, what needs to be done there? Also, I just read a few blogs where people are putting these back together with it in foward. Is this right or can the lower unit be put back on with it in nuetral?"

"Richard

((I know y

"Richard

((I know you guys dont care for people who do their own repair work,))

I am sorry that you have that opinion of us but the reason we are here and give our time and advice freely is to try and help people with their problems.

I personaly only get urked if someone charges in half cocked instead of doing their research first and then delivers me a box of parts and asks me to make it work again.

I hope you might reconsider your opinion of us at some stage.

Now back to your problem.
Yes you need to remove and install the gearbox with the gear selector in forward. you have to make sure that the water tube that runs from the pump up to the top box is sliding into the pump properly as you put the lower section back up into place and grease the drive splines so they slip back in OK. Dont bump the engine over with the starter, lock the leg into forward gear and wind it over with the prop to line up the drive splines and make sure the oring seal for the oil gallery is in place.

The temptation is there when doing a pump to just slip the gearbox off the leg, but as you have read above we generally pull the whole leg to do the job as it is easier to do the job on the bench, it will cost you a couple of extra bucks for the gasket kit but it is well worth it.
The boat may have only cost you 400 bucks but if you do not do the job properly it could cost you substantialy nore than that to rectify your problem.
Before you go any further, beg,buy,borrow or find a manual and read about what you have to do.

Oh and by the way, try not to hijack someone elses post. When you have a problem start a new posting so more people get an opportunity to see what your problem is and offer their help and not just the people involved with the original topic.

See, we are not that bad are we ?

Cheers
Peter C"

"Sorry, it wasnt my intent to

"Sorry, it wasnt my intent to offend. Thank you for your information. Also, sorry to hijack a post, I dont even know what that means. Heck, it took me 45 min last night just to ask my question. Im not very computer litterate, Sorry again and thanks again"

"Richard

Dont worry about i

"Richard

Dont worry about it, all is forgiven, have a look at a manual and if you are still having problems you can get back to us, just post a new topic and we can take it from there.

Cheers
Peter C"

"Richard, first, I am not agai

"Richard, first, I am not against doing it yourself. thats why I am here. just want you to do it right. if you read my original post, it should tell you. take the upper off the boat! mate them in a bench vice, or make a simple stand. put the copper tube back into the upper. the plastic sleeve stays in the pump. it's a guide to help the tube go into place. yes it should be assembled in fwd. shifter should point straight ahead. you can turn the u-joint assy. to mate the splines. very simple. second, to start a new discussion, click on the blue bar at the top of the subject. third, I was not complaining about a customer doing his own work. I have plenty. I just hate to see a guy damaging his boat to save a couple of bucks. and last DO NOT try to force the lower on with the bolts. thats just what my customer did. good luck with your project and congrats for seeking help.
Peter, Rod, Guy, Graham. thanks for your kind words, Im feeling better now. S."