1977 evinrude 175 hp v6 lower unit

"I had trouble getting my outb

"I had trouble getting my outboard to shift gears last week after about an hour of working fine. The mechanic is getting ready to dive into the lower unit. He thinks the problem is either the linkage or the clutch dog. He also says that if it is the clutch dog, the forward and reverse gears may need to be replaced. Also since my lower unit oil shows some form of water in it.. (milky colored oil) I have to get the seals replaced which will probably cause me to have to get the carrier bearing replaced as well due to the difficulty removing it. I am also getting a new impeller kit installed since he already has the lower unit dropped. Now here is my question.. What are the odds that the problem is still in the linkage and what else if anything should i have looked at and/or replaced while the lower unit is already dropped? Any help will be greatly appreciated..."

look at the clutch dog edges m

look at the clutch dog edges must be square any rounding and it will slip out of gear or hard to adjust look inside of gear where dog engages must be square. no rounding you should also chech shift rod height very important with special tool and service manual

Thanks a lot for the help. Yo

Thanks a lot for the help. You had it right on the money. The gears also had rounding where they were supposed to be square. Looks like I will be rebuilding a lower unit...

"If you are a gambling man I h

"If you are a gambling man I have seen similar lower units going in the less than $200 range on Ebay. Last used one I bought was 10 years ago, and it is still going strong. On my current boat a fancy local marina rebuilt one of the drives. Got two trips out of it. (Can't clunk them over the head with it because I didn't pay for the rebuild--former owner did before purchase.) May be worth considering."