115hp Johnson shift lever cannot re-engaged

I bought a 115HP Johnson user manual from Marine Engine.com and proceeded with
the replacement of the waterpump. I followed all the instructions as
described on page 6.11 for the dismantling of the gearcase which asked me:
1. to rotate the propeller and shift the gearcase to FORWARD
2. to push the shift rod link toward the powerdhead to disengage the shift rod
3 drop the gearcase etc,

After the pump replacement I have repeated in reverse the steps described above to mount the gearcase
but cannot rengage the shift rod to the correct position/operation. The shift lever does not action the
shift rod lever to FORWARD or REVERSE.
When the engine is started,the propeller rotates at the same time (no neutral) only FOWARD
can somenoe provide more instructions to get me out of trouble, as the
manual does not describe the reverse steps clearly

Thanks in advance
Henri Lai

Get an assistant with a good flashlight on the other side of the engine.----Shift rod may have to be positioned for the pin to go in the hole.

Also, make sure you did not rotate the shift rod while you were reinstalling the lower. If you did, it will never line up.

racerone said:

Get an assistant with a good flashlight on the other side of the engine.----Shift rod may have to be positioned for the pin to go in the hole.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, so the shift rod is shaped like a cog ( like a hockey stick) with a hole and I presume the cog has to be facing forward when reinstalling the lower base. I might have to remove the fuel/oil pump to be able to see the other side. What do you think?