2001 Johnson 25 - Lower Unit Removal

Just purchased the factory water pump rebuild kit. Began disassembling the lower unit per instructions, but could not get the lower unit to fully drop. It felt like it was hanging up on something. Yes, I did disconnect the shift rod behind the water intake. It drops about six inches and won't drop any further. I thought maybe I should remove the upper connector, but the directions imply that that you don't do that until the after the gear case has been removed. I did try removing it, but it wouldn't budge. Any suggestions there? I'm pretty handy, but new to this outboard.

Is that the upper connector on the shift rod that is under the water pick up?? If it is that will have to come off of the shift rod to get the G/C off. But. I may be wrong.

You remove the water intake screens.-----Then you uncouple the shift rod in there.----Then you slide the upper nut up to remove the black plastic keeper, it is split.-------------You may have to remove paint on the upper rod to slide the nut up.--------Then the lower unit can be removed.--------There is no other way !!

It seems like the upper nut was the issue and the directions did mention the keeper, but the way the directions were worded implied that you removed it after pulling the lower unit. I was running out of daylight and time (honey-do issues), so I couldn't really get into it. Thanks racerone and boobie for the help! If I have trouble removing it, I may pick y'alls brains a little more! Thanks again.

Got it removed this afternoon. No problems once I got that upper nut loosened up! Will start the water pump rebuild this weekend. Thanks again y'all!

Well, I successfully rebuilt the water pump, but am having trouble getting the lower unit all the way back in. I can get it to about 3/8" from seating, but I can't move it any more. I checked the water tube and it's where it needs to be. Any thoughts? Could it be the driveshaft spacer hanging up?

Did you rotate the flywheel ??

Well, everything is back together and I've got a good water stream. Unfortunately, now my electric start quit working. The battery is fully charged and everything appears to be connected. I did install a new grip on the tiller handle, but don't see how that could have affected anything. Thoughts?

Have the battery load tested at a parts house and check all the cable connections on both the motor and the battery.