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1990 sundancer 220 da shifting issues

R

robert.kilpatrickjr

New member
1990 sea ray sundancer da 5.7 ci stern drive
I'm unsure if it's an alpha drive lower or not. I replaced the impeller in the lower unit last year. I put it in the water and started it on the trailer tried to put it in reverse and got nothing just throttle. I slid it unto drive and it engaged to forward. Attempted reverse and it was still in forward. Shut off engine and it went back to neutral. Parked it for the winter. Re attempted to properly spline lower shift linkage this year and dropped it in. Reversed it off the trailer, put it in neutral. Engaged it forward. Worked great! my next attempt to go into drive or reverse failed and it was stuck in neutral completely. any help is appreciated!
 
1. remove lower again
2. with lower removed turn prop or prop shaft counter clockwise and spin splined shaft all the way clockwise (splined shaft is towards the front of the lower at 12:00)
3. shift the shift control (at drivers seat area) all the way into forward gear
4. when installing the lower to upper the BRONZE shift arm must be pointing at the front of the boat 12:00 period!!! As you get the lower up into the upper the bronze shift arm needs to slide over shift shaft splines and still point at 12:00 while the lower is still in forward gear (you did this when you rotated the splined shift shaft clockwise and prop c'clockwise).
5 once the bronze shift arm has started to go onto the shift shaft you may not be able to get the lower all the way up du to misaligned drive shaft splines and upper drive gear splines. Now you rotate the prop counter clock wise which will spin the vertical drive shaft an allow it to align with the upper gear.

the bronze shift arm should now be in the middle of the shift arm in the gimbal housing ( a stainless steel upside down U shaped piece.

If all this works then you should be able to shift.

Also you need to refill outdrive from lower drain plug as you loose gear oil when separating the two halfs.

If you do not refill you could wipe out the upper gear set.
 
Last edited:
kghost said:
1. remove lower again
2. with lower removed turn prop or prop shaft counter clockwise and spin splined shaft all the way clockwise (splined shaft is towards the front of the lower at 12:00)
3. shift the shift control (at drivers seat area) all the way into forward gear
4. when installing the lower to upper the BRONZE shift arm must be pointing at the front of the boat 12:00 period!!! As you get the lower up into the upper the bronze shift arm needs to slide over shift shaft splines and still point at 12:00 while the lower is still in forward gear (you did this when you rotated the splined shift shaft clockwise and prop c'clockwise).
5 once the bronze shift arm has started to go onto the shift shaft you may not be able to get the lower all the way up du to misaligned drive shaft splines and upper drive gear splines. Now you rotate the prop counter clock wise which will spin the vertical drive shaft an allow it to align with the upper gear.

the bronze shift arm should now be in the middle of the shift arm in the gimbal housing ( a stainless steel upside down U shaped piece.

If all this works then you should be able to shift.

Also you need to refill outdrive from lower drain plug as you loose gear oil when separating the two halfs.

If you do not refill you could wipe out the upper gear set.
Click to expand...

Every time I removed and replaced the lower unit I did every step of this. I'm not entirely certain I did them properly but I followed instructions from a few different forums/you tube videos.
 
Send me a private message with your phone number and if I can call now.
Click on my name and a drop down menu will appear and private message is one choice.
 
Just spoke with Robert

It appears he is missing the stainless steel washer between the shift shaft bushing and the bronze shift arm. Possibly allowing the bronze shift arm to fall below the gimbal shift shaft U.

He is going to order the washer and in a couple of weeks get back to us to find out if this fixes his issue.

Gave him some other things to do and look for so hopefully this will do it.
 
Bt Doctur said:
You would think a hardware store would be quicker
Click to expand...



Wish it was that easy........this washer is only .060" thick... if you get a standard thickness washer it will push the bronze shift arm to high and cause issues either at the gimbal shift link or squash the shift shaft bushing or both.....


This washer is the only thing I could find he was missing from out conversation.........can only do so much from here......
 
After installing the washer the boat ran and shifted beautifully! My only issue now is installing a new started as it stripped out on me. At least I don't have to Scooby-Doo the issue this time! Jack thank you very much for your help and expertise! You're a life saver!
 
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