Lower unit

Hey y'all, I was having some internal noise while in gear it's a clunking noise, so I decided to remove the prop shaft and have a look inside, everything looked good, I eventually got around to reassembling it, now it grinds like hell when I try to put it into forward gear it eventually it does go in but it's not right, I have tried adjusting the shift cable with no luck, Any ideas on either issue would be greatly appreciated, I'll add that while running at wide open throttle once it suddenly started making a ratcheting sound a fast clicking sound i killed it too fast to figure out where it was coming from and it didn't do it again, I wonder if I may have reinstalled it incorrectly any ideas would be greatly appreciated. 2001 M140A

Assuming your model is M140A2, Year is irrelevant. What did the clutch dog and the mating faces of the A and C gears look like? Sometimes, if not fully engaged, it could clunk out of drive for a revolution. That is really hard on the clutch dog and those faces. If you are only part-way engaged, it sure will grind as the clutch dog jumps on and off the mating faces of the gears. Make 100% sure you reassembled everything on the prop shaft correctly. Cable adjustment is unnecessary; Manually shift the lever at the motor -- using the shift arm, and then adjust the cable so it slips on at the clevis joint, then lock the nut there.

Thanks for the reply Paul, I've never seen a new clutch dog except in pictures so I had nothing to compare it to, it didn't look obviously bad, i believe I may have lost part number three on the diagram, it is a thin type of washer I'm sure they have their own name but I don't know what they're called, I looked and looked for it but never could find it,.could that really throw it out of whack that bad? Thanks

Most common is something like the ball (9) or the holder (10), or the #18 washer accidentally left out. Then you usually end up in the wrong gear, say R is unavailable, or F is unavailable. The #3 shim is critical. It is available in a couple of different thicknesses, and you want your exact shim in place. If that shim is missing, the A gear will be too far forward, and will not mesh correctly with the pinion. Changing shim thickness changes backlash, and correcting that takes a lot of time, as well as some special gauges and a dial indicator.

At this point, if you don't find that shim, you may be going to your local dealer to get the LU setup properly.