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1972 Mariner 40 HP gear lever removal

invicta

New member
Hi having isolated the stiffness of the ahead and astern lever to where it passes through the lower engine casing and despite pumping loads of grease into it it is still far too stiff. How do I remove it to free it off? I believe it has a bolt from the inside that goes into the shaft. It is impossible to see but I can feel the head of what may be an 8 mm bolt. It is almost impossible to get a socket on it. Once this bolt is undone will the gear lever and shaft just pull out?
 
Further to the above. Having got a slim mirror behind the linkage connector I can see that it is not a bolt at all but a plain round headed pin. It looks as though the only way to get this gear lever off is to knock out the shear pin hollow dowel that holds the lever to the shaft , lever the the gear lever off the shaft and then tap the shaft back through the casing, or am I missing something?
 
I will answer my own question for the benefit of anyone else experiencing a stiff gear lever. To remove the shaft that the lever is fitted to. 1st tap out the hollow pin securing the lever to the shaft, and pull off the gear lever, 2 disconnect the linkage to the gear change rod and the in gear fail to start mechanism. Then using a suitable soft drift,hammer the shaft back through the lower engine casing. My shaft would turn all be it stiffly, but it took a lot of hammering to drive it out. I was a little concerned that I would break the aluminium casing at first, but it came out OK but the inner nylon bush came out with it in pieces. These are apparently no longer available. Does anyone know where an alternative nylon bush can be obtained that will fit?
 
The reason that the gear lever had become so stif was because when it was built, this engine was fitted with interference grease nipples without a spring and ball. Allowing salt water to get inside the grease nipple and down around the gear lever shaft. Mine was solid with corroded aluminium, ( no wonder I could not get any grease through it} the grease nipple fitted to the throttle remote lever connection is of the same type , but this one was clear I cleared the hole out with a small drill bit . Now all ready to reassemble when I find some new bushes.
 
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