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Upper shift shaft lube

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Wakefootin

New member
In the manual for a 1992 Mercury 200 XRI it states to lubricate the upper shift shaft with 2-4-C every season. It mentions no we’re else how or what specifically to grease and I can’t find anything online. Looking at my engine the top of the shaft and link arm inside the upper cowling look factory clean with no signs of grease. The exposed shaft that comes out of the top cowling and goes down through the swivel pin tube looks slightly greased. Do I just grease the shaft? If so just smear some on or is there a correct way to grease it? Is the grease to just lube the shaft or help seal something? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 
The splines on the shift shaft and drive shaft should be greased every time the lower unit is off to change the impeller/water pump. I just smear a gob on the splines and spread it around on the splines. I’ll then take a bit of grease and give the two shafts a light coating to help slide both shafts slide through the oil seals on the oil pan. This is to prevent rust/corrosion from forming and seizing the shafts into the engine. Same with the propeller shaft only I believe the propeller shaft should be done yearly.
 
Thank you. I was a little confused as the picture in the book showing greasing places had end part of the rod circled where it’s exposed. The manual I have is for all HP sizes in the model line though so the pictures aren’t always exact. When I pull my lower unit the top two feet of the shift shaft remain in place with the top 1.5” exposed under the top cowling. I have been greasing the top of the shafts coming out of the lower unit before reinstalling it. Looking at the list of grease points it only lists the one line for the shift shaft along with the driveshaft and shift shaft seal. That must be all they were talking about. Thanks again for the clarification.
 
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