Re: clutch dog trick on newer 25/35 gearcases?

[johnyrude200]

Good to know the special tool is plastic (won’t buy), and even better heads up on how to fabricate one from an old clutch dog. A retired mechanic who I have become good friends with fabricated one out of thin brass tube for the older 2-tooth dogs. I modified the opposite end to hold 1 of the detent balls and used a large flat head screw driver to hold the other one in as I guided the prop shaft into the forward bearing.

The service manuals recommend using some grease to hold the detent balls in place, I used that to keep it there until it was butting up against the CD surface, then just used the flat head screwdriver to recess it into the prop shaft orifice. The trick is to have a rubber mallet close by to drive the prop shaft down into the orifice/forward bearing. There is a moment where you push the guide tool and prop shaft as far as it will go, balance for a moment while holding the flat head screw driver against the detent ball, and then need to give the prop shaft a whack with the rubber hammer. Then you’re home free. There is a ‘click’ as things go to where they’re supposed to, and the rest is pretty much clockwork.

I’m more fascinated with how many trials it must have took by the engineers to set this thing up. How many hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars did the R&D department blow through in revisions before they got their glob of clay molded enough to be practical…?

A little bit of a finesse job, but after a few dozen I’m sure it’ll get easier!

I will say that the single housing gearcases sure don’t seem to spring many seal leaks. With the 2-piece gearcases I pretty much assume I will be changing the shift shaft seal on every one I deal with. Saves me the time of boat testing the motor because obviously opening it up, I get to see how the internals are. Of course, all of the units I’m dealing with are at least "40 years of age" with original seals. But they still run great after necessary servicework!

So I guess I’ll have to wait another 5-10 years to see what is the common failure point for the 80’s/90’s motors.

OUT OF LEFT FIELD: used some truarc pliers on one of these gearcases and WOW, talk about reminding how nice it is to use the right tool for the right job. Took literally 5 seconds to do something that had taken me 20 minutes last time, and a lot of cussing.