Lower Unit Ficht 2002

Hi,

I have removed the lower unit on my 115 Ficht, in order to change the Water Pump impeller. This effort was considerably more than on my previous engines (mercruiser Alpha1 outdrive, 86 Yammie 200). The reason being, was that I wasn't sure how to disconnect the upper shift linkage. My crappy Seloc manual was very weak in this area, and suggested I remove the entire lower cowling (which I did). Once I got it apart, I see how easy the linkage comes apart, and next time will be much quicker.

Question: While the Lower Unit was on my bench, I spun the shift shaft several times trying to engage neutral and reverse. Boy was I surprised when I found out the mechanism uses an UP/DOWN movement. My last motors rotated the shift shaft. Now, my crappy Seloc manual says I will need to 'precisely measure' the length of the rod to +/- .1 inch to be in spec.

Someone must have a simple method to do this.

The crappy Seloc manual did give me one helpful hint for re-installing drive which i have never thought of: Use oversized ( inch or so longer) bolts to engage the Lower unit and allow gradual guidance while reinstalling lower unit. This will prevent having to hold it up, align, and get hardware started. Good Tip, lousy book.

I made the mistake when rebuilding my ficht lower unit and I removed the shift rod. (I can't remember, but I think you can leave the rod in for most repairs. I replaced the water pump, all the seals, carrier seals, and I had stripped threads on the lower oil fill plug. I drilled it out and threaded it with NPT. Now I use a SS hex plug and its awesome. (Saved me buying and entire LU) But I had to put the magnetic plug at the top.

Anyway I worried about getting the shift rod to that exact length in the seloc book. There is a tool the shop has, but I used a tape measure and put a flat across the LU (I think it was across the outer edge of the case where it matches up). I still was not sure plus the rod itself had way more than that 0.1" of slop in it.

I threw the LU into the truck and took it to the shop and asked for a quick measurement. It was pretty close to spec but had that slop. He said CLOSE ENOUGH and if it shifts, its fine. So what I learned was it not that big a deal to be +/- 0.1" especialy with +/- 0.25" of slop. I just centered the slop as close as possible to the spec. It worked fine.

Hope that helps. Good Luck

With the shift rod in neutral, from the surface of the LU to the center of the shift rod hole the measurement is 21 3/4" +/-1/32" with the bend of the rod facing forward this is for the 20" model FPL, FSL you didn't specify which model you had if it is an FPX model it is 26 3/4" +/-1/32.

Thanks for the responses. I may try to get the LU back together this weekend.

Model: E115FPLSTB
Serial Number: 05007476

Then, on to Error code 38/39!

Well the LU went on very easily. I always use a bungee cord to hold it in place while i fine tune the alignment, it works great. Shift shaft was one or two turns too high it turns out so i couldn't get reverse very well. I was able to rotate the shaft two turns, with the LU installed, so no big deal. http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

Congrats on your success http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif .