Got the unit together (minus water pump). Will probably handle that in the morning, unless I wake up and can't sleep. I wound up using the pinion gear and bearings from the new unit with the old vertical shaft (and new shims). The bearings on that unit's vertical shaft came off without heat and just using the press. Made the measurements and added shims and pressed the bearings back on (used the Honda tool, but that one could have easily been a piece of steel tube with the right diameter and thickness.
When putting the shaft back in, I did have two uh-oh things happen:
First, I thought I was being smart and had placed a socket that was the same size as the part of the shaft that sits in the needle bearing to try and hold the needles in the bearing. When putting the shaft back in, it went in great just pushing the socket out as it went in, but I had to pick it up some to get the pinion gear on the shaft, and I guess I moved it up just a little too much and several of the needles wound up dropping out. The trick wound up being to have the case sitting upright and putting the needles in (make sure they have grease; it will help them stick to the wall to some extent). Some will fall out as you are working, but you just have to keep at it. This would definitely be a time that someone with really small, childlike hands would have an advantage. When they were already in place, I put the socket in to just make sure they were in place and they stayed there after removing the socket until I could get the vertical shaft in and was just holding the pinion gear in place as I put the shaft in so I didn't have to lift it back out. I got everything tightened to spec. 135 ft-lbs isn't a joke on a shaft that long. We did lay it back down on our work surface (truck tailgate) so we could use our weight to help out and not try to turn that thing above our heads (at least for one of us).
Next, I got everything in and ready to go and torqued the lock nut down to spec and the vertical shaft would not budge. I figured out that I had put the locknut on with the flatter side against the bearings and that was restricting the bearing. You need to put the more open side down and the edges of it bear on the edges of the bearing. After I flipped it over, it rotates just fine. Got the prop shaft holder in with no issues and the shift rod went in and seems to be shifting just fine.
Now the next question...I was reading the section of the manual about checking backlash. It seems to only be talking about adjustments to the forward bevel gear shims. There don't seem to be any tests/checks that tell you anything to do with the driveshaft pinion gear shims. I didn't remove or adjust the other gears/shims in any way, other than removing the prop shaft holder (and it stayed in 1 piece). Since this is a LH unit, it doesn't even have the thrust shim that always falls out when you pull the prop holder on a RH drive (it's located withing the holder behind the gear on LH). Since I didn't do anything with any of the other shims, does the backlash check really tell you anything? Are there any checks to be done on the pinion gear shims?
When putting the shaft back in, I did have two uh-oh things happen:
First, I thought I was being smart and had placed a socket that was the same size as the part of the shaft that sits in the needle bearing to try and hold the needles in the bearing. When putting the shaft back in, it went in great just pushing the socket out as it went in, but I had to pick it up some to get the pinion gear on the shaft, and I guess I moved it up just a little too much and several of the needles wound up dropping out. The trick wound up being to have the case sitting upright and putting the needles in (make sure they have grease; it will help them stick to the wall to some extent). Some will fall out as you are working, but you just have to keep at it. This would definitely be a time that someone with really small, childlike hands would have an advantage. When they were already in place, I put the socket in to just make sure they were in place and they stayed there after removing the socket until I could get the vertical shaft in and was just holding the pinion gear in place as I put the shaft in so I didn't have to lift it back out. I got everything tightened to spec. 135 ft-lbs isn't a joke on a shaft that long. We did lay it back down on our work surface (truck tailgate) so we could use our weight to help out and not try to turn that thing above our heads (at least for one of us).
Next, I got everything in and ready to go and torqued the lock nut down to spec and the vertical shaft would not budge. I figured out that I had put the locknut on with the flatter side against the bearings and that was restricting the bearing. You need to put the more open side down and the edges of it bear on the edges of the bearing. After I flipped it over, it rotates just fine. Got the prop shaft holder in with no issues and the shift rod went in and seems to be shifting just fine.
Now the next question...I was reading the section of the manual about checking backlash. It seems to only be talking about adjustments to the forward bevel gear shims. There don't seem to be any tests/checks that tell you anything to do with the driveshaft pinion gear shims. I didn't remove or adjust the other gears/shims in any way, other than removing the prop shaft holder (and it stayed in 1 piece). Since this is a LH unit, it doesn't even have the thrust shim that always falls out when you pull the prop holder on a RH drive (it's located withing the holder behind the gear on LH). Since I didn't do anything with any of the other shims, does the backlash check really tell you anything? Are there any checks to be done on the pinion gear shims?
, since it is LH). I'm not a big fan of the prop engaging out of water, but kept it slow. Just got to get the steering hoses/cylinder replaced. I noticed the system was losing some fluid last year and suspected it was leaking a little and it was to the point the motor wouldn't stay stable. Figured that it doesn't really matter if it runs if you can't steer. If it isn't one thing it'll be another.
