1986 150 yamaha water in my lower unit

[Monkey Butler]

Originally Posted by sven

Is there any way to inspect the shift shaft without pulling apart the whole motor?

Look at the forward edge of the midsection just below where the lower pivot connects.



You can just catch a glimpse of the shaft. It is as thin as a pencil to start and you won't really be able to tell what sort of shape it is in from wat you can see but hopefully what you will see is tat it has been replaced at some point and is now nice shiny stainless steel. You could test the strength of the shaft by removing te lower unit and then holding the top of the shaft (right under te block) while at the same time having someone insert a suitable tool into the bottom of the shaft in order to apply torque to see if it is solid. Be aware that this may ultimately turn into a destructive test if the shaft is on its last legs. Here is a link to my old thread about my shaft replacement that shows some photos of the process and a picture of the shaft itself on the last page:

LINK