Lower unit mis-aligned with mid section 2.5 lt 2000s ??

[Onetime]

Very interesting.
Sounds like a part that got picked up out of the scrap pile at Mercury and sold by someone other than Mercury.
Post some pictures.

[WillySteve]

What I noticed was- rear end of the lower was off to starboard side maybe 3/32" of an inch- the bolt that goes up under the trim tab confirmed same mis-aligment
This lead me to look at drive shaft- which since lower was crooked - drive shaft was offset
Searching last evening I found front locator pin not centered- you can see with naked eye because it is right in front of the bolt hole(stud back out as they often do).
Measured and indeed it is 3mm to left of center.
No damage to pin nor housing- it is simply not centered. I checked 3 more lowers of same vintage to confirm this offset was not intentional.
This lower was not associated with impact that damaged the trim on the mid. I will dig out the mid this lower came from and check it out of curiosity.

Great, sounds like yer getting somewhere! It was Machined on a Monday.....Real Early!

[H2OPERF]

Not sure what lower you have but if its not hiperf and has the single Timken style thrust bearing the shaft will move around quite abit if its not pulled up into the loaded/seated position, did u put on a new water pump if the shaft is pushed down it may just be the water pump holding it over. I would trust the alignment pins over the bolts, but who know if its been hit like you said. Dave

[CircleHook]

"it may just be the water pump holding it over" now this make sense-
I put the lower back with it's original mid and it fit perfect- however pin and hole are offset -

[outasite]

Looks like the pin in the lower may have been bushed at some time.Is the dowel pin hole in the mid that fits it, bigger than the pin?

[CircleHook]

Look at metal to the both outsides of the pin- one side is way wider than other- the small hole in second photo is hole for pin.
On the other 3 lowers I check - the pin looked the same as this one - just centered.

[Onetime]

I've got the fix for you. I know they make these for pins also. Just trying to help!

[David - WI]

Is it the pin or the studs that are wrong... the studs look offset in their holes in the photo; the pin looks dead center.

[H2OPERF]

The holes in the mids are quite a bit bigger than the studs/bolts so the pins can do their job, the marks on the lower look like shadows from the holes in the mid pulled to one side. loosen the water pump housing bolts pull up on the driveshaft and center the thrust bearing then tighten the housing bolts see what it looks like.

[tlwjkw]

pull tha pin out, bolt it up, see where it goes.....