Saildrive 280 Waterpump Service?

[drgerafe]

After two full seasons with our S2 8.0B (1980), it's time to replace the waterpump impeller and inner zinc anode on our Honda 9.9-based Saildrive 280 (which was installed by the previous owner about 10 years ago).

I took a look at this last weekend, and got the gearbox to drop from the extension case, but not completely -- it looks like the forward/neutral/reverse shift linkage, which won't drop through the nylon bearing at the engine mounting plate, is holding us up. I didn't have any tools at the time to get on the 10mm coupling "nut" visible in the extension case (e.g., 10mm crowfoot wrench, large offset screwdrivers).

Anyone here been-there, done-that with the Saildrive 280/330 ?
It looks easy enough with the proper tools to get at fasteners/couplers inside the extension case after it drops a bit, though the so-called Owners Manual for the saildrive gives little advise on how to complete this service.

 

[drgerafe]

Gave this another look today with a friend. Looks like the trick is to remove the shift linkage at the engine, then unthread the linkage from above. As the unthreading shift linkage starts to interfere with the shift mechanism, start lowering the gearbox from the extension case until the shift linkage unthreads from the coupling. First time servicing the water pump? Bring some yellow Loctite for the water pump housing bolt threads. Only tricky part of reassembly is getting the shift linkage thread to start in the coupler while your 2nd set of hands aligns the gearbox to the extension case -- patience pays off.

 

[BobM]

congrats

Got to love what passes for a manual.