Mercury 45 Jet 50-55 Service Manual page 496

INSTALLATION
1. Grease the drive shaft, shear key, and impeller
bore. Place the plastic sleeve (a) inside the impel-
ler (b) and install impeller, shear key (c), shims (d)
nut retainer (e), and impeller nut (f). Turn the nut
tight on the shaft to remove any play between the
impeller and shaft. If the tabs on the retainer do not
line up with the flats on the nut, remove the nut and
turn the retainer over and re-tighten the nut again.
a - Plastic Sleeve
b - Impeller
c - Shear Key
d - Shims
e - Nut Retainer
f - Impeller Nut
2. Temporarily reinstall the water intake housing in or-
der to check for impeller clearance. The clearance
between the impeller and liner should be 0.030 in.
(0.8 mm). Shim washers can be transferred to ei-
ther side of the impeller to raise or lower the impel-
ler to the correct clearance setting. The water in-
take housing can be shifted side ways a small
amount in order to center the liner.
6C-10 - LOWER UNIT
3. After setting the impeller height, tighten the impel-
ler nut snug with a wrench. Secure impeller nut by
bending tabs (a) against the flats on the impeller
nut.
a
a - Tabs
4. Reinstall the water intake housing with six bolts.
Check clearance around the impeller to make sure
b
the water intake housing is centered and not rub-
bing against the liner. Torque mounting bolts to 100
lb. in. (11.2 N·m).
c
d
NOTE: If the outboard is used in salt water, apply
e
Quicksilver Anti-Corrosion Grease around the entire
f
mounting flange on the water intake housing and also
to the threads on the six mounting bolts.
a
90-817643R1 DECEMBER 1996