Yamaha Water Pump Changeout
 

I changed out the water pump in my Yamaha 40HP 2 stroke. That went well. When I put it back together I can't shift out of forward. The spline connection is turning when the gear shifter is moved. With the lower unit out I can manually turn the shift rod but the gears don't shift, locked in forward.

Suggestions??

Possible broken pin on the clutch dog I changed one out before that broke in 3 pieces and it was also locked into forward

Problem Solved
 

My problem was I needed to turn the lower unit shifter spline to the neutral position. I thought I had turned it all it would go trying to find neutral but I hadn't. Once I turned it more the lower unit gears went to neutral. Installed and everything is fine.

I had put the gear shift in neutral before taking the lower unit off but managed to shift it while I was replacing the water pump.

Initially I was concerned cranking down on the spline with a pair of pliers to "make" it move would be like using a bigger hammer to solve the problem and ending up with a worse problem.

Glad you got it figured out and back running again.