Reinstall Merc 4hp lower unit

Hey all, I have a late 80's Mercury 4hp. I have replaced the cooling impeller and am trying to reinstall the lower unit. I am having trouble with getting the drive shaft to fit back into the splines on the power head. I am able to get the lower unit about 1.5-2 inches from seating into place and just hit a stopping point. I have tried moving the shift lever from reverse to foward and I have tried rotating the prop in attempt to turn the drive shaft to better aline the splines.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Rock the flywheel instead of the prop as your putting steady pressure pushing up.Make sure your shift coupler is lining up.

crazymanme2 said:

Rock the flywheel instead of the prop as your putting steady pressure pushing up.Make sure your shift coupler is lining up.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I will give this a try asap.

crazymanme2 said:

Rock the flywheel instead of the prop as your putting steady pressure pushing up.Make sure your shift coupler is lining up.

Click to expand...

X2

A small dental style mirror and small flash light to look up the exhaust housing will tell you if everything is lined up. A second set of hands really help too. I had the same problem on my omc because the water tube would not line up either