Gear Change Clunking in gears after water pump replaced in 70TLR

[Yankonthefly]

I removed the lower unit in neutral and replaced the water pump. I greased everything up and installed the lower unit back on the motor. I didn't adjust anything with the shifting rod in the mean time. With everything put back together, I fired up the motor to test. Forward, reverse, and neutral were all correct and the water was flowing. The one thing i noticed was more clunking in the shifting process than i have noticed before I removed the lower unit. I have run this motor for only about 20 hours since I purchased it and never heard it clunk this profoundly. Could i have caused this? Could the shifting rod gotten moved causing more clunking to occur? I am baffled for now.

Thanks

[robert graham]

Maybe just the clunking in your head from thinking about this too much. If your idle speed is correct around 750RPM's, then just a normal "clunk" when put in gear, probably nothing wrong, but check idle speed. Good Luck!

[Yankonthefly]

I think you are right. The prop was rotating when running it with muffs which is causing it to gear in harder than usual. RPMS look good. Thanks