Drive install issue....alpha 1 gen 2 7.4mpi
 

Yes....I know that's a ton of motor.....

Here's tha deal...customers boat"

95 sea ray 23' cuddy with 5.0 and alpha 1 gen 2.
Motor blown, hires "pro" from local marina...
"pro" moonlights removes car motor with marine exhaust (another pro before him)
Pro 2 disappears with 5k and all parts except drive.
I meet customer via the granite shop next to mine....lots of boats and stuff around....
O.k....so owner wants to start over. I found a very low hour 7.4 mpi here from bdavis and he and I swapped measurements and compatibility concerns prior to making a deal.
7.4 arrived as advertised....excellent price that she (owner) paid directly....no markup from me.
Then....I gave her the invoices from merc for all of the missing peces needed to reinstall the engine and drive....

Now to the point. I charged her a flat 1100 labor for everything, feeling that just covering my bases was enough to keep a boater from leaving the lifestyle due to bad experiences....

I am over 50 hours in...and still not done...and can't get the drive on. The motor is absolutely in perfect position. The drive will not mate all of the way into the coupler. I have tried and tried and tried again, but I can not get the tailstock more than 1" into the coupler...and I need about another 1.5 for the drive to seat fully against the bell housing.

What am I missing? It has to be something that makes me look dumb for missing, but if I can get this over with, I will wear that badge with pride....

You didn't mention using an alignment tool so how do you know the motors lined up?

If you did use an alignment tool and it slid in and out very easily, is the drive getting hung up on the shift foot or splines not meshing? With shifter in forward and a prop on the drive you may have to turn the prop to get the splines to mesh. Sorry if you already know all this, just throwing out some ideas.

Is the coupler packed full of grease? I have had that happen before. Randy

I used an alignment tool when I initially tightened the motor. It slid in and out without hesitation, even when I rotated it and stuck it back in.

Different than the alpha 1 first gen, it uses the inside crimp for the drive bellow instead of a worm clamp on the outside. I have removed and reinspected to make sure the ujoints are not binding...

I put lipstick on the drive coupler and looked at the transfer onto the splines....about an inch....

I have removed all three orings on the tail shaft...no help

I took out the big oring that seals against the crimp seal....no help...

All installed again, no difference...

I have applied and reapplied grease to each side of the mating surfaces....and then.....I put some more....

I can put a breaker bar on the crank, spin it, and the prop turns.

With the remaining gap, the shift slide still has play in the drive opening....meaning I can move it a little with my finger tips....not binding.

It is almost like the coupler is tapered and won't let the tail in any more....

So this is the original drive that was on the boat, right? Something I heard one time which I can't confirm to be deffinately true is that you shouldn't use grease on the o-rings on the shaft because excess grease between the o-rings and grooves won't compress which makes it hard to get on. You should use oil on the o-rings. I know you don't want to hear it but if it were me I would lift the engine back up and turn it 90 degrees and remove the coupler. Then slide it on the drive to see just what's going on. I assume you have the drive in forward and also the shifter at the helm.

Yassir....

Lever at commander fore, shift leg on drive centered....

My plan in the evening tomorrow was to hoist out and try exactly that suggestion with much prejudice.....

A lawyer of many moons ago told me that no good deed goes unpunished.....

Hopefully, I have better luck with iculookin mike and his panel....otherwise...I am going away for an attitude adjustment

May need to just do the "merc kick" using the size 9 calabrated installation tool as explained here starting at 2:30 in the vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGVrY4cWiDA

Did you catch the part # by chance? I seemed to mis it :lolhit:

Most likely it is hung up on the gimbal bearing.
Once you get it on how are you going to handle the shift interupt?

I've had this happen before, measure the engagement of the alignment tool again. I think your going to find it only goes in an inch or so. Realign engine making sure the tool goes all the way in, then reinstall the drive. Again I had the exact same problem.

Merckick calibration tool......
 

We watched that in the shop last Friday and the immediate response from all was "if that phuckin Sally can do it than we sure as hell can"

Thanks red.....gonna try lipstick again....just to be sure...

I found it by measuring the engagement of the alignment tool and seeing it was short the same distance as the drive away from the bellhousing

If your drive is going in until the 6 bolts on the outside bell just start into the 6 holes on the drive your are hanging up on the gimbal bearing. Take a block of wood put it on the backside of the drive and hit it with a heavy hammer or mall,sounds crude but I have found over the years sometimes it's the only way. JOHN SR Just my 2 cents

I ruined a coupler this way lol

I ran into the same issue when I pulled a 496HO and put in a complete aftermarket 557. My problem was that I installed the flat fiber washer with the spring and turned out I had bought a motor with a later model bell housing. Didnt need the washers and after removing, everything lined right up. Good luck.

how are the splines on the drive? did u test fit a splined shaft into the coupling? what alignment tool do u have? i found the best one is an old splined shaft with a bar welded to the end of it

Devide and conquer. Take a motor-end yoke the same length as yours, or take yours off your drive and see if it will go into the coupler without the drive. Once the yoke goes in and out freely retry the whole drive. if you are sure it is not the yoke binding you can be sure the shifter is alligned.

I assume you know yokes come in many lengths. Some bell housings on the motor have the rear mounts in different position causing yokes not fit. Assume the yoke stops 1" before the bottom of the coupler, put a tape into the coupler and measure the length from the gasket to the bottom of the coupler. Then measure the u/j assy from the gasket surface of the drive. If the u/j is more than 1" from the depth in the coupler you may bottom out in the coupler. Feel the shaft of the yoke when it jams and feel how much splined area is left exposed at the coupler.

When a drive is jamed like this, press on the back and wiggle the drive to determine if th u-j section or something around the bell housing is draging.
God luck Buddy.