jlbspd

My 2001 Mercruiser 5.7L 2bbl is out for a once over on some new parts, starter, alternator, flywheel, coupler and water pump. I put the shifter in forward before removing the motor.
I havent moved anything / have not rotated anything so can I just slip the motor back into place? or do I have to remove the Alpha & buy an alignment tool?
I intentionally didnt move anything in hopes of just slipping the motor back in place.....but I see online alot of people saying the alpha has to come off and alignment done no matter what...
I dont have the alignment tool and hope I dont have to spend money on one...and dont really want to remove MORE parts lol

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

How did you get the motor out with the drive still installed, w/o lifting the front of the motor up to clear the motor mounts?

You really should remove the drive, reinstall the motor, have alignment checked, reinstall drive. In that order

jlbspd

I just unbolted the rear bell housing bolts, removed the bolts from the stringer mounts in front, BARELY took weight off front and wiggled / rocked motor by hand and with a couple tuggs ....it just slipped out nice and easy.

jlbspd

i left the mounts attached to motor but removed stringer bolts... this allowed the motor to slide forward along the stringers.

POWERPLAY J

Yeah what he said!

I would pull the drive off and put the engine in place. Rent or borrow the alignment tool to position the engine then install the drive. Worst case go on ebay and buy the tool, it's much cheaper in the long run than a blown coupler or a few U joints...

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

Why are you replacing the coupler? Are the splines worn?

jlbspd

I am the new owner of a 2001 Baja Hammer.....well owned for a yr now. It appears the previous owner didnt wash the motor / bilge out as often as he should have (possibly ran motor with salt water in bilge getting thrown up on flywheel)....as a result, the salt water had gotten the best of the coupler and flywheel / ring gear.
It all started with the starter unable to engage ring gear teeth as they had been salt damaged....after pulling motor I found the coupler badly rusted. Coupler splines look perfect, it was the triangle mounting flang that was extremely rusted.

jlbspd

Just seems that if the motor internals were not moved ie. crank not turned, the drive was locked into place before removing the motor and nothing else was changed other than new flywheel and coupler (coupler splines looked perfect on old unit) then how would anything change? The motor slid forward like butter when i removed it.
This is all new territory for me...so forgive me if I seem ignorant to the reason why i would need to remove drive lol

mike tkach

iTrader: (3)

you will need to get an alignment tool,when you left the mounts on the engine,you lost alignment.

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

Turning the motor over or not has nothing to do alignment. (for most part if coupler is true) The motor mount lag bolts you removed went thru slotted mounts. Will you be able to reinstall in reverse order and try to reposition the mounts in exact same location and be fine? Possibly since you won't be changing the motor front height, and side to side positioning will be very limited. But it may have been off before the removal?? however if spline weren't worn, sharp pointed tips, sounds like it was good. The cost of the tool isn't bad. A member here, whoya, sells them on ebay at a really good price, but you gotta know how to use and read the grease markings. You spent the money on a new flywheel, couple, and starter, and the time to remove the motor, the tool will make sure you have it all back together correctly. If anything, have the motor installed and run it down to the marina with the drive off and have a mechanic do a quick check.
Also, by removing the drive, you will be able to grease the ujoints and inspect the bearing, which can't be done with drive installed. You stated salt water on flywheel and coupler, rust. Did the bearing get wet too?

Were the 2 large upper nuts on the motor mount studs tight against the mount themselves, or was there a gap between the mount and top nuts?

You'll need to make sure the fiber washers and springs don't fall off if you slide the motor back, in reverse from the removal procedure if you choose not to pull the drive. Usually never an issue when the motor is lowered on top of them and aren't fighting the input shaft. Make sure once you start the input shaft into the coupler, you keep the motor at same level as when slide forward with mounts sliding on stringers to keep from cracking the gimble housing. But in all honesty, you are only 5-10 min away from having the drive off and making the engine install go a lot easier, and ability for a more indept looky see at bellows, u-joint and bearing.