I have had that happen before when doing alignments. Just for the hell of it, put the alignment tool in and hit it with a rubber mallet side to side and top and bottom. Sometimes the rubber can take a set and needs a little help to center itself. Give it a few good whacks.

Steve

Wish that would have worked... believe me I tried everything. Looking down through the bearing you could watch the coupler make a wobbling spiral.... definitely bad.

You ran it with the alignment tool in ?

It was a proper test based on the circumstances. The coupler was already screwed. If you had seen the wobble while turning over the engine, you'd understand.

That sux

Yup.

Hey, at least I'm getting really good at taking this thing apart and putting it back together!

Tom, are you using the tapered centering screws for install alignment? here is a Service Bulletin for install. Your journey is starting to sound like Scott Jourgensen's luck.
All the best.
http://www.marinemechanic.com/merc/d...ange_EN_11.pdf

Yes, I made sure the coupler was centered.

I have that very link saved in my favorites.

Just an update... and it's a good one!

Got a replacement coupler from Sick Stinger (many thanks Mike!) as well as a new replacement from Amazon/Sierra (that was a surprise!). I installed the original flywheel (had a new ring put on it), aligned the coupler to the flywheel, installed everything in the boat, got her perfectly aligned, and I'm happy to say that the set-up has about six hours on the clock with no drive issues. In fact, I've used the boat more in the last two weeks than I had the entire summer combined!

Just want to say thanks to everyone for all the help! And a huge thanks to Sick Stinger for standing behind his parts! That's huge in my book.