more alignment woes,getting nowhere
 

I have the right tool now.
I have spent about 8 hrs now!!
I am getting nowhere aligning either motor to the outdrive. I have tried it loose in the back,there is a small spring inside a syn washer. The front is offshore mount with no adj so the bolts are out(tried them in also).Bravo 1 setup 1990 fountain.Turned the motor over and same at 180 deg.Put a slightly smaller straight(not stepped) pipe in coupler and thru the trans assm to see approx location,looked good,still no better with the real tool. Seems as if the coupler is to low,the tool hits at the entrance to coupler and if I lift the back of tool it goes another 1/8" .Winched the rear off the springs a little,no luck,tightened rear,nope. The drives came off fairly easy,pulled my mtrs and left one bell housing/coupler on.Tool almost worked in that one when I released the spring tension in rear but would not go in more than 1". My splines look ok in the coupler,one is a little sharp.
I think there must be some methodical technique and have been given lots of help here but I'm stumped. Everyone seems to agree you start with rear tight.
What am I missing?How far is all the way in? 3"?
Someone suggested to tap in diff directions on the gimbal ring before sliding it in? If this is the case how do you know if you moved it more centered or less? If it really moves this way,how can an alignment tool align?
HHHHHHHEEEEEELLLPPPP!!!!!!! It's beautiful outside and my boat is inside. Thanks,Allen

I have been there. I don't know how I finally got it to go, but it was a pain. The more pissed off I got, the worse it fit. I walked away more times than I know just so I didn't break something.
I was able to finally line the hub on the motor up visually by backing way up off of the transom, and then did fine adjustment on the mounts with a buddy working the tool.

I wish I knew what the magic combination was, but having physical help was a benefit. The more tired that my arms got the less accurate I was.
I know that we ended up turning the crank a little to get a better match with the hub and the splines.

I know you want to shoot somebody.
I remember wondering how the foch the mechanics did it.

alignment
 

I have a 94 American Offshore and the only way it will work is with the springs left out and the fiber washers on. Screwed us up for a long time but thats the only way mine will work. Put grease on your tool and see where it hits on the coupler that will tell you which way you are out. Good Luck

Based off your level of frustration, it sounds like you are doing it right. Just remember, it's not right until you can pull that tool out with two fingers! It's easy to say "good enough!" (typically while beating on it with a 5lb hammer).

the rear mounting hardware must be in place and tight. this does not move and is not meant to.just make sure that you do not have the spring hung up on the fiber washer, this would make alignment impossible. raise or lower the front mounts. if you have to put the tool part way in through the gimble bearing and swivel the bearing around too loosen it up th help with alignment. now push the tool all the way in until you hit the edge of your coupling , now working in a circular motion make smaller and smaller circles until it just starts in the splines. now you can go to more of the in and out motion. use a piece of tape or something to make an indexing mark. use that to tell whether to move the front of the engine up or down.

seems I need to shim the rear. Gotta go punch the clock now. I'll try it again Thur. Thanks guys,and keep the comments coming,I'll consider any ideas.

Did you have your gimbel housing off? I had a baja that someone elongated the holes in the transom, for what reason I have no idea, other than plain stupidity. I worked on that thing for hours before I found that out. I finally had to drill the holes out and fit them with stainless steel pipe cut off to the correct length and dia. to repair it. What a f%&king mess!!

The rear motor mounts are a set hight and cannot be changed.THe shaft will hit the rear of the coupler by alinging the gimble bearing.Once it passes that point the shaft and the coupler must be in a straight line or the rubber in the coupler will melt and the coupler will spin out.This is adjusted with the front mounts.
Remove the front mounts and leave the front of engine hanging on chain then insert bar and tap all the way in with hammer.Next hit the bar hard on the top and sides to alllign bearing to bar.Then move engine up or down til the bar moves in and out with little effort or with thumb or forefinger.Then set mount for that hight and reinstall.After installed re-insert bar to make sure nothing changed.If you have any questions please feel free to call me at 1-800-769-7698 and ask for Sean.

Actually, the transom holes are oversized to allow a bit of alignment. This gets fubared when people put 5200 on the seal. :rolleyes:

I was the one that said to align the gimbal bearing by tapping axialy on the alignment tool. Tapping on the gimbal ring will do nothing. Amer mentioned the same thing above.

Cord... do you mean 5200 on the nut? You said seal. Can you elaborate?

BT :cool:

EUREKA!!!
I feel sure you guys have solved my puzzle. I was even a little embarrassed and didn't say it looked like the back of "tool" was mushroomed from yrs of hammering,,but after my 4x4 deal I left that out. Blue Thunder I keep calling the bearing the ring but now it all makes sense. I actually tried what you said but didn't understand what I was trying to accomplish,that is Knock it til it lines up with the back of coupler. I moved the bearing while forcing my UNALIGNED parts together.
Sean, thanks for the answer. I finally understand the second time around.All you guys are an invaluable source for me. If I hadn't found this board I'd have no chance of hitting the water(dependably?)anytime soon.
My wife says"just look at all you're learning!" and I say I'd rather be out there jumping waves,,but eventually when I have learned another old worn out vehicle I can repair it much more quickly the next time around.Thanks again everyone.

Are you 101% sure the couplers are good? At this point, I don't mean by just looking or feeling them. Do you have access or the means to have 3-4" long stubbys made up at both 1.010 and 1.000 dia's? You need to know for sure that the alignment tool will even go into the coupler. As much trouble you are now having and with the past history of your drive installation procedures, I find it very hard to believe the alignment tool could enter the couplers even if the motors were out of the boat on the ground. And what are the chances of both motors having these problems?
My money is on bad couplers.

one coupler does have a restriction about half way in
(1 1/2"),like you said,teeth have grown there and that's why port won't go all the way with tool. Starboard is alignment I think but just woke up from night shift so we'll see. Going to have another or 2 couplers handy and try to wait until next winter(I know,I know),,put off the prochargers until then and hope for the best. It ran fine up to 70 when I bought it so I think it'll last a few months if I don't push it too hard. This boat was mech. edgey when I bought it and I half expect to be pulling something again soon for something else anyway. May sound illogical to some but I want to see how everything else works and can pull it just as easy and with no better boating weather a month from now. I know the over Rev risk and will take that chance.Thanks for all the help

If it is the slightest bit out of alingment the coupler will spin out in no time at all.If the teeth are sharp or pointed then that could be no grease.Good luck and if you need anything please feel free to call me.

For the sake of learning experiences, I have had the same problem before and solved it this way. The alignment tool wouldn't go in but it was difficult to tell if it side to side or up and down that was causing the misalignement. I had a 1 inch x quarter inch piece of aluminum bar @ 18 inches long, that you buy at Lowes. Instead of alignment tool I placed the bar in as a straight edge with the ability to sight down beside it. This allowed me to visualize which way I needed to go. When I got it right with this method, I verified my work by slipping in the alignment tool and it was dead on.
John

Thanks again Sean,I'll keep your #,Allen

I had a 1990 35 Lightning that blew a coupler.
The alignment was off not up or down but left and right.
Bought new aluminum angles for the front mounts and positioned the engine for correct alignment.
Marked the angles and drilled.
Never had a problem afterwards.

If you could find an ITS Bravo alignment bar you might find it easier to tell which way the alignment has to go. It has a slide that goes over the main bar into the gimbal bearing. It works fine for standard Bravo's too. You can leave the slide off which leaves a gap between the gimbal bearing and the bar. When pushed into the coupler you can tell which way the front of the engine has to go by looking at the gap between the bar and the gimbal bearing. You put the slide back in to do the final check and also to align the gimbal bearing.

I don't think this is the issue, but Merc is changing the rear mounts on the latest engine flywheel housings. The new rubber mount is a bit longer and doesn't use the spiral washer, they bolt down direct to the inner plate. If you would put the spiral washer the back of the engine would be too high. I don't think Racing has switched to it yet. Keep your eyes open for the change if you replace any parts.

Thats what I had to do, i posted it earlier when these posts started. I shimmed the rear with grade 8 washers. My problem was exactly what you are experiencing.

I did have a hoist on the motor and it did take 3 or 4 trys before we had the right shim combination. remmber after your crank the rear down to re try the alignment.

Re: more alignment woes,getting nowhere
 

I don't think this is the issue, but Merc is changing the rear mounts on the latest engine flywheel housings. The new rubber mount is a bit longer and doesn't use the spiral washer, they bolt down direct to the inner plate. If you would put the spiral washer the back of the engine would be too high. I don't think Racing has switched to it yet. Keep your eyes open for the change if you replace any parts.[/QUOTE]



Is this on all the newer housings, I just purchased a new take off housing and have spent about ten hours trying to align this P O S. Im ready to kill someone.
I am using a splined drive shaft with a handle welded on instead of an alignment tool. It goes in to the splines about an inch, so it seems the height of the rear is good, but ive been all the way down and taken it up in small incraments from a point where it wont fit in to the point it goes in an inch then slowly gets worse, so i start back down then up then down over and over. Side to side was a little off so I took the bolts out of the mounts so theyre not an issue now. Im trying to find the actual alignment tool locally ( anyone in south nj have one) Im dying here without this thing in the water.

Re: more alignment woes,getting nowhere
 

There is another way to see how "close" you are. Get a "digital anglefinder" and check the angle between the transom of the boat and the front of the crank/damper. The engine should be very close to 13 degrees from the transom angle for correct alignment. The back of the engine should be bolted down and only raise and lower the front of the engine, preferrably from a center point. Also be sure to check for correct "bearing alignment" to get the alignment bar to hit the center of the coupler.

Re: more alignment woes,getting nowhere
 

I messed up a picture of the angle finder I use. Here it is.

Re: more alignment woes,getting nowhere
 

Spend the $90 at www.mercstuff.com you will use the tool every year. Once i did i got the damn thing aligned.

Re: more alignment woes,getting nowhere
 

When I had my engine installed, the mechanic said he was having a b!tch of a time getting it to go in. He's been doing it for probably 30 years and has all the tools for it. Finally, he pulled the engine back out and found a burr in the coupler splines. Filed it off and it slid right in.

Re: more alignment woes,getting nowhere
 

Merkruzer,
I'm in South Jersey and have an alignment tool. You can borrow it if you want. I live in Sicklerville. cell phone 609-320-3046.

Jon