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more alignment woes,getting nowhere

Old 05-05-2004, 12:47 PM
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Default 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
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Old 05-05-2004, 01:01 PM
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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.
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Old 05-05-2004, 01:20 PM
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Default 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
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Old 05-05-2004, 02:56 PM
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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).
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Old 05-05-2004, 03:11 PM
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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.
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Old 05-05-2004, 03:15 PM
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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.
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Old 05-05-2004, 03:30 PM
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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!!
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Old 05-05-2004, 03:32 PM
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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.
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Old 05-05-2004, 04:08 PM
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Actually, the transom holes are oversized to allow a bit of alignment. This gets fubared when people put 5200 on the seal.
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Old 05-05-2004, 05:44 PM
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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

Last edited by blue thunder; 05-05-2004 at 05:46 PM.
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