Drive Coupler/striped the splines
 

I went to get up on plain later in the day on Saturday and I here a bang and the motor hit the rev limiter. I'm thinking I toasted the outdrive but after pulling the drive it was very apparent what had happened. I ordered a new coupler from BAM and it should be here tomorrow.
Is there anything special I need to do to pull the motor other than the obvious like, water hose, fuel line, electrical connections, motor mounts.
I have an alignment tool so is there any tricks to realigning the motor after it was pulled and is back in the boat, or does it line back up relatively easy.
As always thanks for the help!

Rockie

Re: Drive Coupler/striped the splines
 

Depending how much space you have you might only need to pull the engines forward 5-6" to change it. We did it in my Cafe last year, there was however plenty of space.

Re: Drive Coupler/striped the splines
 

Just had mine done last week...don't forget to grease the new one :eureka: :D

Re: Drive Coupler/striped the splines
 

GLH, thanks for the tip. We will try that if there is enough room, otherwise it probably is no big deal to pull it the rest of the way.

craig223, you don't have to worry about that. :D :eureka:
When I bought the boat it had about 280 hours and it didn't look like it had ever been greased and I always thought it would be a problem. In fact I just changed the shifter cable 2 weeks ago and looked at it and it wasn't looking very good.
OOH WELL, It's just boating (Break Out Another Thousand)
Be Cool!

Re: Drive Coupler/striped the splines
 

Hopefully you got the new merc xr/575 style coupler,it has a longer snout where your splines go in,supports the the input shaft better,holds grease better and is so long it is hard to not have lined up properly! Drawbacks: it is MUCH harder to shoehorn in if you don't have alot of clearence!

Re: Drive Coupler/striped the splines
 

If you do by the newer coupler your alignment shaft will need to be modified to fit. A section of the shaft will need to be machined to fit inside the extended collar.

Re: Drive Coupler/striped the splines
 

I had the same thing happen to me my third time out this year. First, I pulled both motors and did them both after one stripped becasue the second was right behind it. Second, order the 575 one becasue of what ARTICFREINDS said and it is steel not aluminum! Third, the alignment tool will work in this coupling also.

Re: Drive Coupler/striped the splines
 

I had the same thing happen to me my third time out this year. First, I pulled both motors and did them both after one stripped because the second was right behind it. Second, order the 575 one because of what ARTICFREINDS said and it is steel not aluminum! Third, the alignment tool will work in this coupling also.

Re: Drive Coupler/striped the splines
 

See two months ago Power Boat, Teague on tech, He gives some insight. Alignment is the killer. If you have offshore mounts, they are more than likely off.

Re: Drive Coupler/striped the splines
 

Well I just received the HD coupler. It is not longer, so it must be the standard unit. Oh well, I probably won't have the boat long enough to wear it out anyway.
Last night we pulled the motor and installed the coupler and dropped the motor back in. That was no problem, but alignment is definitely a killer. I have it somewhat aligned, but the alignment tool still slides in hard. I will spend some time to get it dialed in tonight and then bolt everything back on. Should be back on the water Saturday. Wouldn't you know it, I can't find my June/July copies of Power Boat. It must be at the lake house. I guess I will just try to get a couple of buddies to help. One on the tool and 2 guys on each side of the motor. We did a friends boat last night and that worked really well.
Thanks guys, any help full ideas on alignment?