I am trying to put my outdrive back on and having trouble. I have the ITS engine alignment tool. The skinny part slips in the the coupler no problem. But when I slide in the outer sleeve that slips into the gimbal it won't go and is visably off center. Is this an engine alignment or it the gimbal bearing supported to "float" around?

The bearing is a self aligning spherical type. When removing the drive it is possible to shift the inner part or the bearing so it is not inline with the splines any more. With the alignment tool started into the coupler, take a robber mallet and strike the end of the alignment tool axially at 12 oclock, 3 oclock 6 oclock and 9 oclock. This will align the inner race to the splines. Note I am not suggesting hitting the end of the alignment tool to drive it in. It should slide in easily if the engine is properly aligned and you align the gimble bearing as described.

BT

Thanks. The alignment tool would slide in easy. At that point the tool was no were near centered in the gimbal. I ended up lowering the front motor mounts pretty far down until the outer sleeve of the tool would slip into the gimbal. I am using the ITS alignment tool which has two seperate peices.

I have a uneasy feeling now since I had to lower the mounts so much. However, I was able to get the outdrive on pretty easy after making the adjustments. Hmmmmm.......

Sounds like its lined up. How did the drive slide off the last time you removed it?

Not real easy. I should switch to a solid mount instead of the merc mounts.

DaveM,
You are right, those Merc rubber mounts suck. When I put my 540 in the hull last year, I was trying to decide which mounting system to use, either offshore solid mounts or Imco's billet mounts. I am not making big power, 680 hp, so I figured Imcos would be fine. Attached is a picture I just took of my new oil cooler installation I just finished. It also shows a pretty good shot of the mounts. I ran it all last year like it is, there were no alignment issues at all.

He said he had to "lower" the front. Usually if you have a problem with the front pedestals it's because the nut walks down and the front is too low. I have fixed this issue by milling a slot on the bottom of the engine mount that is the width of the flats on the nut, it can't turn unless you lift the engine slightly to adjust it.
Did he have the engine out and didn't get the parts in the back right that lowering the front would make up for?

I agree. Those pedestal mounts have a lot to be desired in the original form. Prone to backing down. I make it a habit when working on buddies boats with them to make sure there is no gap between the top lock nut and mount, showing the mount has backed off. My 1st boat I made a sleeve to fit on the stud to keep it solid once I got the height set. Dang thing would drop a couple times per yr before hand.

Here's more to the story. The engine was installed at a reputable Merc shop last spring. I made a point of checking the locking tabs after the install.

After about 30 hours, I noticed that the port mount dropped down. I removed the OD, lifted the motor, tightened everything back up, checked alignment. About 20 hours later I noticed the star. mount dropped slightly. This time I just lifted the motor and tightened the nuts. I didn't remove the OD. The boat seemed fine for the rest of the season.

Then yesterday is when I had the problem explained above. When looking through the gimbal, I could see the top lip of the coupler snout, but not the bottom. That's when I lowered the front which brought the snout of the coupler up and looked centered to the eye. Also, both parts of the alignment tool would go in easily. This leads me to think that the alignment was not exactly perfect to begin with. Thanks Guys, I am going to ditch the merc mounts.