40 hp Upper Mounts Questions

[Bill kubiak]

1998 Merc 40 hp 4 Cyl, 2 stroke
I have an issue in the upper mounts Area. The steering arm connects to the mid leg via a long bolt that passes thru the arm and then into the mid leg, Thru a seal then thru the mount itself and into various washers and bolt etc. The Issue is there is a space between the steering arm and the leg which allows the leg to move fwd and aft and does not look right to me,I never really noticed it because most of the time the space was closed but when I lowered the motor all the way down to the stop the space opened up
I cannot find any way to get to the nuts to take up the slack because I think the nuts are under the exhaust plate which is under the power head etc etc
I have been running it for some time and now I am concerned. Thoughts

 

[gm280]

With only that one picture, I'm not sure what part your are thinking about. I attached a break down of your engine assembly. Maybe it will help you out some. I got it at boats dot net and typed in the year and HP and then you can look see for your self about how to get to that part...

 

[Chinewalker]

Gotta get the powerhead off to deal with it. And I would, too, as that slack moves the shift rod around, too, as it passes through the swivel tube.

 

[Bill kubiak]

No Title

Yea I figured that, that's the one thing I did not want to do, but I guess I will have to pull the powerhead, I am missing a stud right there too
here is two pics, one with the space, one without the space, got a feeling I am not gonna like what I am about ton see when I do pull the powerhead

 

[Chinewalker]

Looks like it's well seasoned with salt. Good luck!

 

[Bill kubiak]

The whole motor is clean clean clean just that steering arm is rusty

 

[Bill kubiak]

OK Need clarification, I plan to buy a lifting ring to raise the powerhead, but I see on eBay there are all kinds advertised at prices from 22.00 to 65.00 are the threads all the same, do they all screw down into the flywheel over and around the flywheel nut and are all the threads the same?
I thought that you had to remove the flywheel nut and screw them onto the crankshaft itself, But I finally saw one advertised that had a good clear picture that I could enlarge and I saw the threads were on the outside of the ring shaft, which made me take a hard look at my flywheel and I saw the ring does not screw to the crankshaft but it screws to the flywheel.

 

[gm280]

Bill, you could use a flywheel puller and the three grade eight bolts and pull the engine with that setup. The grade eight bolts will surely lift your engine without breaking any day... Then you don't have to buy a specially item... JMHO!

 

[Bill kubiak]

I have the puller, I once used it to remove the flywheel to replace the stator, but it has no ring to hook onto, it has a hex head to put a wrench on to turn, I do not mind getting one of those ring pullers for 22 bucks if they have the right threads and will screw into my flywheel, my neighbor has a come along and I have a beam in the carport that I have hung a 350 Mercruiser from.

 

[GA_Boater]

The lifting ring is only an eye bolt. Take the hex bolt to your local store, match the thread and grab the right eye bolt.

 

[Chinewalker]

If you're referring to the ring that is attached to the pipe-like threaded piece, then yes, it goes around the flywheel nut and crankshaft to provide a lifting point. I have one myself and it is very handy. I also have the Mercury flywheel puller tool, and it, too, is quite handy to have.