Alignment woes.... Alpha one, Merc 3.0

[pmtom1]

Thanks to all the great posts and help here, we felt brave enough to do our first bellows / shift cable swap. ( A previous post successfully helped me identify a torn shift bellow...THANK YOU!)

Got every thing apart ok and got the new bearing seated perfectly flush/ square but cant get the alignment tool to go in. We tried peeking in and using several pipes from .085 to 1.03. Moved the front engine adjuster up and down all the way, slowly twice while trying to get the tool in. Tried greasing the end of a pipe after wiping the face of the engine spline. All great tricks I searched here but still no luck.

What are we missing?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Are you using an alignment tool or a piece of pipe. You need the alignment tool

 

[pmtom1]

Yes... we have the official alignment tool. When we couldn't get it to fit, I read a tip to use a piece of pipe to try and see if you are high or low. Still couldn't figure it out.....

 

[Scott06]

Not sure the year as there are a couple of different designs but did you get all the rear motor mount hardware properly back in? There are springs and washers need to go in a a particular order, lock in the bearing with a flash light and see if coupler is low if so probably missing some pices there.

 

[Bondo]

We tried peeking in

Ayuh,...... So what did ya see,..?? high,..?? low,..?? port,..?? starboard,..??

Did ya shift the center of the bearin' with the bar to get it close,..??

 

[harringtondav]

Ayuh,...... So what did ya see,..?? high,..?? low,..?? port,..?? starboard,..??

Did ya shift the center of the bearin' with the bar to get it close,..??

Start the alignment tool into the coupler splines, but just short of engaging the gimbal brg. bore. Lift the tool until it resists, and note the gap between the tool and the bearing bore. Then press the tool down and do the same. More gap on top means the front of the engine needs to drop. More gap on the bottom means it needs to come up. Side to side adjustments are tough, nearly impossible. The front mounts have a slotted hole on one end. If you can loosen these w/o twisting off the lag bolts, AND loosen the rear mounts, you may be able to center up your tool with a pinch bar shifting the engine port or storyboard.

If the tool seems centered, you probably cocked the bearing in it's alum. hsg. when driving it in. Go with Bondo's last comment to get it pointed straight ahead.

 

[pmtom1]

Thank you....honestly didn't look for port and starboard gaps. Will do right away. That's GOT to be my problem because we went through the entire range of adjustment twice slowly. The engine (1988) was not removed so no chance of mounts being reinstalled incorrectly.

The only other thing possible is that we are moving the adjustment nut too quickly. How sensitive is it? 1/4 turn sensitive? We were moving it in about half turns +/-.

When lined up correctly, does the tool REALLY slide in super easily or does it need a couple whacks. My searches showed some different opinions on this. We were being super gentle to avoid any damage.

 

[achris]

NEVER, EVER use a hammer to drive the tool into the coupler. Put the tool in as far as it will go (without hitting it!), then, using a SOFT-FACED hammer, gently hit the tool ON EACH SIDE and the TOP AND BOTTOM, never on the end... You should feel the tool 'drop' into the coupler... Once it does that, give the tool a LIGHT tap on each quadrant (up, down, left, right) again to centre it....

One more thing, never adjust the engine with the tool in the coupler. It'll jam, and you'll have god's own job of getting it out.

Chris..........

 

[Bondo]

The engine (1988) was not removed so no chance of mounts being reinstalled incorrectly.

Ayuh,..... The rubber in the aft motor mounts, has been known to fail,......

'n transoms are known to rot,.....

 

[pmtom1]

Found a piece of wood that was exact right size ( .995) to slip snuggly in to see rough alignment. Got it centered to what looked PERFECT by raising the engine a bit and rotating the center of the bearing port a bit with the alignment tool just inside the bearing. And then we've had 2 hours so far this morning of gentle tapping up down left and right with no luck. Started to think the only possibility is we had the wrong alignment tool but it seems there is only one.

I read there were specs somewhere for the three diameters but couldn't find them in the stickys. Anyone know? Our tool is .997 - .999 at the skinniest section. We even lightly filed / sanded the edge to make sure there are no burs or buggers.

Any other ideas?

 

[Bondo]

We even lightly filed / sanded the edge to make sure there are no burs or buggers.

Ayuh,...... Slather it with grease, so you can see a witness mark of where what's hittin',.....

 

[pmtom1]

GOT IT!! Stepped back at took a look and realized we had over-adjusted the mount and were trying to compensate by moving the center of the bearing creating an impossible angle.

Now on to the cable and billows!

thanks all!

 

[harringtondav]

pmtom1 I believe it is 1.003". Mine is that size and still has a few thousands clearance with a new coupler on the bench