imported_TheMan
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2006
- Messages
- 224
Hey guys,
Well like I've said, I'm finishing up the 3.0 to 4.3 upgrade. Engine was running well off of original boat electrics and controls, so I was finally attaching the outdrive. (Currently rebuilding the carb just to make sure performance is optimal).
Was trying to align the engine (I have and do use an alignment tool) and was able to insert the tool a good depth rather easily till I felt it bottom out. Not knowing the exact depth I needed to go, I slapped the outdrive on to see where I stood. The outdrive was able to sit on all the studs but was approximately 1/2" from sealing.
I checked the alignment with the tool again along with some dye and found it to be bottoming out during the installation at the first journal transition. To me, this indicates that the engine is aligned and suggests that I have some type of coupler issue. After reading all the posts on here, I would like to try tapping my alignment tool up and down to see if I can adjust the gimble bearing to allow better fit (again, it seems that since my alignment tool was bottoming out, the alignment isn't the issue, but i'll check anyway). I will also try rotating the engine to see if that helps at all or makes it worse.
My rear engine mounts appeared to be in pretty good condition. The doublewound washers are not new, but I don't suspect them at this point.
Now heres the real question I had:
The original engine was an '89 Sea Ray 180 with a 3.0L and Alpha One. The engine I swapped in is a 1991 (1990 manufactured) 4.3L that was previously on an Alpha Gen II. I used the coupler and housing off of the 4.3L. Doing some looking at on-line suppliers, it appears that the engine coupler was different between pre 1998 3.0Ls and all of the 4.3L or V8 models. I'm not sure if somehow the '91 4.3L coupler isn't compatible with my '89 Alpha one drive? Can anyone verify this for me and tell me whether this is a likely source for my problem? I'm not sure what the couple differences are exactly and if it possibly my problem.
At this point I am thinking about trying to swap the 3.0L coupler onto the 4.3L to verify if this is somehow the problem. Ideally I would like to not remove the engine, but I am just trying to find the problem and it seems to be the cheap (but somewhat laborous) method of doing so. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks everyone!
Well like I've said, I'm finishing up the 3.0 to 4.3 upgrade. Engine was running well off of original boat electrics and controls, so I was finally attaching the outdrive. (Currently rebuilding the carb just to make sure performance is optimal).
Was trying to align the engine (I have and do use an alignment tool) and was able to insert the tool a good depth rather easily till I felt it bottom out. Not knowing the exact depth I needed to go, I slapped the outdrive on to see where I stood. The outdrive was able to sit on all the studs but was approximately 1/2" from sealing.
I checked the alignment with the tool again along with some dye and found it to be bottoming out during the installation at the first journal transition. To me, this indicates that the engine is aligned and suggests that I have some type of coupler issue. After reading all the posts on here, I would like to try tapping my alignment tool up and down to see if I can adjust the gimble bearing to allow better fit (again, it seems that since my alignment tool was bottoming out, the alignment isn't the issue, but i'll check anyway). I will also try rotating the engine to see if that helps at all or makes it worse.
My rear engine mounts appeared to be in pretty good condition. The doublewound washers are not new, but I don't suspect them at this point.
Now heres the real question I had:
The original engine was an '89 Sea Ray 180 with a 3.0L and Alpha One. The engine I swapped in is a 1991 (1990 manufactured) 4.3L that was previously on an Alpha Gen II. I used the coupler and housing off of the 4.3L. Doing some looking at on-line suppliers, it appears that the engine coupler was different between pre 1998 3.0Ls and all of the 4.3L or V8 models. I'm not sure if somehow the '91 4.3L coupler isn't compatible with my '89 Alpha one drive? Can anyone verify this for me and tell me whether this is a likely source for my problem? I'm not sure what the couple differences are exactly and if it possibly my problem.
At this point I am thinking about trying to swap the 3.0L coupler onto the 4.3L to verify if this is somehow the problem. Ideally I would like to not remove the engine, but I am just trying to find the problem and it seems to be the cheap (but somewhat laborous) method of doing so. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks everyone!