any tricks on how to put back the drive DP-SM and volvo 5.7GS

[R.N.]

Hello guys ,
I need some help .
I took out the drive to check the bellows and everything is looking good .Drive come out almost too easy just a bit of corrosion on the housing holding it .I grease the gimball bearing , spline , u joints and now i have a hard time puting it back .
I think the u joints hits somewhere and the spline doesnt reach into the motor ,I can't do the last 3-4 inches .

Is there any tips how should I put the u joints or anything ?
I dont have a support for drive i just rest the the skeg on a piece of plywood .

I dont have the tool to check for alignment but with a rod inserted , it looks quite even .

Thanks

 

[justinteoc]

I recently had this same problem and what I wound up doing was putting the drive in gear and having someone turn the propellor while holding pressure on it and it fell right in, possibly could do the same with bumping over the engine but with using the starter if the splines are just barely starting it could possibly damage the first bit of the shaft, This may not be your problem but just sharing my experience.

 

[dypcdiver]

Just to add to justinteoc post, you need to put it in gear to get the input shaft to turn. Sometimes helps if you get a third hand to hold the UJ's horizontal whilst feeding it in.

 

[R.N.]

Well , as it is said "when nothing works you should read the manual " , i found a suggestion there to avoid a lot of grease on the o rings as they might get hydrolocked , so i did wipe it , and then i put back one propeller and when it got a bit closer i moved the propeller and the splines aligned .
Thank you guys .