Engine alignment

[gkm24]

I have a 2004 3.0 mercruiser.
I have just replaced the gimbal and all associated bellows and am checking the alignment.
I started off getting spline marks on the bottom of the alignment tool which is stiff to insert.
I have so far raised the front of the engine by 1/2 inch and it is still much the same.
Should I be adjusting the rear mounts in any way?
Im a bit worried that something at the rear of the engine should be loosened or adjusted.
Any advice please.

 

[AShipShow]

You may need to align your gimbal bearing to the coupler. The gimbal bearing can pivot in the outer carrier (hence the name). Insert the alignment tool into the coupler and whack the end of the alignment tool up, down, left, and right with a rubber mallet or block of wood... Then take the tool out and try to insert again, it will probably go in easier... Odds are if your engine was aligned before the bearing replacement, it shouldn't be far off now, as installing a new gimbal bearing won't change engine alignment.

Good luck

 

[gkm24]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Thanks for your reply. I did manoeuvre the tool in the bearing but it was still miles out. This boat supposedly had new bellows etc fitted last year but on removal of the outdrive(which was all loose) nothing is new and the gimbal was bad.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Well I kept on going and eventually after raising the engine by 5/8 the alignment tool slides in quite easily although I'm getting heavier marks between 2 o'clock and 5 o'clock. Even if I turn the engine over in 90Degrees increments it still stays the same.[/FONT]
The tool slides in and out very smoothly though.
Any thoughts?

 

[AShipShow]

I just went through this and had a similar issue, I could get the alignment bar to install pretty easily, the "requisite 2 fingers" to push the bar in, however, like you, i had marks heaver on one side than the other, in my opinion it was good enough and I left it there. Really the only solution to lateral alignment is to move the front mounts left or right. Before resorting to that if you aren't comfortable with the idea would be to try slightly loosening the rear mount bolts and hanging the motor from the front mount to find its own level, insert the alignment bar and retorque the rear mounts because they are supposed to set the lateral alignment... All of this, of course was for my 4.3 V6, but i imagine the rear mounts and front mounts are similar.

P.S. If you had to move the engine by 5/8", then either your engine was WAY off before or you may have rotted stringers. If your engine was that far off before, you would have most likely had one heck of a time getting the outdrive off.

 

[gkm24]

Thanks for the reply.
I was quite shocked that I had to adjust the engine so much. The boat is in really good shape but has been maintained by a really bad marine engineer.
I have receipts from the last owner of $8000 for repairs which so far seem not to have been done including bellows etc. That was all last summer.
Surprisingly, the drive came off quite easy although the gimbal bearing was very noisy.
I'll run up the engine before i put the drive back on and recheck its alignment.