Mercruiser 6.2L Bravo 3 I/O alignment problems

[platon20]

Boat is 246 SSI Chaparral 2017 with 50 hours on engine. No prior issues.

I pulled the drive for routine maintenance a week ago. I didn't touch or change the gimbal bearing, I just changed the bellows and removed the water inlet tube. The gimbal bearing spins very easily no resistance or wobbliness so I figured it should be fine. Now that I'm ready to put it back on, the alignment is off, WAY off. I dont understand how it could get so out of alignment after just 1 week.

When I pulled off the drive, it was very easy to come off, so that makes me think the original alignment was OK. If it was way off previously, the drive would have been very difficult to remove, right?

The alignment tool won't engage the splines on the coupler at all, even after using a fair amount of force.

The alignment tool also doesn't really help IMO because it doesn't show you which way the alignment is off, it just shows you that it's off somehow.

So I got a 1" plastic tapered plastic pipe which shows that the alignment is off both vertically AND horizontally. Pictures below.

The engine mounts only adjust vertical right? How am I supposed to adjust the engine horizontally?

Also, how is it possible that pulling the sterndrive off can suddenly throw the engine coupler alignment so out of position? I have never touched the engine mounts. Does the engine just sitting there without the drive for a week affect the alignment that much?

 

[Bt Doctur]

Did you have any difficulty removing the drive? If Yes, the rear mounts were shot and removing the drive allowed them to squat down

 

[platon20]

Did you have any difficulty removing the drive? If Yes, the rear mounts were shot and removing the drive allowed them to squat down

No the drive came out easy so I'm not sure why the alignment would be so bad if it's just sitting in place without the drive for 1 week.

 

[alldodge]

Put your fingers in the bearing and rotate to see if it feels silky smooth.
Next try to move the bearing around (tilt it) with your fingers, can this be done?

If unable to tilt, this would be good. Place alignment bare in and see if it will go in by moving the bar around

 

[tank1949]

Boat is 246 SSI Chaparral 2017 with 50 hours on engine. No prior issues.

I pulled the drive for routine maintenance a week ago. I didn't touch or change the gimbal bearing, I just changed the bellows and removed the water inlet tube. The gimbal bearing spins very easily no resistance or wobbliness so I figured it should be fine. Now that I'm ready to put it back on, the alignment is off, WAY off. I dont understand how it could get so out of alignment after just 1 week.

When I pulled off the drive, it was very easy to come off, so that makes me think the original alignment was OK. If it was way off previously, the drive would have been very difficult to remove, right?

The alignment tool won't engage the splines on the coupler at all, even after using a fair amount of force.

The alignment tool also doesn't really help IMO because it doesn't show you which way the alignment is off, it just shows you that it's off somehow.

So I got a 1" plastic tapered plastic pipe which shows that the alignment is off both vertically AND horizontally. Pictures below.

The engine mounts only adjust vertical right? How am I supposed to adjust the engine horizontally?

Also, how is it possible that pulling the sterndrive off can suddenly throw the engine coupler alignment so out of position? I have never touched the engine mounts. Does the engine just sitting there without the drive for a week affect the alignment that much?

Are forward motor mounts tight??? You may have bumped gimbal bearing and knocked center "off center" when you pulled out spline. sh--- happens. 2017 boat should not have any stringer of transom rot. Otherwise, I'd recommend examining stringer (mounts) and transom. Suggestion: Stick alignment tool into bearing and hit sideways with a large piece of wood or rubber hammer. Do this up and down too!

 

[Scott06]

Wonder if you may need to center the gimbal bearing again like in this video

 

[tank1949]

Wonder if you may need to center the gimbal bearing again like in this video

Good video. I have misaligned one or two in my life time and straightened just like video shows..

 

[Dawn Tolliver]

Good video. I have misaligned one or two in my life time and straightened just like video shows..

If the tool is INTO the splines on the coupling. Wont you damage it when smacking the gimbal around? Some say it takes alot OF force? Does not the boat turn the gimbal? New at this stuff sorry.

 

[Lou C]

just bump it with your hand or a rubber mallet, does not take much force at all.

 

[AShipShow]

recentering the gimbal bearing was my first thought as well if the drive came off easily..
probably got knocked out of alignment when removing the drive or doing the bellows work..
As mentioned above, use your alignment tool and knock the gimbal up/down/left/right while pushing in and it should realign to the coupler..

If this doesn't fix your problem, than you have much bigger issues (not so much with the vertical alignment, but with horizontal alignment since that can't be adjusted)

 

[Dawn Tolliver]

recentering the gimbal bearing was my first thought as well if the drive came off easily..
probably got knocked out of alignment when removing the drive or doing the bellows work..
As mentioned above, use your alignment tool and knock the gimbal up/down/left/right while pushing in and it should realign to the coupler..

If this doesn't fix your problem, than you have much bigger issues (not so much with the vertical alignment, but with horizontal alignment since that can't be adjusted)

Can I lower the back supports then bring the front down more? And how would I do that? Iam a 62 year old female working on my own boat. Have lots of car experiences so i know i can handle this. Just need some advice for sure. Thanks

 

[AShipShow]

rear mounts cannot be adjusted, they hold the motor to the transom plate at the correct location... The only thing you can adjust is the height of the front mounts which will move the coupler up and down...
To lower the coupler you want to raise the front, and to raise the coupler you want to lower the front...
However, don't do this until you try aligning the gimbal bearing to the coupler as mentioned by my previous post... if the drive came off easily, you most likely don't actually have an alignment problem...

 

[Dawn Tolliver]

Can I lower the back supports then bring the front down more? And how would I do that? Iam a 62 year old female working on my own boat. Have lots of car experiences so i know i can handle this. Just need some advice for sure. Thanks

Sorry forgot to mention I replaced gimbal and bellows to.

 

[Dawn Tolliver]

Can I lower the back supports then bring the front down more? And how would I do that? Iam a 62 year old female working on my own boat. Have lots of car experiences so i know i can handle this. Just need some advice for sure. Thanks

Sorry forgot to mention I replaced gimbal and bellows to

rear mounts cannot be adjusted, they hold the motor to the transom plate at the correct location... The only thing you can adjust is the height of the front mounts which will move the coupler up and down...
To lower the coupler you want to raise the front, and to raise the coupler you want to lower the front...
However, don't do this until you try aligning the gimbal bearing to the coupler as mentioned by my previous post... if the drive came off easily, you most likely don't actually have an alignment problem...

Let me get this straight. Looking into the coupling I see more on the top than the bottom. I was told to lower the front of the moter. You say raise it? So what's the real answer. Yours makes more sence.

 

[Dawn Tolliver]

Sorry forgot to mention I replaced gimbal and bellows to

Let me get this straight. Looking into the coupling I see more on the top than the bottom. I was told to lower the front of the moter. You say raise it? So what's the real answer. Yours makes more sence.

Also the dry rot test was done with out me around. Can I do my own test to see!

 

[AShipShow]

How many boats are you working on?? You have alignment questions about a bravo drive here and alignment questions about an old merc drive on another post?

EDIT: Nevermind, didn't realize you weren't the OP

 

[Rick Stephens]

I am a fan of looking through the gimbal bearing and using the alignment bar to aim it at the coupler. Then, when I can get the alignment bar started into the coupler, I shove it all the way in and grab a 2 pound deadblow hammer and give it a good whack up, down, left and right. This gets the gimbaling part of the bearing aimed perfectly. And no way does it hurt the coupler to do this. Only when the bearing is aimed will can you get to aligning the motor.