Outdrive reassemble

[ConnieMarie]

Not to beat the topic to death but I cannot for life of me get my outdrive back on. My alignment tool goes in easily and I can rotate with two fingers. When I measured distance from gimbal bearing it’s about 15.25” to the end of the tool. I don’t think I can possibly get the bearing in any further so don’t believe that’s the problem. Everything is lubed up good I basically get it on to the end of lugs and that’s it...so it needs to go on another inch. I pulled it out a couple times and retried. Looking at the grease on the spline looks like it was in about an inch and that’s it. I tried changing gears on the outdrive forward reverse that didn’t help. Do I need to get inside the boat and shift gears? Also how does one move the ujoints? I was thinking maybe if I could twist slightly maybe that would help...would I have to detach hose clamps on bellows transom side for this? Really doing a number on my back wrestling this thing around and am just stumped. Any help appreciated and again I apologize for beating the topic to death all I could find are alignment issues which don’t seem to be the case here.

The drive is a vp sx-m1.51

 

[dypcdiver]

OK happens frequently, make sure the gear change cable is through properly and not restricting it. Secondly twist the gearshift lever on the drive so that the drive goes in gear, then twist the prop shaft to align the splines with the female ones on the flywheel adapter. Also make sure the angle of entry is the same as the angle that the alignment bar was at.
Have fun.

 

[ConnieMarie]

Here’s the problem I’m running into wherever I’m at with the shaft when I engage the gear the prop shaft won’t spin at all for direction but spins freely the other way. When the drive is more removed it spins fine in gear so it’s getting hung up somewhere in there. I’ll try the angle on entry thing...I built a out drive dolly cart taking it off maybe my measurements were off a hair and I’d be better off walking it on.

 

[BRICH1260]

I was in a similar situation a few weeks ago. Was just about an inch from mating, drive splines we’re engaged with coupler I pushed and pushed, but because it was just me, I could not seat it. I ended up hooking up my rams and slowly used them to pull it in the last inch. Use caution and make sure there is nothing hitting first, but it will work in a pinch.

 

[Lou C]

Getting it at the right height and angle is important and holding the U joints straight helps. I also use a long thin screwdriver thru the U joints to turn the input shaft to get the splines to line up...

 

[ConnieMarie]

I’m so incredibly frustrated at this point. The alignment is spot on I’ve followed the procedure numerous times. The drive is going about 1.25” into spines and that’s it. It’s almost as if the sleeve which pinches the drive bellow is too large...Iubed the hell out of it. Or possibly the u joint is hitting the gimbal bearing. The drive is in too far for me to even touch the u joints tho. Also I’ve tried adjusting the height of trailer a bunch of times. I’ve tried walking the drive on versus using the cart. I’m to the point where I’ll bring it to a marina but I’m worried they will just press it on or something.

This is becoming a nightmare...just for a little background on this mess...I originally pulled the drive to replace my bellows the upper unit was seized to the pivot housing. The shaft and u joints broke off in pivot housing. The upper housing casting broke in order for me to separate the two. So I’ve found a numbers matching pivot housing and drive. 3000k later ive painted it up nice and replaced bellows gimbal and am attempting to put back on. I guess what I’m thinkibg now is maybe the particular drive(sx-m 1.51)#3868890 is not suppose to be mated with this particular pivot helmet #3857974. It’s what was on the boat when I got it...I’m not original owner. That would make sense why the two pieces wouldn’t come apart to begin with. The seem to match up and mate the way they should everywhere except that sleeve area is super tight. I just asssumed it should be rather tight to keep bellow in place. Any thoughts?

 

[Lou C]

I bought a cart to make it easier, with a jack so you can get the height just right. I have found that doing the following helps
1) practice relaxation first, and promise yourself to NEVER EVER buy another I/O boat in your earthly life!
2) make sure the pivot housing is lined up 90* to the ground
3) get the drive lined up same way
4) get it so the height of the both the pivot housing and the drive are the same
5) put the long thin screwdriver thru the u joints
6) slide on (this is where the cart REALLY helps) with one hand holding the driveshaft straight and the other ready to move the screwdriver as you are getting close to get the splines to line up


https://www.stumpysfabworks.com/boat-outdrive-jack.html

Get this jack and your outdrive R+R troubles will decrease

Also when you slide in the alignment tool, did you pull it out carefully, to make sure the gimble bearing is still straight? IF you pull it out sloppy then you can actually knock the damn thing off and it will point the end of your driveshaft toward the edge of the center of the spline area, not right in the center. Gimble must be aligned straight, driveshaft must go in straight. Some say to wack the tool when its still in, top bottom left right to make sure the bearing is really centered.

Outboards don't have this because the driveshaft has no u joints to foul things up. Yes the shift linkage can be a pain, but not as much as this can be...

 

[dypcdiver]

Totally agree with you Lou C, it's the way to go.

First time I did it I did it by just manhandling and my wife just pointed the u-joints in the right direction, worked, but I fabricated a stand that sits on a wheeled trolley the following day!

 

[Lou C]

Some years it goes right on the first time. Other years it seems determined to fight your every effort. I started with a wood stand I built with casters that were adjustable, about 11 years ago and then about 5 years ago I got the Stumpy's Fab works one. Much easier, but still can be a pain at times. Gotta get that height right, the gimble bearing lined up right, keep drive shaft straight and use the thin screwdriver in the u joints to turn it, to get the splines to line up. These seem to be the things that you have to get right so as to not have trouble with this job.

 

[ConnieMarie]

Well finally figured it out. I tried putting an extra upper with no shaft or u-joints on and no issues so next I tried putting the old gimbal ring on the shaft thinking the new gimbal was the wrong size. The gimbal came up about an inch short of the o rings. There was a minuscule amount of rust on the shaft just before the rubber o-rings. I rubbed it with some sandpaper reapplied grease and the old gimbal slipped right on. So sure enough this minor rust build up would not let me put the drive on. I can not believe this was the issue even with all the grease I had on everything. Now it slipped right on and I have it all put back together. Wash and wax and I’ll be out in no time. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Lou C]

Great that you figured it out!