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V8 engine alignment Alpha One Gen II

johnbright

New member
I have a cuddy cabin boat with

I have a cuddy cabin boat with 2000 model Alpha One Gen II and 5.0 V8.

Boat is new to me.
88 hours on the tach.
Gimbal bearing was bad; growling; bellows good; I replaced the bearing.
Vertical alignment can be achieved.

Engine alignment is off laterally; rotating crank does not affect it.

Any ideas?
 
Replacing the gimbal bearing a

Replacing the gimbal bearing alone should not have altered the alignment unless it was out of alignment before.

You can use a piece if pipe that is a bit smaller than the drive shaft splined end. Use is to "prealign" the bearing to the coupler.

The bearing should be spherical and will move in a slight circular movement.
 
"I have an alignment tool.
Sw


"I have an alignment tool.
Swiveling gimbal bearing does not correct the alignment.
Front mounts are good.
Are you saying the spiral wound washer and fiber washer could have collapsed? Can I check and replace rear mount washers without pulling engine?
Can a rear engine mount collapse or does it support radial load only?
I lowered the front mounts 3/16" to achieve vertical alignment and that's consistent with a collapsed rear washer.

This is the best assembly image I have found, mine is the original design: http://www.perfprotech.com/images/mcmServiceBulletin.PDF

Not sure where the motor mount spacer goes; shown here; http://www.mercstuff.com/images/motormounts.jpg"

I'll see if I can get access with a camera to inspect the rear mounts."
 
"john:

The rear mounts supp


"john:

The rear mounts support both radial and axial loads. If that engine had been removed, it is quite possible that it was installed short a few parts. I've heard the spring washers can break, too, but haven't seen one.

You should be able to check the vertical gap between the housing and the transom plate where the rear mounts are. Right now, I'd look for symmetry. You can also eyeball the alignment tool where it goes into the coupler, if you are small enough/space exists.

If needed, you can insert the spring washers with removing the engine. You will have to loosen the front and lift at the rear to get enough of a gap to slide in the spring and the donut."
 
That service bulliten says 200

That service bulliten says 2003 and newer had a change.

If your engine is original and is 2000 then you have the original "older" design.

So when you look it should look like the picture in the pdf bulliten. Image on the left.
 
If the rear motor mounts suppo

If the rear motor mounts support the weight of the engine perhaps the rubber sheared loose and the motor fell to the fiber washer. There's no room to get my eyes in there but I hope I can get a camera in there. I will have photos on picasa tomorrow.
 
"The rubber in the moun is pre

"The rubber in the moun is pretty resilient; the mount encasing it makes it even tougher. I'd wouldn't be surprise to find out someone failed to put the spring washers back in, mostly because they didn't know they existed."
 
"It is not uncommon to not ret

"It is not uncommon to not retrieve the parts when a engine is removed and they fall by the way side and are lost.

Also it may be possible there were installed in the incorrect order....Seen both several times.


Question? Was this motor removed, repowered, new coupler ??????????"
 
As far as I know this 2000 mod

As far as I know this 2000 model boat has 88 hours of fresh water use. I bought it from a dealer and he handed me the original title for boat and trailer from Washington state showing one owner. The out-drive and engine and painted trailer look as though the 88 hours and fresh water are true but the trim pump bracket had one foot completely rusted off; maybe it was battery acid; I replaced it with a stainless steel one for a little less money than the Mercruiser part. All I know about the coupler is it does not have runout.
 
"The differsnce between the po

"The differsnce between the port and starbord shows ~ 1/8 inch difference......

I would loosed both rear engine mounts and then retighten them as see if it falls flat and equall again. Other possibility is the spiral (spring) may have broken. Or the one on the left the screw is loose and it just lifted due to engine torque which also could have caused the bearing failure to begin with.



293640.jpg
"
 
"I haven't worked on the r

"I haven't worked on the rear mounts yet but I wanted to put up a photo of the alignment tool in place.

This image shows how the engine is mis-aligned laterally. I lowered the front mounts 3/16" to get the tool centered vertically. Perhaps if/when I fix a problem with the rear mount(s) I'll need to put the front ones to their original location.

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnbright1/SeaRay215ExpressCruiserMY2000#5382480603 349625202"
 
"John, when you say that you l

"John, when you say that you lowered the front mounts to get the tool centered vertically, don't your mean horizontally? I'm not being a nitpicker here, just trying to get the picture straight in my head. The photo of the alignment tool does seem to show a lateral misalignment. I hadn't realized that there was that much side to side tolerance in the motor mounts. Is something else out of alignment?
Bob."
 
I did lower the front mounts t

I did lower the front mounts to get the tool centered vertically; then I took the picture of the tool.

Then when the tool was off laterally I got advice from a professional at justanswer.com; he said lowering one front mount and raising the other would achieve lateral alignment. I did this in both directions to the extremes of front mount travel with little or no effect on lateral alignment. It was amazing how the gap changed at the fiber washers of the rear mounts but no effect on lateral alignment.

I'm out of ideas except to wonder if the inner and outer transom plates are offset or machined incorrectly. The unlikely becomes likely as the likely is eliminated.
 
I did verify the correct doubl

I did verify the correct double would washers are in the rear mounts and I adjusted the front mounts to make the gaps at the fiber washers equal but this does not fix the lateral alignment.
 
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