57 alpha one engine alignment

I am going to change the gimbl

I am going to change the gimble bearing and want to check engine alignment after installing new one. how do i align engine i have alignment tool to check it just not sure how to make the adjustments or where the adjustments are? I also have proper tools for installing gimble bearing straight.

You " read the grease mark

You " read the grease marks " on the alignment tool.

Adjustments are the rear and front motor mounts.

Good luck and it was a very good question.

"If the motor was not removed,

"If the motor was not removed, and just replaceing the bearing then typically the alignment should be OK, That bieng said, you insert the alignment tool thru the gimbal bearing, you can move the bearing in a circular fashion as it is a spherical bearing outer race.

Grease the end of the tool and slide it thru the bearing towards the coupler. If it does not go into the coupler you may need to adjust the BEARING using the tool to change the angle of the bearing. Lift it up or push down or left or right to center shaft to coupler.

The alignment tool should slide in with minimal effort using ONE hand.
You will know you are in the coupler when you remove the tool from the bearing the grease will have spline lines in it almost the whole length od the tool tip.

If you have to push or pull with a lot of effort using two hands then the bearing to coupler is missaligned. If this is the case then and only then do you adjust front two motor mounts.

If you have to adjust the mounts it is best to have a second person who adjusts while the other slides the tool to test for alignment.


Here is a illistration (bad I know) but hopefully you see what the deal is............

"

"Ayuh,... As Chief says, a li

"Ayuh,... As Chief says, a liberally greased bar will have spline "Tracks" that you "Read" to see which way it wants to go...
On your unit, the Front motor mounts are what's adjusted to bring the grease Tracks to Even all the way around the bar.."

Ditto Bondo's comment!
L

Ditto Bondo's comment!
Let me find an image or two.

"Thank you Bond-O, but i think

"Thank you Bond-O, but i think the ghost explained it better then me.

But i don't know what year boat this is and when the alignment was last checked if ever?

So i don't know if the transom has a little rot?

And if it does then the gimbal ring and drive might have dropped a tad.

I also don't know if a little rot attacked the stringers where the rear motor mounts are attached.

If so then the motor may have dropped a tad.

But then again if any movement of the motor or drive then the coupler may have gone bye bye.

So without know any of the above, i would strongly suggest to the op to see if any of the mounting bolts can be turned on the drive, and if they turn say more then one full turn to investigate said rot.

But then again i don't know.

Still got snow there Bond-O."

"It would help anyone who is d

"It would help anyone who is doing this procedure for the first time, to understand the simple geometry between the engine "centerline", the Gimbal Bearing centerline, and most importantly..... the hinge point that occurs at the two rear engine mounts as the engine front moves UP/DOWN from hull flex, mount sag, etc!
You should be able to see how the FWD engine mount "height adjustment" affects this!
(It's this hinge point that we are correcting!)
By aligning these, we hope to achieve as close to true center line as possible!
The reading of the grease line is rather crude..... but it does work... and has for years!

Here is a schematic of the gimbal bell, gimbal bearing and drive coupler. It shows an alignment tool in position.
Unfortunately, this image does not show the rear engine mounts! To best explain this, a good image that would include the rear mounts is needed! (see next image)


This shows the rear engine mounts on the flywheel cover only. There will be two accommodating mounts on the inner transom plate.
When the raising or lowering of the front of engine, this becomes a hinge point (so to speak)..... and this is what we are correcting.


Engine front too low.... and the male shaft splines ride high within the coupler.

Engine front too high.... and the male shaft splines ride low within the coupler.

If someone were to have a better image to post, that would be great!

."

"Ricardo,

Very good explana

"Ricardo,

Very good explanation,

But I hardly doubt that a "newbie" would be able to distinguish between how the grease is displaced and determine what way to adjust.

Ideally that would be best BUT in the real world I have found it is a matter of feel not visual appearence.


Like I suggested, if it takes two hands and a great deal force to push the alignment tool in and pull it out ( assuming the basic alignmenmt of the bearing to the coupler is parrallel ) then
there is missalignment.

As you say if one could tell what side of the tool has more pressure than one would adjust accordingly.

Typically it is a crap shoot and you would adjust one way ( up or down) on the forward motor mounts and if the tool becomes more difficult then simply adjust the other direction until there is less to almost no friction when inserting and pulling back.

Ultimatly the alignment tool should be easy enough to push and pull with a small amount of effort using ONE hand.

I had some that never seem to achive that easyness completely (but still were in line) and others that the tool could be pushed and pulled with a couple of fingers........

It has a lot to do with feel.......

JMHO"

"Kghost
I did not elaborate

"Kghost
I did not elaborate on the grease reading because you pretty much covered that in post # 3 ( I'm trying to avoid redundancy). But you covered this well!

I'm just thinking that FIRST understanding the triangulation (that we do not want) and straight alignment that can occur between the three points gives a person a much better understanding of what they are trying to achieve.

If they understand this from the get-go, they may have a better chance that their first reading will let them know whether the front of engine must come UP, or DOWN...... saving them the hassle of adjusting the wrong way.
For this, your explanation is great!

My regret is in not being able to offer a better schematic or image to show the rear engine support and how it can be considered a hinge point!

."

"I wished I had a video camera

"I wished I had a video camera over the years and recorded all the stuff I have done,

It would make explanation a lot easier.......

Especially winterization and shift cable adjustment proccedures............"

"In the end we all want to hel

"In the end we all want to help you, i am not as good as others here with the clearest words, actually it would be easier to put hands on the drive and show you what to do and explain in my simple way.

Good luck 1"

"Here's one that shows the

"Here's one that shows the inner transom plate and center line...., but still doesn't do it justice.
http://wwwarchive.mercurymarine.com/uploads/6872/1958/862702.pdf

Here's one of a 3.0L that does show the rear mounts and crankshaft center line.
One would need to imagine the front of the engine when moved Up/Down, and how this would affect center line given that the engine hinges at the rear (again, using the term "hinge" loosely, so to speak)!
http://wwwarchive.mercurymarine.com/uploads/6866/1897/862917.pdf

."

"[b]"Still got snow there

""Still got snow there Bond-O."

Oh Ya,... Comin' down at alittle over an Inch an Hour at the moment...
Over a foot since midnight...

"I wished I had a video camera over the years and recorded all the stuff I have done,"

Ayuh,.. I wish I still had my old Logbooks from my Truckin' days,...
If they jogged the memory banks, I could be a Novelist, rather than an Internet Mechanic..."

"HAH, get this my 2002 dodge c

"HAH, get this my 2002 dodge conversion van fails inspection twice. I changed everything i could think of.

So in desperation i bring it to a guy he justs calls me 350 dollars.

Got no choice i tell him go ahead fix it i feel like i just got it up the ole kazoo with a elephant d--k.

Oh well first money i spent in 20 years on a mechanic.

Had no choice."

I wanted to thanks everyone fo

I wanted to thanks everyone for the help I get it now. Thank you very much!! This is a great site!!!