Mercruiser 37 170470 Alignment

"I've been fighting aligni

"I've been fighting aligning this sum' bee all night. I can get the alignment tool into to gumble and back out but its VERY tight...not 'freely' like the manual says. It turns pretty easy but again is tight in and out.

Who here has experience aligning these engines? Is it usually tight like this or do i have other issues? I used the manual suggestions...drop the engine in, install rear bolts, torque down, raise/lower with hoist until engine is aligned/tool moves in/out, tighten front mount, release hoist, check alignment tool, re-adjust if needed...

It seems to hold the same resistance before/after release the hoist and adjust it."

Erik

I've been fighting

Erik

I've been fighting aligning this sum' bee all night. I can get the alignment tool into to gumble and back out but its VERY tight...


Is the alignment tool tight as it is going through the gimble bearing ?

How far do you push the tool in through the bearing before it gets tight.

Cheers
Peter C

yes only the gimble bearing...

yes only the gimble bearing....the last 3-4 inches of the tool...seems to be tight as soon at it hits hits the bearing

"Erik
From memory the splines

"Erik
From memory the splines on your drive shaft will start to engage the coupling around the 3" mark. If the line up tool is penetrating the bearing much more than that it is entering the coupling.
If the tool is very tight to push through the bearing have a look at the tool or the bearing for damage or possible corosion that may be affecting the diameter of the tool and just making it hard to push in.
Make sure the tool is lubricated, although it should be a good fit in the bearing, you should be able to slide the tool in and out of the bearing easily just as the manual says.
Cheers
Peter C"

"Assuming that your rig is a f

"Assuming that your rig is a few years old, it may be that the rear double wound flat spring washers that the engine sits on on the transom plate have lost their spring and collapsed.
You may need to jack up the rear of the engine and replace them to get a decent starting alignment.
Newer packages have gone to trial and error shims instead of the springs; likely to alleviate this problem.
Rod"