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Engine alignment question

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805HD

Regular Contributor
Hey guys, so I'm starting to put the boat back together and just got my alignment tool in the mail. It fits and seems to be seating all the way down into the coupler. It's not hard to get it in or pull it out. But I can't for the life of me get any witness marks to show up in the grease.



Any ideas?
 
Here is the tools dimensional specifications.

Measure it to be sure.

Mainly the area that goes into the coupler.
 
kghost said:
Here is the tools dimensional specifications.

Measure it to be sure.

Mainly the area that goes into the coupler.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I just checked with calipers and its on the money..

This is what I am seeing after removing it


The alignment tool slides in and pulls out with just a little effort, seems to seat all the way with no play or anything that seems off. That being said, I have never done this before lol.

perhaps related to my older 260 out drive?
 
Bt Doctur said:
The true test is if the drive will install just as easily as the alignment bar, no kicking or cursing necessary
Click to expand...



I had to kick a couple due to the o-rings on the shaft causing a tight fit............think they went to slightly fatter o-rings..........Oh these are Sierra gasket kits.......lol
 
805HD said:
Thank you, I just checked with calipers and its on the money..

This is what I am seeing after removing it


The alignment tool slides in and pulls out with just a little effort, seems to seat all the way with no play or anything that seems off. That being said, I have never done this before lol.

perhaps related to my older 260 out drive?
Click to expand...


Put more grease on the end and see if that helps with the visual........
Like Chris said maybe the coupler is worn... Tough to tell from the outside....................if all works well just be conscious that the coupler may not last.
 
Docksidemarineservices said:
Either it is not going into the splines or your coupler has no splines left in it.
Click to expand...


First..... you only need to apply grease to the very end that enters into the drive coupler splines.

Secondly...... since you are not seeing any trace evidence at all, take heed of what Chris has suggested above.

Borrow or rent a "bore-scope" and take a close look at what should be a full set of female coupler splines!

If the splines are gone, that would explain the No Reading!
.
 
RicardoMarine said:
First..... you only need to apply grease to the very end that enters into the drive coupler splines.

Secondly...... since you are not seeing any trace evidence at all, take heed of what Chris has suggested above.

Borrow or rent a "bore-scope" and take a close look at what should be a full set of female coupler splines!

If the splines are gone, that would explain the No Reading!
.
Click to expand...

i can see the splines clearly with a good flash light. They look 100% to me.
 
kghost said:
I had to kick a couple due to the o-rings on the shaft causing a tight fit............think they went to slightly fatter o-rings..........Oh these are Sierra gasket kits.......lol
Click to expand...


I have had no issues with Sierra parts, the issue you mention my be because of greasing the shaft before installing the rings
 
I also made one with the yoke removed and the shaft undercut 1/8 inch where the gimbal bearing rides.
Allows me to see where to rough adjust the engine mounts to center the shaft and the use a 1/8 welding rod/brazing rod to dial it in a bit more, then the Official Tool
 
Bt Doctur said:
I have had no issues with Sierra parts, the issue you mention my be because of greasing the shaft before installing the rings
Click to expand...

I removed o-rings and installed new ones then greased..........But who knows..........A good swift kick and it went in...no problems.

The kit actually has several different orings and I grabbed two that looked like the correct diameter
 
Using a engine house to hold the outdrive I attempted to push it in and it did not want to seat. Got to about 1/4 of a inch before the first oring I didn't put much muscle behind it or grease it so..

If the alignment tool is the correct one and fits and the splines in the coupler are not damaged why the heck wouldn't the witness marks show up on the tool?!

I get get very small witness markings on the very tip of the alignment tool that do go all the way around fairly uniform. But NOTHING like I've seen from internet research.
 
kghost said:
I removed o-rings and installed new ones then greased..........But who knows..........A good swift kick and it went in...no problems.

The kit actually has several different orings and I grabbed two that looked like the correct diameter
Click to expand...

Now that there is a good amount of grease in there i put the alignment tool in clean and got this at 12 o'clock


A bit faint at 6 o'clock


What the hell is going on here? Maybe I was wrong and its not going in all the way?
Back to the garage!
Thanks in advance!

edit: looks like the alignment tool is not goi all the way in, if the markings on the tool are fainter at the bottom then the top I would need to bring the front engine mounts down Correct?
 
Last edited:
kghost said:
Looks like you not lined up and the alignment tool is not even getting into the coupler
Click to expand...

i must say that i agree lol. i was wrong.

After a little research I have inserted a 1 inch pipe into the coupler to give me a reference as to where the engine needs to go based on its center at the gimbal bearing. The pipe is low, almost touching 6 o'clock on the gimbal bearing. This tells me I need to to lower the front of the engine. but my engine is already as low as its going to get.

It almost appears as if the rear of the engine needs to come up?
Is it possible I damaged somethinG while hoisting the front of the engine to get the new mounts in?
 
Anything is possible....did you assemble the hardware correctly at the transom mount? If you left anything out the engine could sit lower.
 
I am viewing this with my phone so tell me what you did that you needed the alignment tool? Refresh the story if you wouldnt mind.
I was under the impression you removed the engine for a reason and reinstalled it.
 
Try raiseing the front of the engine up. There might also be old stains or rust marks where it was adjusted originally.
If that isn't helpful, I'd go up about a inch, then check if the tool goes in farther. After ya get it started, move the adjuster about 1/4 turn
at a time, then back & forth a 1/8 turn or so till it fits perfect.
I think you're down to about 50 more trips in & out of the boat to get it right.

If you didn't disturb the rear mounts- which are flexable and rubber mounted, or leave out a part between the bell housing/rear plate,
the only place there can be an issue is the height of the front of the engone.

I just got done with one that was acting like that, and I had fits with it.
Mine was doing that, and after about 700 trips in and out of the boat, I learned that they defy logic,
and work backwards of what you'd think.
You might also be able to look down behind the bell housing and see if the tool is going in.
 
Last edited:
Ummmm...the rear mounts are NOT rubber mounted.......stopped reading the rest of your post after that.....maybe i will read the rest in the morning....we shal see
 
Last edited:
kghost said:
Ummmm...the rear mounts are NOT rubber mounted....
Click to expand...

No, not rubber mounted like a car engine mount with a rubber block.
As I recall: The few I've worked on had a steel sleeve the bolts go through, with a rubber sleeve pressed up into the bell houseing,
sort of like they press the rubber sleeve into a Alum. prop. they give it some flexability for the engine to tilt up & Down,
and probably a little vibration dampening.
 
kghost said:
I am viewing this with my phone so tell me what you did that you needed the alignment tool? Refresh the story if you wouldnt mind.
I was under the impression you removed the engine for a reason and reinstalled it.
Click to expand...

replaced my engine mounts, without disconnecting anything at the rear mounts I raised the front of the engine just enough to swap mounts, drill out the old lags and fill in with 5200.
 
Here is a picture of a 1'' pipe inserted into the coupler for reference. You can see the bottom of the pipe is touching the gimbal bearing while the top has plenty of room.. To me this is telling me I need to lower the front of the engine. Which does seem to be a little bit better but the mounts bottom out.




The mounts I installed were a exact replacement, I even compared before swapping them out.. could this be related to the gimbal bearing possibly?

Or maybe I over exerted the rear mounts when lifting the front of the engine with the hoist causing them to now sag?

starting to get nervous lol
 
Last edited:
Naw, probably they just gave up after all the years, Did you loosen or remove the 2 rear bolts first ?
Changing the rear mounts are not that difficult, we could talk you thru it
 
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