Mercruiser Alphaone Stubborn Outdrive

[Goldie627]

Hey all, at the end of last year I pulled my motor for a makeover. I finally get the motor back together and installed, check my alignment (its good), and cant get the dad gummed outdrive to go on all the way. Its about a inch, maybe inch and a quarter out. Its not binding by the shift shaft, it seems to be binding above that area like maybe near the universal joints. Ive been restoring my boat for almost 5 years so im not a total noob (im more like a partial noob!), but im stumped... This is how I install the out drive.

Bribe one of the kids to get in the boat and put it in neutral (im lazy)
Apply grease to the shift cable and roller that's in the bellhousing.
Apply grease to the outdrive housing, yoke splines and o-ring in the bellhousing,
Apply oil to the 2 o-rings on the yoke that are close to each other
Psych myself out to lift that heavy *** outdrive
Offer the outdrive to the bell housing moving it on slowly
Stops moving about 2 inches or so from mating
Simultaneously spinning the intermediate shift shaft while spinning the prop counterclockwise the prop will lock
Now in forward gear the intermediate shift shaft and the shoe will be in alignment
(i double check getting on the ground with a flashlight)
I spin the prop counterclockwise with 2 hands or step on a prop blade just a wee bit and the splines will line up allowing the out drive to go on further

and well there am:facepalm: 1 inch away from going fishing!!! plus im on staycation this week!!

im in forward gear
lower cable is lined up and not binding at all in the outdrive
lubed up
tried with front of the boat down, up and horizontal

are my universal joints bumping my gimbal out of place?

I did notice that my gimbal bearing didn't appear to be tight, i could move it by hand. with the alignment bar it rotates smooth no grinding... plus gimbal bearing only has a few months usage on it.

Im stumped...

 

[Rick Stephens]

Maybe too much grease under the drive shaft o-rings? Makes em stick up too far to pass through the gimbal bearing.

 

[Johndoe8889]

Happen to me last week too. So bad i placed a rubber mallet in front of the druve to protect it while i hit that with a sledge hammer. This was after a week of trying i was that pissed. Guess what happen it went on.

 

[Johndoe8889]

It was crazy had that thing racket straped and all.

 

[Goldie627]

Maybe too much grease under the drive shaft o-rings? Makes em stick up too far to pass through the gimbal bearing.

Hi Rick, unfortunately i didn't remember that til i was thinking of reasons of why it wouldn't go on :facepalm: what i did was wiped of the slathering of gresse i had applied and put some regular oil on the o rings. The more i think about it maybe i should carefully pry the o rings out from there seats / valleys and make sure i got all the grease out. Then roll them back into place with oil. Ill give that a shot monday morning.

Boat runs like a champ tho! no more shakes. had to have been the intake. ill post a video after i take it for a test run, still need to set timing and maybe a minor carb adjustment. but will do that in the water.

im also curious to check my intake vaccum readings post intake manifold gasket repair, i bet its up where it should be, im so happy, my motor never ran this good!

also proud of myself, adjusted my valves for the first time ever, man that 4 banger is purring like a kitten feels good too because for the first time i'm truly confident in my compression readings

 

[Goldie627]

Happen to me last week too. So bad i placed a rubber mallet in front of the druve to protect it while i hit that with a sledge hammer. This was after a week of trying i was that pissed. Guess what happen it went on.

Im glad you got yers on, good job! Im more of a finesse wrench in my old age but who knows it may come to that

i did give it the foot of truth but im holding the hammer in abeyance for now

 

[andrewterri]

One thing you want to watch for is that you do not get grease on the end of the yoke as this can cause a "vacuum lock" when you put the drive one. If you over grease, the air in front of the shaft in the coupler can not escape during install and it will prevent the drive from going on the last inch or so. You might check and make sure that is not your problem. You can also shine a flashlight into the coupler to see how much grease you have in there. Outside of what I just said, I have had the same problem of that last inch several times. Once I verify the shift shaft, shift linkage, and splines line up by rotating the prop like you have the only choice I had left was to take the impact to the bolts and pray the housing did not crack. If you have tried to remove the drive and start over several times and keep having the same issue and you are sure everything is lined up and accounted for you might have to go to brute force. My guess would be air cant escape or O-rings on shift are fitting to tight to just slide on. You said the gimbal is new, are the O-rings new as well? Are the O-rings mercruiser or aftermarket?

 

[Bondo]

Bribe one of the kids to get in the boat and put it in neutral(im lazy)

Ayuh,..... The control, 'n Everything else, MUST be in Forward, not neutral,.....

Psych myself out to lift that heavy *** outdrive

Crank up the trailer jack, 'n set the drive on a block of wood, so it can just be rocked into the bell, rather than liftin' the drive,....

 

[Goldie627]

One thing you want to watch for is that you do not get grease on the end of the yoke as this can cause a "vacuum lock" when you put the drive one. If you over grease, the air in front of the shaft in the coupler can not escape during install and it will prevent the drive from going on the last inch or so. You might check and make sure that is not your problem. You can also shine a flashlight into the coupler to see how much grease you have in there. Outside of what I just said, I have had the same problem of that last inch several times. Once I verify the shift shaft, shift linkage, and splines line up by rotating the prop like you have the only choice I had left was to take the impact to the bolts and pray the housing did not crack. If you have tried to remove the drive and start over several times and keep having the same issue and you are sure everything is lined up and accounted for you might have to go to brute force. My guess would be air cant escape or O-rings on shift are fitting to tight to just slide on. You said the gimbal is new, are the O-rings new as well? Are the O-rings mercruiser or aftermarket?

thanks andrew, i did slather the spines with grease so ill remove the grease and see if it will go on all the way, my coupler has a grease nipple so i can add a lil more grease after its on

my out drive is actually a new SEI that i purchased last year, it has very low miles because previously i was chasing a mid throttle lean condition, turned out to be a leaking intake manifold gasket on the rear corner under the water hose, i missed it while troubleshooting more times than id like to admit

thanks for the tips

 

[Goldie627]

Ayuh,..... The control, 'n Everything else, MUST be in Forward, not neutral,.....


Crank up the trailer jack, 'n set the drive on a block of wood, so it can just be rocked into the bell, rather than liftin' the drive,....

Hi Bondo, my apologies sir, my mind knows all the way forward (forward gear) but my fingers typed neutral, unfortunately its too late for me to go back and edit it to read correctly

Initially i started installing it in that fashion, boat horizontal and outdrive on the ground (my trailer sits kinda low so i don't need a block of wood) then like you say i rock it in kinda scooting it along, making sure my intermediate shift shaft and shoe are aligned, i basically resorted to all tha jacking up and down after it wouldn't go in normally, im giving it another shot this morning

 

[Goldie627]

Me and my brother Scott finally got the drive on. Well actually Scott got the drive on. We were tag teaming the drive, one of us would wrestle the drive while the other took a back break .

What he did was lifted the outdrive with his hands positioned on the outdrive closer to the stern. Im not sure but i think that kinda picked up that double universal joint just enough to let it slide in.

Prior to that we were both positioning our hands either mid drive or more towards the rear of the drive in hopes of rocking it on.

What I did to get the stubborn drive on:

1. Triple check your alignment
2. Position the boat horizontal as best you can.
3. Make sure the throttle lever is all the way forward (in forward gear)
4. Use a board or block the appropriate size so that the outdrive is close to even horizontally with the bell housing.
5. Apply grease to your o-ring that sits in the bell housing to hold it in place
6. Apply grease to the shift cable (plastic part that meets with shift roller on the bell housing)
7. Grease the yoke splines, not slathered on to cause a vacuum pressure but enough to protect the splines and coupler.
8. Grease the upper part of the drive housing (large cylinder aft of the universal joints, a rubber seal goes here, don't forget to put it on )
9. Apply oil to the yoke o-rings, applying grease may alter the clearance through the gimbal bearing
10. Offer the outdrive to the bell housing while simultaneously doing #11 and #12
11. At this point check to see if your intermediate shift shaft and shoe are aligned
12. Make sure your shift cable and roller are aligned as they enter the outdrive
13. If your intermediate shift shaft is not in alignment with shoe, simultaneously turn the intermediate shift shaft while turning the prop counter clockwise
14. Grab a rag and put the rag in your right hand so that you can grab the underside of one of the prop blades to keep it locked CC
15. Slide or scoot or rock the drive in, whatever your back allows
16. At this point the intermediate shift shaft should be in the shoe partially
17. Unless you are incredibly lucky you will be stopped twice
18. The first stopping point (about 2 and a 1/2 inches out) is the splines are not aligned
19. Use two hands or a foot to spin the prop CC a wee bit (will take some force) and the drive should go on
20. The second stopping point (about a inch out) is where the universal joint is heavy and laying on the bottom preventing alignment
21. Pick up the outdrive with your hands closer to the stern, lift and push,
22. I believe this will allow you to move the universal joint up just a teensy bit and allow for alignment

Thanks to all

 

[andrewterri]

I am glad you guys were able to get it on. Happy Boating

 

[JASinIL2006]

My boat sits low on the trailer and I actually found it easiest to jack up the rear of the trailer. If the rear of the trailer is too low, the u-joints really want to bind as they go in. Takes a couple more minutes, but it saves a lot of aggravation...