Outdrive will not go back in after gimbal replacement

[gandgracing]

So I pulled outdrive after noticing the gasket was leaking and it was taking in water to the driveshaft. Replaced gimbal and seal behind it. Tried putting outdrive back in and it will not go. I aquired an alignment tool and I cant even get it to go into the engine spline. I removed the new gimbal and the tool still wont fit into the engine side. It seems that the collar between seal and motor could be the problem? Could my engine alignment been that far off?

 

[dubs283]

a broken drive gasket should not let water into the bellows, there is a large quad ring sealing the drive and bell housing for that, unless the quad ring is also compromised - chances are the u-joint bellows has a hole

you should inspect the coupler, if the splines are worn the alignment tool wont go in, the splines should be squared off, not pointy

 

[alldodge]

So I pulled outdrive after noticing the gasket was leaking and it was taking in water to the driveshaft. Replaced gimbal and seal behind it. Tried putting outdrive back in and it will not go. I aquired an alignment tool and I cant even get it to go into the engine spline. I removed the new gimbal and the tool still wont fit into the engine side. It seems that the collar between seal and motor could be the problem? Could my engine alignment been that far off?

Agree with dubs and will add, if you have a good alignment tool (one which was made correctly) then the tool should go into the spline on the coupler. If it doesn't then new gimbal bearings are tight and can need to be moved a bit to align up. If you removed the bearing and still cannot get the tool to go into the spline of the coupler, then either you have a bad tool or your coupler is damaged

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...es-outdrives/455000-engine-alignment-how-to-s

 

[Fishermark]

I know they changed the alignment tool dimensions at one point in time.... I will see if I can find more info. But it sounds like you have the wrong alignment bar.

 

[Fishermark]

You don't mention what year, etc you have... but here is the service bulletin that explains the difference. You can measure what you have and see if it is correct.

 

[gandgracing]

Its a 1990 21' Stingray. 350 Chevy with an Alpha Gen. 1.

 

[duped]

So you very well should have the right tool since the change didn't apply to your model. If you got it from eBay, it's likely alright, quite a few members have been using that one. You can measure to be sure, of course. It's a possibility that your motor mount(s) dropped enough to give you problems. Worth looking at. Also, since you were getting water, it would be good to check out the gimbal bearing to make sure it spins free and smooth. Also the drive u-joints. You're definitely going to want to do a bellows job while you're in there. The water definitely was not coming in from the drive gasket so all this work will be for not without replacing the bellows.