Problems aligning my inboard engine

[Cuddylarson]

I have a 88 Larson dc 250. The alignment is off to the left. I've loosened all of the engine mounts but I am having problems moving it at all. Is there any trick or tried and true technique you know of at all? I'm pushing the engine by myself while my girlfriend looks to see when it goes into alignment. Should I have more guys to help me or is this something I could do myself. Any information helps thank you

 

[alldodge]

I have a 88 Larson dc 250. The alignment is off to the left. I've loosened all of the engine mounts but I am having problems moving it at all. Is there any trick or tried and true technique you know of at all? I'm pushing the engine by myself while my girlfriend looks to see when it goes into alignment. Should I have more guys to help me or is this something I could do myself. Any information helps thank you

You say this is an inboard, so you have a transmission, probably a velvet drive, correct?

Trying to align to this pic? or does your shaft go all the way through the transmission?

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have always used feeler gauges to align an inboard. If its an I/O you need an alignment bar

 

[Cuddylarson]

It is an I/O and I did use an alignment bar that said it was too far to the right by like 2 mm. We tried moving the engine but it's not moving at all and the drive shaft will not go all the way into the engine as is. And alldodge our shaft does kormally go all the way through to the transmission but because it's out of alignment it won't right now

 

[alldodge]

It is an I/O and I did use an alignment bar that said it was too far to the right by like 2 mm. We tried moving the engine but it's not moving at all and the drive shaft will not go all the way into the engine as is. And alldodge our shaft does kormally go all the way through to the transmission but because it's out of alignment it won't right now

The comments I made above was in reference to an inboard engine as your title listed.

If the transom is flat, the bell housing and transom plate and assembly are not bent and assembled correctly, there is no way for the engine to be to the right/left. Hoist the engine up from the thermostat housing just high enough remove weight off bottom nuts on front engine mounts. raise nuts up to where they just make contact with the bottom of the engine mounts. Set engine back down, now adjust each nut up or down equally until bar can be inserted.

The only way for the engine to be to the left or right is if the transom is not flat and parallel, the engine mount has now been installed correctly or something else is damaged. The rear of the engine does not allow the alignment to shift

 

[Cuddylarson]

Thank you for all your help alldodge. I have one more question. I believe it might have come out of alignment because I ran the boat without the outboard motor on it. I took it off to check the grease and I put it back on and we took the boat out on the lake. My inboard engine started having problems when we took it out. We thought the engine was locked and I read that if it is sometimes it will start with the outdrive off so we tried that. Could that have caused some problems with my transom because the alignment bar is saying it's the the left when I put it in.

 

[alldodge]

Thank you for all your help alldodge. I have one more question. I believe it might have come out of alignment because I ran the boat without the outboard motor on it. I took it off to check the grease and I put it back on and we took the boat out on the lake. My inboard engine started having problems when we took it out. We thought the engine was locked and I read that if it is sometimes it will start with the outdrive off so we tried that. Could that have caused some problems with my transom because the alignment bar is saying it's the the left when I put it in.

If you can remove an outboard motor and it changes your alignment then my first guess is your transom is rotten. Your transom should not move with just about anything you add to or remove.

What do you mean "you thought the engine was locked"?

Edit: this is now in the OMC section, so if it's an OMC I'm not the expert here

 

[Cuddylarson]

I'm not sure turning the boat on without the outboard engine on it changed the alignment, but before I did that the outboard engine went on fine and now it is not. And the alignment bar is not direct center when put in, it's to the left. That only leads me to believe that the engine is out of alignment to the left. Do you have any other ideas as to why the alignment bar would be more to the left when it's in.

Also about the locked engine, we over heated the engine for 5 minutes unknowingly, but it started fine the next day and ran fine for 25 minutes before quitting out which lead me to believe the engine might have locked itself up from being too hot. I started the boat with the outdrive off to confirm what I thought about the locked engine and I proved myself wrong. Now I can't get the outdrive back on. If you have any ideas at all I would appreciate it. I can send you a picture of the alignment bar in the engine maybe it is not going in all the way and the engine being too high or too low is making the bar go in slightly crooked?

 

[alldodge]

I would check the transom first. Take a screw driver and on the inside of the boat on all sides of the engine and transom plate, try to push the screw drive into the wood. More so down low and work up. If you can push the screw driver in then your transom is soft. Try hard to do it, a solid transom will not give.

As for the engine to the left, I don't see how this can happen but then again this is an OMC and I'm a Mercruiser guy. That said they are real close to the same setup. There is a possibility that if one side of the forward mount is much higher or lower then the other this will cause the engine to appear to be shifted to one side or the other. The engine would actually be in a twist and needs to be straightened.