What did I do to my alignment? Alpha 1 gen 2 / 5.7 litre

[findinghomer]

Ok the backstory, I had to replace my complete outdrive. I had my outdrive off a couple times last year and always checked the alignment, the alignment bar slid in perfectly fine and easily. everything was good. When I got my new Unit, my outdrive would not bolt up completely, to much relief, I realized I just did not have the gimbal bearing aligned properly to the coupler (new bearing) . Once I had it aligned properly , i re checked my engine alignment, and bearing alignment and everything again was perfect. Now it slid right on. I thought I was good to go, but when I tested everything out ,my u joints were clattering really bad when I was in the full down position. Long story short I did not have my gimbal Bearing driven in all the way. But by the time I figured that out , it was too late, I had already pulled it. This was on Sunday, so a new gimbal part order on Sunday will not be processed until Monday anyway, so I figured what the hell, I will just try to put this bearing back in , be sure to drive it all the way in , and see what happens. Figured since I had the tools to install the bearing and also pull it again if need be, I'll give it a try. When driving the bearing back in , my driver got stuck a couple times, really binded in there. Once I had it completely seated and the gimbal bearing aligned to the coupler, the drive still will not go on (alignment bar was tight too). I figured I had just damaged the gimbal bearing when I pulled it, so I went ahead and just yanked it out, and ordered a new . I got the new one today. I installed the gimbal bearing properly and have it driven all the way in. Once I have the alignment bar aligned through the gimbal bearing and into the coupler it's still very tight. Outdrive will not go on. I thought maybe I just need to pivot the bearing some, but I've been pivoting up , down , left , right and the best I can do is get it to where the alignment tool will go in and bottom out into the coupler, but I have to push rather hard. Doing the grease trick, it seems that my splines are not as prominent on the top as they are on the bottom. I turned the engine, same thing. It seems like an engine alignment problem, but I'm also afraid it's something else, because it was perfectly fine before I tried to drive that old bearing in. My biggest fear is that I bent the coupler doing this, but when driving the bearing in , I don't think my tool even reaches the coupler. But I've been messing with this thing for four hours, I was hoping I didn't have to come to this but I am stumped, hopefully you guys can point me in the right direction. I really appreciate you guys!

 

[Bt Doctur]

What kind of tool did you install the bearing with? No, installing a bearing cannot damage a coupler.
you dont list the year, but most alignment problems come from a collapsing rear motor mount

 

[Rick Stephens]

Alignment bar should slip in and turn easily with 2 fingers when the motor is aligned properly. Something has changed. All it takes is something loose, or as Bt stated, a motor mount that is crushing down or rusted loose mount bolts into the stringers.

Good luck!

Rick

 

[findinghomer]

Its a 1997 alpha one Gen 2. I took a measuring tape and butted it up against the outer edge of the coupler. And then measured my driving tool. the tool will reach the coupler. I think when I tried to reinstall that bearing, it was slightly gimbaled, so the alignment tool was not going into the coupler but instead , missed... hitting the coupler off center and I was whacking on it. Maybe that is why the tool got bound up a couple times inside the bell housing when I was driving it. Ugh, I'm freaking out now, a new coupler is going to ruin my boating season .

 

[findinghomer]

Alignment bar should slip in and turn easily with 2 fingers when the motor is aligned properly. Something has changed. All it takes is something loose, or as Bt stated, a motor mount that is crushing down or rusted loose mount bolts into the stringers.

Good luck!

Rick

Thanks Rick. I understand that the alignment could have changed because of the reasons you stated, I just find it really hard to believe that it is just my ailgnment out of whack this bad, because it has been completely fine ...even 2 days ago. Is there any way for me to know for sure if I damage my coupler?

 

[findinghomer]

What kind of tool did you install the bearing with? No, installing a bearing cannot damage a coupler.
you dont list the year, but most alignment problems come from a collapsing rear motor mount

Hi., doc. thanks a lot for your input! I think I damaged my coupler. What can I do to check that? My engine alignment was perfectly fine 2 days ago.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Its a 1997 alpha one Gen 2. I took a measuring tape and butted it up against the outer edge of the coupler. And then measured my driving tool. the tool will reach the coupler

The tool to install a gimbal bearing cannot possably reach the face of the coupler
can you post some pics . the driver only rests on the outermost portion of the tolerance ring

 

[Bt Doctur]

http://www.mercstuff.com/images/gimbaldriver.jpg

 

[findinghomer]

Its a 1997 alpha one Gen 2. I took a measuring tape and butted it up against the outer edge of the coupler. And then measured my driving tool. the tool will reach the coupler

The tool to install a gimbal bearing cannot possably reach the face of the coupler
can you post some pics . the driver only rests on the outermost portion of the tolerance ring

I have seen the drivers you are talking about, mine is not like that. Mine is an alignment bar, driving tool combination. It has a driving donut that goes on it and bolts on, or you take it off, and use it as an alignment tool. The web site won't let me upload pic, says its too big. Measuring from the end of the alignment tool (end that goes into the coupler) to the face of the driver is 8 inches. When I measure from the outside edge of the coupler to the front face of the bearing when driven all the way in it is 6 7/8. So I think for me to even begin driving that bearing in , the end of the tool had to be in the coupler

 

[findinghomer]

http://www.mercstuff.com/images/gimbaldriver.jpg

Yeah, I wish I had that one now lol. Then I wouldn't be so worried

 

[findinghomer]

http://www.mercstuff.com/images/gimbaldriver.jpg

Ok, so I set my bearing driver back up, and slid the old bearing back onto it , to take measurements. I found that , With my tool, and the bearing fully driven in, there would have been 1 inch of the end of the tool in the coupler when I was done driving it in. So if the bearing travels one inch or more from the initial set, to completely set in the bore, then my tool was not in the coupler when I began to I drive it in. If the travel is less than 1 inch, then my tool was already lined into the coupler when I started whacking. Hope that makes sense lol. And helps diagnose what I may have done.

 

[Bt Doctur]

If I understand it correctly , the center length protrudes far enough to reach the coupler. If this is true ,when hammering in the bearing and the bearing is not true to the bore ,the alignment shaft may gouge the inner splines of the coupler damaging them.
What you should do is remove the bearing , obtain a inputshaft , and see if the shaft will slide in to the coupler all the way. That will prove oneway or the other if the coupler splines are damaged

 

[bruceb58]

Make sure when you install your next gimbal bearing, put it in the freezer for a few hours. Makes life much easier driving it in.

 

[findinghomer]

If I understand it correctly , the center length protrudes far enough to reach the coupler. If this is true ,when hammering in the bearing and the bearing is not true to the bore ,the alignment shaft may gouge the inner splines of the coupler damaging them.
What you should do is remove the bearing , obtain a inputshaft , and see if the shaft will slide in to the coupler all the way. That will prove oneway or the other if the coupler splines are damaged

Yes, that's what I'm saying . Could damaging those cause my alignment tool to bind? Or could whacking On it like that screw up the alignment? I still have my old upper, I could pull the shaft from to test. Can't I do it with the bearing in?

 

[Bt Doctur]

not really, you need to know if you damaged the splines in the coupler.there only aluminum, with the bearing inplace your fighting an alignment problem too.
removing the bearing and inserting a shaft will confirm if the splines were damaged (flattened/gouged, etc)

 

[Bt Doctur]

The Red line meaning a straight and true install
The Blue showing a crooked install possably gouging the splines

 

[findinghomer]

not really, you need to know if you damaged the splines in the coupler.there only aluminum, with the bearing inplace your fighting an alignment problem too.
removing the bearing and inserting a shaft will confirm if the splines were damaged (flattened/gouged, etc)

Ok. I'll pull the bearing back out. I installed it slots out, can I just pull the bearing, and leave the outer race in, so I'm not wasting another bearing? If so, is it tricky to pull them and reinstall like that. I really appreciate all this doc

 

[Bt Doctur]

you can just remove the bearing ,carefully

 

[findinghomer]

you can just remove the bearing ,carefully

Okay, I would like to go that route if possible. But will I be able to do that with the bellhousing and Bellows on? I just realized I may not have enough room to get the angle to get it to pivot

 

[rad1026]

If you have pictures on your computer you can open up Paint, which is a free software that most computers come with. Maybe in your accessories. Open Paint, in the tool bar of Paint there is a folder that says "Open an existing picture". Click on that and then browse to the pictures you have taken and open them. On the Home tab of paint there is a "Resize Picture" icon. Click on that and resize the picture, try 35% of the horizontal and vertical measurements. Then click okay and then save the picture with a different name. Then click on the camera icon in the upper left of the Post Reply box in this forum and browse and find the resized picture. If it still says its too big you may need to play with the size of the picture until you get it. I don't know the size of the original file your camera takes so its hard to advise on the % you need to decrease the size of the photo. Give it a try, you will figure it out.