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

[muc]

My advise.
Reinstall the drive, run it hard for a couple of hours, pull the drive and recheck alignment. You may find that the problem is gone.

 

[findinghomer]

My advise.
Reinstall the drive, run it hard for a couple of hours, pull the drive and recheck alignment. You may find that the problem is gone.

The drive will not even begin to go on

 

[findinghomer]

you can just remove the bearing ,carefully

Hey Doc, I can't get the bearing to spin 90? to slide it out of the Notches , it's too tight. It barely moves. I tried tapping on it with a large screwdriver on the outer most part of the bearing. Is there a trick to this? Or should I just go ahead and Hammer it out?

 

[Bt Doctur]

It will be tight, using the alignment bar sometimes you really have to give it a good hit with you hand to start it. try using a solid 1 inch bar.

 

[findinghomer]

It will be tight, using the alignment bar sometimes you really have to give it a good hit with you hand to start it. try using a solid 1 inch bar.

Okay doc, . I could not swivel my bearing out. So I just realined it with the alignment tool, put my test yoke in, and engage it to the coupler . I can feel, and even here the teeth engaging. I inserted and pulled out rhythmatically while turning to hear each tooth grab. but it does not go in. It doesn't even go far enough for the bearing to reach the first of the two rubber O-rings at the bottom of the shaft. So my question is, is this indicative of a bad coupler, or could it still be because of my gimbal bearing being in, and my alignment not being perfect? I do have a slide hammer to drive it out if need me, I just figured I may as well not pull it , if you can already tell this is a bad coupler

 

[Bt Doctur]

can you obtain a sacrificial yoke , and have a shop cut it 1/8 th inch undersize where the gimbal bearing would ride?
At this point its a guess the coupler was damaged. the bearing has to come out to test the coupler with the shaft.
A should have a new tolerance ring if you need it.

A crude way to do it:
Insert the spare shaft with a short piece of chain and drive it untill it bottoms out. IF the alignment is good it should pull out with finger pressure.
If it needs to be pulled out (slide hammer/ come-along) the rear mounts have most likely collapsed

 

[bruceb58]

If you take off the 2 o-rings will it slide in? Sometimes, those o-rings can get too much grease under them and will cause your issue. They really only need to be lightly oiled...not greased.

 

[findinghomer]

If you take off the 2 o-rings will it slide in? Sometimes, those o-rings can get too much grease under them and will cause your issue. They really only need to be lightly oiled...not greased.

No. It is not even reaching the O-rings. It's only reaching the very start of the coupler it grabs, but does not push on. I actually did put some oil around those o rings just in case

 

[findinghomer]

can you obtain a sacrificial yoke , and have a shop cut it 1/8 th inch undersize where the gimbal bearing would ride?
At this point its a guess the coupler was damaged. the bearing has to come out to test the coupler with the shaft.
A should have a new tolerance ring if you need it.

A crude way to do it:
Insert the spare shaft with a short piece of chain and drive it untill it bottoms out. IF the alignment is good it should pull out with finger pressure.
If it needs to be pulled out (slide hammer/ come-along) the rear mounts have most likely collapsed

Ok. Maybe I should just go ahead and pull the bearing out. If my test yolk will not go into the coupler with the bearing off, it's definitely bad right?

 

[bruceb58]

Now that the bearing is out, can you manually slide it down your yoke to make sure it gets past the o-rings?

 

[findinghomer]

Now that the bearing is out, can you manually slide it down your yoke to make sure it gets past the o-rings?

I am going out to pull it right now. I'll let you know

 

[findinghomer]

Now that the bearing is out, can you manually slide it down your yoke to make sure it gets past the o-rings?

Bearing out. Same thing, yoke will not go into the coupler. It touches it and grabs teeth but it won't slide on

 

[Grub54891]

I'd reach in to the coupler, clean it up really well, inside the splines. If you con borrow a boroscope, you can get a good look at the splines and see if you damaged them with the alignment bar. I myself would clean up the splines if damaged with a small file, but that's only if they are just dinged up a small amount. Then clean it up again and test fit the spare shaft and alignment bar. It's probably a bit hard to reach in there but it can be done. Otherwise you have to pull the motor to get at it.

 

[findinghomer]

I'd reach in to the coupler, clean it up really well, inside the splines. If you con borrow a boroscope, you can get a good look at the splines and see if you damaged them with the alignment bar. I myself would clean up the splines if damaged with a small file, but that's only if they are just dinged up a small amount. Then clean it up again and test fit the spare shaft and alignment bar. It's probably a bit hard to reach in there but it can be done. Otherwise you have to pull the motor to get at it.

Thanks for the tip grub, but I don't think that will be real feasible for me. I've already been mentally preparing for an engine pull anyway is a coupler a bolt off/bolt on part, or is there much more to it, once I get to it? Also, can I order based on my engine, or is there many different variations, to where I should pull the old one first,?

 

[Grub54891]

Once you get the motor out, the bell housing comes off and the coupler just unbolts. Really not to bad of a job, The motor is just plug and play wiring, and fuel line removal, shift cable and throttle disconnect. And any cooling hoses riser boots ect... You can unbolt the fwd motor mounts right from the stringer, so as not to disturb the alignment you already have. You should be able to order a coupler right here from I-Boats with your serial number and model number. Personally, I'd pull the old one first and inspect it, see if it can be saved. If damaged to badly, yes replace. If everything was maintained properly, couplers last a long time, I've replaced 2 in my life, just because the owners wanted to have new ones as the motors were replaced at the same time. Both of mine are from1984 and 1985, still working fine.

 

[Bt Doctur]

That confirms our suspicions that the second install of the bearing damaged the coupler. Your going to have to find the correct tool to reinstall the bearing or wait untill the engine is out to use your tool.

"You can unbolt the fwd motor mounts right from the stringer, so as not to disturb the alignment you already have."

Anytime a motor is removed, alignment must be checked. While its out, clean/loosen oil the mounting nuts just incase they need a slight adjustment

 

[findinghomer]

Once you get the motor out, the bell housing comes off and the coupler just unbolts. Really not to bad of a job, The motor is just plug and play wiring, and fuel line removal, shift cable and throttle disconnect. And any cooling hoses riser boots ect... You can unbolt the fwd motor mounts right from the stringer, so as not to disturb the alignment you already have. You should be able to order a coupler right here from I-Boats with your serial number and model number. Personally, I'd pull the old one first and inspect it, see if it can be saved. If damaged to badly, yes replace. If everything was maintained properly, couplers last a long time, I've replaced 2 in my life, just because the owners wanted to have new ones as the motors were replaced at the same time. Both of mine are from1984 and 1985, still working fine.

Great info there! Thanks grub

 

[findinghomer]

That confirms our suspicions that the second install of the bearing damaged the coupler. Your going to have to find the correct tool to reinstall the bearing or wait untill the engine is out to use your tool.

"You can unbolt the fwd motor mounts right from the stringer, so as not to disturb the alignment you already have."

Anytime a motor is removed, alignment must be checked. While its out, clean/loosen oil the mounting nuts just incase they need a slight adjustment

Yea, I'm going to install the bearing once the engine is out. Then im going to fix that driver tool to prevent this from happening again. Thanks for all your help doc

 

[rad1026]

Bummer, sorry to hear. The coupler is not a huge deal though. Getting the engine prepped to pull is maybe an hour or so. I bought an automotive engine hoist, ARCAN PC-4000 lb. Mobile Crane, used off craigslist and it worked great. If you can find something in that lifting capacity it should do the job. My boat sits pretty high on the trailer and that lifted my engine over the top of the transom no problem. Go slow, safety first. Let us know how it goes.

 

[rad1026]

I was going to say, you don't have to really even get the motor completely out of the boat. If you can lift it and move it forward enough to remove the bell housing you are good.