Moving Transom Plate and Drive Won't Come Off

[SimcoRick]

Hi "achris" and Gents. I came across some of your posts while searching for help. You all seem very experienced so am reaching out to you directly.
I am helping a buddy out with his boat. He has a MC-1 drive. I would have called it a Pre-alpha from al the posts I saw.....until I ran across the achis rant and educational 2013 post. Cracked me up....Now to my issue. The story goes back to us hitting rock pile some time back on the Detroit river. Damaged the coupling. I installed a new one putting the engine back in the same position as before, but didn't do an alignment. It lasted about two hours. So now I pulled the engine again and am removing the drive so I can align. Problem is I can not get the drive off. I removed the six nuts and pulled straight back. It moved about 1.5" and is stopped dead. I can not get it to move any more. Can you help please? Am I missing something? I am following a Mercruiser manual.
On a more serious note. Yesterday while I was in the boat and my buddy was moving the drive around to see if we could get it out further I noted a lot of movement out of the transom plate. The engineer in me thinks this can't be right. I would think things should be rock solid back there. Your thoughts? I will check back to the posts. Thanks for anything you can provide.

 

[alldodge]

Looks like the Mod moved your post from the 2013 thread. No posting to threads more then 90 days old

Otherwise Howdy

So now I pulled the engine again and am removing the drive so I can align. Problem is I can not get the drive off.

This sounds like you have already pulled the motor and now trying to get the drive off. I'm going to assume, unless told otherwise, that you need to pull the motor and you cannot get the drive off.

If this is the case, you cannot get the drive off because its in a bind. Put the hydraulic cylinders back on the drive. Keep shifter in forward, and raise the drive until you can get a 2x2 or 2x4 in between the bottom of the drive and transom housing. Now lower the drive a bit at a time, easy. If it binds to much remove wood and put it on top the drive between drive and top of transom plate. Then raise the drive easy. Go back n forth until it pops out

 

[GA_Boater]

SimcoRick Welcome aboard.

Moved this post out of the old, inactive thread you posted in. Read the Help Tip on top of the page about posting in old threads.

You should read the manual again. The first step to remove the motor is to remove the outdrive because alignment needs to be performed after reinstalling the motor.

Also the manual will say to place the remote into forward. The shift shaft shoe is binding. Hope it's not bent.

achris Other advice?

 

[achris]

2 things sprung to mind. 1. Engine removed without removing the drive. Never going to end well. 2. Drive/remote control still in neutral....

So yes, what the others said.

Chris.....

 

[SimcoRick]

Thanks to all. To clarifying.
I started with drive in forward, shift shaft link straight ahead.
Pulled six nuts and pulled drive back easy as pie.
It moved about 1.5" to 1.75" and stopped cold.
Upper shift shaft and lower shift shaft are completely disengaged, I can see both shafts when looking under the drive.
The studs the nuts screw to are inside the drive housing. That is how far the drive moved back.
When the drive would not move any more I figured I would remove the engine since I had to do that anyway to put on a new coupler.
I thought I could move the splined shaft by hand to get the drive out.....it didn't help.
The out drive is very loose. I can move it around on the studs quite easily but can not pull it back.
I am thinking there is something going on with the universal hanging up on the gimbal housing.
Strange as it seems I can turn the splined shaft and do not feel anything that feels like it is contacting something.
Any ideas are appreciated.

By the way, was I correct in my assumption that the transom wood should be so solid that I should not be able to flex the aluminum transom skin?
Thanks,
Rick

 

[Grub54891]

is the speedo tube disconnected? Usually they just break off if left on. Could be the gimbal bearing is stuck on the splines as the coupler went out and damaged the splines also.

 

[Bondo]

By the way, was I correct in my assumption that the transom wood should be so solid that I should not be able to flex the aluminum transom skin?

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,.... That is correct,....

 

[alldodge]

From this pic, your drive shaft is seized on the gimbal bearing. You need to get some wood in there so it can be used to help pry the drive off. Either by manual or by using the hydraulics (trim cylinders).

 

[achris]

Grab the back of the drive, lift it about 3" and give it a firm push down. Be ready to catch the drive as it comes off.

Chris....

 

[achris]

is the speedo tube disconnected? Usually they just break off if left on. ....

That's a Mercruiser-1 drive, and an early one at that. No speedo tube.

 

[skijunk]

Grab the back of the drive, lift it about 3" and give it a firm push down. Be ready to catch the drive as it comes off.

Chris....

Yes, and you may have to do this several times. Of course, you should have the hydraulics detached from the outdrive. Just lift it up and let it drop. Put a piece of wood on the ground under the skeg and, yes, get ready bc when it comes loose you could loose some skin, a toe or other more valuable parts.

 

[Fishermark]

If it doesn't come off fairly easily as Chris describes I would almost wonder if the gimbal bearing was stuck to the drive shaft and has pulled loose from the housing. It is not common for it to come easily out and then get stuck.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Sounds like the coupler is gutted and the inner splined part of the coupler is stuck to the drive shaft and preventing it from going through gimbal bearing. Chris's drop idea might get it off but may have to push it through with the lift cylinders.

 

[muc]

I don't think you should force the drive off, but more on that later.
Your biggest problem is that it sounds like you have a bad transom. Before you spend much more time or money on drive removal it would be good to learn more about testing and replacement of the transom.
With out a serial number or year it's hard for us to know what kind of gimbal bearing you have. It's possible yours is held in with a snap ring. If it is and if the reason the drive won't slide off nice is because the splines on the input shaft are damaged from the two bad couplers. You run the risk of breaking the transom plate if you use wood, hydraulics or the drop methods to force the drive off. Those methods will quite often cause the gimbal bearing to come off with the drive and if you have the style that's held in with a snap ring the part that gives might be the transom plate, not a good thing.
My recommendation is (after you have looked into your transom wood) slide the drive back on and take a close look at where your input shaft goes thru the gimbal bearing. Because your engine is out, you will be able to use sandpaper or a file to clean that up.
Sometimes it can be better to use finesse than brute force.

 

[thumpar]

The transom should have zero movement. I would be more worried about that than getting the drive off at this point. It sounds like a rotten transom.