1989 Mercury 115 inline 4 rebuild.

[James R]

Wrestled with the crankshaft bearing alignments now hooking up #1 con rod. Those of you who know know that the caps are threaded and the bolt threads don't clear the caps. Threading the bolts into the rod causes the cap to lift off. What am I doing wrong?
Yes the rods cages and caps were marked during diss assembly to ensure matching on reassembly.

 

[James R]

Re: 1989 Mercury 115 inline 4 rebuild.

No need to respond. Use a pair of long nose pliers and pull the cap and rod together and screw the bolts in by hand. If any resistance whatsoever is felt unscrew the bolt and redo. The caps appear to align themselves but check anyway. If slight out of alignment is seen then remove the bolts and try again.