Alpha One sterndive install question

I watched a very informative video on the sterndrive install process on Youtube. At just about the final step in the process, the outdrive wouldn't slide quite all the way in. He rotated the prop CCW slightly and it popped right in fully. Great! Only question is: If you align the shift shaft straight forward by rotating the shift shaft clockwise while turning the prop counter clockwise ensuring it is straight by locking it in, how does the prop rotate in reverse when you are aligning the splines? Does that make any sense? In the video he spun it CCW to make the gears mesh up, but it won't spin that way when everything is locked into place. Turning it CW will mess up the alignment of the shift shaft, I believe. Am I missing something here? I have the Spline coupler grease on the splines/shaft, gasket on bell housing, 4" Bellows O ring in, water passage O ring in, and ready to slam it in, just hung up on this one thing.... I made this same comment/question on the video, but he gave me some smoke and mirrors answer, with no clarification. I know I can count on you guys to clear this up!

Re: Alpha One sterndive install question

Reorandy said:

Does that make any sense?

Click to expand...

Yes...makes perfect sense. With the shifter in FWD, and the prop "locked" CCW, it is actually locking the clutch dogs on the prop shaft in the FWD direction. That way, you can rotate the prop CCW and the whole drive train (up to and including the yoke shaft/splines) will rotate to allow you to line up the splines. You have to think about how the drive operates..... If you rotated the yoke shaft (with the drive removed) in the normal engine rotation direction with the prop "locked" in FWD, you would see the prop rotate CW (Fwd), as you would normally expect.
You are correct in that if you tried to rotate the prop CW while in FWD, it would take you out of fowd, as you are diesngaging the clutch dogs. That is why you need to keep the prop retained in the "locked" postition to keep the shifter locked in fwd during reinstall.... but..this does not preclude you from being able to put a little extra rotation pressure in the CCW direction with the prop in order to slightly realign the splines (doesnt take much at all).
HTH!

Oh, and by the way...I hope you dont have grease on the two O-rings on the yoke shaft.... only a very light coating of oil, or these O-rings will hydraulically lock when passing through the gimbal; bearing and prevent full drive insertion.

Re: Alpha One sterndive install question

Easy if you think about it this way: the propshaft and prop rotate CW applying force in the CW direction, the water applies resistance (force) in the CCW direction. Substitute your hand for the resistance of the water CCW force.

Re: Alpha One sterndive install question

Thank you very much! That explains alot! BTW, I dont have grease on the drive shaft O rings, just a light coating of 10W-30. Thank you for mentioning that, though as most manuals I have sen indicate using Coupler Spline Grease on these O rings... So.. Even though the prop is "locked in", it will move CCW with more pressure once the drive is most of the way in? I guess that makes sense since they told me to put the prop on prior to sterndrive installation to make turning it easier.

Re: Alpha One sterndive install question

Keep us posted on how easy it actually turns out to be.... (Did you "glue" your 4" bellows O-ring in place?)

Re: Alpha One sterndive install question

I hope it's easy, gonna try it in an hour or so...gonna jack up the outdrive to proper height unless there is an easier way. I did not glue in the 4" O ring or the water passage O ring, just used a light Quicksilver 2-4-C coating to hold them in place. I was told glue is messy for removal later, made sense to me. Is this suitable? If not, what would you "glue" them with? How much time to cure? Gonna put a thin coating of spline grease on the round housing that goes inside of the 4" O ring so it can slip by and remove easily later.

Re: Alpha One sterndive install question

Advisable to "glue" the large O-ring in place in the bell housing with bellows adhesive (or equivalent weatherstrip adhesive). You dont want that gasket falling out of place while you slide the drive into place. I just smear a light coating around the outer rim of the O-ring and position it in place in the bell housing. By the time you are ready to slide the drive in place, it is "set".

Re: Alpha One sterndive install question

Thanks again. I will let ya'll know how it goes.