1997 Mercruiser Alpha Gen 2 Engine Alignment troubles

lowd239

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Jul 2, 2019
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5
Hello all,

I'm looking for some advice on an issue with engine alignment of the 350 in a 1997 Sea Ray br 210. Back story of the boat is that me and a group of friends do projects out of my garage and the relative of one of the guys sold us his boat for $500 with the only catch that the gimbal bearing failed on it. We're all handy guys with backgrounds in mechanics and engineering but boats are new to us.

We have removed the old bearing and pressed in a new one which all went easy enough but we are having quite the time trying to align the engine to the bearing. Laterally the engine is not aligning up. With the engine vertically aligned the alignment tool shows splined grease marks on only the starboard side and no marks on the port side.

So far we've tried loosening both the front and rear mounts and hoisting the engine up to realign the mounts but that did not help. The rear mount bushings look to be ok and there is no apparent hull damage.

Any suggestions or thoughts? We're at a bit of a loss! I'll post some photos for a visual
 

Bt Doctur

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
Messages
19,093
try aligning the bearing to the coupler instead. Rear mounting bolts must be tight ,The gimbal bearing "gimbals" like you eye ball.Simply installing the bearing until seated is no guarantee its straight to the coupler.Tap the alignment tool up ,down, left, right, sideways to center it in relation to the coupler
 

QBhoy

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Mar 10, 2016
Messages
8,286
Yeah. As above. You maybe need to get an alignment tool. Shouldn’t really go so far out though if you haven’t disturbed the drive train forward of the bearing ?
 

lowd239

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Jul 2, 2019
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5
Thanks for the input. We do have an alignment tool that we've been using and through reading various posts on alignment, have tried tapping the alignment tool in differing directions. Also as far as we know the engine coupler is good and straight as with the engine running the coupler spins true.

Perhaps the alignment has always been off which is the cause of the bearing failure to begin with?

Here are some photos...the first photo is of the failed bearing and where the driveshaft scored the bearing housing. The third photo is with the new bearing installed
 

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tank1949

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Apr 4, 2013
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1,759
Thanks for the input. We do have an alignment tool that we've been using and through reading various posts on alignment, have tried tapping the alignment tool in differing directions. Also as far as we know the engine coupler is good and straight as with the engine running the coupler spins true.

Perhaps the alignment has always been off which is the cause of the bearing failure to begin with?

Here are some photos...the first photo is of the failed bearing and where the driveshaft scored the bearing housing. The third photo is with the new bearing installed

That old of a boat, stringer mounts or transom sag due to rot may cause issues. Go buy a heavy rubber mallet and beat on exposed glass/wood and listen for sound differences. Rotten transoms on I/Os can sink boats. The bad thing about installing a new gimbal bearing is that the inner race can and will move. Kind of like a donut within a donut...This can drive you nuts by providing false readings. that something else if WRONG. If the shaft came out easy and you have not performed any other changes. I suspect that you just need to insert the first part of the alignment tool and move the inner donut or race around. You might have to play with it for a while. Prey there is no rot. Good luck!
 

pmtom1

Seaman
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Messages
67
Just went through his last year. First time was a serious PITA for us after replacing the bearing. By using all the tips and advice here we figured it out but it took MANY tries and lots of taps. Obviously, make sure you have the alignment tool in just enough to connect with the bearing but not in too far that it contacts the splines. The bearing wont move and you will damage your coupler. Other trick someone recommended was to use wood dowel that was a tad thinner then the alignment tool. We found one at home depot. Used it the same way as alignment tool with grease as "pre-alignment" tool. Somehow this seemed to help us.Getting used to how hard to tap that mallet is an art for sure. Good luck!
 

lowd239

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Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Messages
5
Great guys, thanks for the advice! We'll hopefully have some time to look into it this weekend. Perhaps first we'll check rear mounts haven't failed then check for transom rot then work on aligning the gimbal bearing.
 

lowd239

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Jul 2, 2019
Messages
5
Well after two more evenings working on the boat we're ruling out things but still no solution!

Checked the rear engine mounts and they appear to be centered and not sagging. Though it does look like they have been replaced with the updated fiber washers as from what I've read the update was in 2003 and our boat is a 1997.

Took a rubber mallet to the hull around the transom and front engine mounts and there was no apparent "dull" sound or difference in noise.

And then finally double and triple checked the engine coupler runout both by using the alignment tool and rotating the engine in degreed increments...and also by running the engine with a 1" round bar inserted in the engine coupler...there was no shake or vibration on the round bar as the engine rotated.

Ahhh! So here's a photo of the 1" bar inserted in the engine coupler showing how the engine is offset port side to the bearing. It seems pretty substantial. Any thoughts or what to check next??
 

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Bt Doctur

Supreme Mariner
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Aug 29, 2004
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19,093
Have seen it before. Remove the front motor mount lags, slightly loosen the rear mounting bolts, Align the engine, drill new holes.
 

Rick Stephens

Admiral
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
6,118
As Bt Doc stated.... hang the motor off the thermostat loop, that's what it is for. Remove the front motor mounts. Loosen rear bolts a little and allow/push motor into alignment. May have to fill and redrill the mounting screws to the stringers if they are off line.
 

lowd239

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Jul 2, 2019
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Thanks for the input guys. We did as said and hoisted the engine to move the motor mounts and that looks to be the solution to the alignment issue.

But now another problem has come up, literally...when the bolts for the stern side engine mount were removed, water came springing out of the bolt holes for a few minutes. It's a hot day and the boat was out in the sun but given the boat hasnt been in the water for over a year that seems pretty wild that pressurized water would still be present in the hull. The boat was stored indoors for a year and only recently been exposed to rain.

The previous plan was to fill the old engine mount bolt holes with jb weld marine epoxy but we'd like to find the source of the water in the hull. There was a quarter size chip under the bow of the hull but no obvious places towards the back of the boat where a water leak could be.

Any thoughts on next steps? Thanks again
 
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