motor alignment

[vicpresnal]

replaced 4.3 motor, tried to mark the motor mounts, had a little trouble aligning motor to outdrive shaft when installing, may have motor out of alignment, outdrive is starting to scream and rumble a little, sounded good for the first few times out. While in neutral it is quite, only noisey when in gear. Out drive is also over due for service. could my problem be alignment or just time for gimble bearing and other maintance, approximatlely 400 hours and 11 years since complete outdrive service.

If motor is out of alignment, would that cause wear in splines on the flywheel transfer plate?or other issues in the outdrive itself.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: motor alignment

you install the motor first
then you align the motor
then you install the drive
mis-alignment causes rapid coupler wear, input shaft wear, gimbal bearing stress

 

[vicpresnal]

Re: motor alignment

JUst what I was thinking, My big concern is do I need to pull the motor loose and inspect coupler, ( I can handle this), before I call in the big guns to pull the out drive, I do not want him there doing the out drive and alignment, only to tell me coupler is shot . Then I will have to pay him to do that as well.

 

[Bondo]

Re: motor alignment

JUst what I was thinking, My big concern is do I need to pull the motor loose and inspect coupler, ( I can handle this), before I call in the big guns to pull the out drive, I do not want him there doing the out drive and alignment, only to tell me coupler is shot . Then I will have to pay him to do that as well.

Ayuh,... the outdrive comes off with 6 or 8 nuts, in about 5 minutes,...
No need for Big Guns....

 

[Don S]

Re: motor alignment

Need to know Engine serial number, Year of boat may help a little, not much, also type of outdrive.

replaced 4.3 motor, tried to mark the motor mounts, had a little trouble aligning motor to outdrive shaft when installing, may have motor out of alignment,

Here was your first problem. You should have had the outdrive OFF before installing the engine, otherwise it's impossible to align the engine, and extremely difficult to get all the mount hardware in place correctly.

While in neutral it is quite, only noisey when in gear.

Every thing in the outdrive is turning when the engine turns, Except the prop shaft. Might want to remove the prop and make sure the thrust washer is behind the prop and the prop is not hitting the housing.

Out drive is also over due for service. could my problem be alignment or just time for gimble bearing and other maintance, approximatlely 400 hours and 11 years since complete outdrive service.

Outdrive service is supposed to be a YEARLY service, not every 11 years. Gear lube change, alignment check, greasing the gimbal bearing and ujoints especially. Bellows and raw water pump impeller if you have one in the drive are longer than 1 year, but not 11.
We also have no clue what drive you have or what year any of this is.

If motor is out of alignment, would that cause wear in splines on the flywheel transfer plate?or other issues in the outdrive itself.

Absolutely, but you have to have the outdrive off to check and adjust the alignement.

Here is a thread on how to do an alignment http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?p=2971085#post2971085

 

[vicpresnal]

Re: motor alignment

Mecruiser, Bravo outdrive, houseboat, changed motor while in the water, did not want to pay trucking company to pull boat. From where the boat is, that would have run me 1500 bucks maybe more. We did have oil changed in out drive when we purchased boat 3 years ago, I should have had outdrives rebuilt then. Any way to check the coupler without pulling the motor loose?

 

[Don S]

Re: motor alignment

Mecruiser, Bravo outdrive, houseboat, changed motor while in the water, did not want to pay trucking company to pull boat. From where the boat is, that would have run me 1500 bucks maybe more.

Perfect example of why outdrives are a poor choice for Large, non trailerable boats that stay in the water all the time.
Way to much maintenance required on outdrives.

We did have oil changed in out drive when we purchased boat 3 years ago

That is a yearly job, not every 3 years. Especially on a boat that stays in the water all the time.

Any way to check the coupler without pulling the motor loose?

Nope, the ONLY way to check the alignment is with the drive off.