2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

[beechhouse]

OK all you motor/drive heads, I have a 1988 Searay 18 foot Seville with a 120 hp 2.5L merc and alpha 1 outdrive. Just picked up the boat and on the second trip out the drive coupling teeth completely stripped out. I already pulled the engine and put on a new merc coupling and driveshaft on the drive.
I put in a new gimbal bearing and have an alighment tool, the tool goes all the way in with almost no force after I aligned the engine. I go to put the drive on and it slides all the way in until the driveshaft hits the rubber O rings. From there it needs persuation to help it go home. Is this normal or what am I missing? There is no way I can get the nuts on the studs of the drive without tapping it in with a 5 poundl hammer.
Am I headed for doom again or is this normal?

Thoughts?

 

[Bondo]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

or is this normal?

Ayuh,... Welcome Aboard,... Sounds pretty normal...

Ya Slathered the shaft, 'n o-rings with Grease, Right,..??

I usually give it a "Mule Kick" to get the 0-rings to squeeze into the gimbel bearing...

 

[beechhouse]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

You got it, very well greased but no go without the persuation, is that normal?

 

[Bondo]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

You got it, very well greased but no go without the persuation, is that normal?

Ayuh,... Like I said before,.... Yes...

 

[beechhouse]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

It seems odd, allignment tool drops straight in but still needs force. Not a great design.

 

[Bondo]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

It seems odd, allignment tool drops straight in but still needs force. Not a great design.

Ayuh,... I guess if yer against using the required Force...
You could leave the o-rings off the shaft, so it'll slide, sloppily through the gimbel bearing...

Personally,... I'd rather put it together Right,...

 

[beechhouse]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

I will certainly be putting her on with the o rings

 

[Don S]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

If it will make you feel any better, take the orings off, then put the drive on and see if it goes easy. Then take it back off and put the orings back on.
If you did the alignment right, the alignment is not your problem. If the shifter and drive are in forward, that is not the problem. Only one thing left....... you guessed it. ORINGS.

 

[beechhouse]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

Good idea, I will try that this weekend.

 

[cr2k]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

The good ol' Merkick!

 

[beechhouse]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

Well I decided to pull the whole darn drive and gimbal bearing off to see what the heck was going on. Once I got the gimbal bearing out I noticed that when it went in last time it actually went in slightly cocked and pushed a little bit of the aluminum from the housing under the face of the bearing. This lead to the bearing being off square just enough to bind on the driveshaft when the drive was installed. I removed the burr, put in a new gimbal bearing with the alignment tool and bearing installer, slapped a ton of spline grease on the dtiveshaft and she slid in dead straight, no merkick needed! Lesson of the day, use the right tools when installing the gimbal bearing!

 

[NHGuy]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

See, you could tell it wasn't right, maybe you didn't articulate it to us, but you knew enough to recheck. Good going. Better to do it right than do it over.

 

[beechhouse]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

It is ALWAYS better to do it right. If you have a feeling something is wrong, it usually is!

 

[mrchev]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

is that the extra o rings that come in the drive gasket pakage are for the drive shaft.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

Did you ever mention WHY the coupler splines failed? No grease? Engine out of alignment? Rotten stringers? Etc......

 

[NHGuy]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

Oh cr*p, what DID cause the original issue?

 

[dubs283]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

what DID cause the original issue?

lack of routine maintenance

 

[beechhouse]

Re: 2.5L Merc Drive Coupling Teeth Stripped

The original coupler failed because the front stringer had rotted, someone put in a new stringer but never bothered to align the engine. After the coupler failed I checked the alignment and the new stringer was about an inch too low! End result, failed coupler. Once I put all the pieces together and aligned the engine, put in the gimbal bearing with the alignment tool, and greased her all up she went together like butter! Again the moral of the story, if you think something is wrong it probably is, and always use the right tools for the job. No a 5 pound sledge is not usually the right tool!