Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

[84EdH]

1979 MC1 drive Merc 350 engine transom was rebuilt and stringers replaced

I have been trying to align my engine all day. In and out of the boat 100 times. I have read the posted info. on alignment and saw videos. I keep getting difficult insertion of align. bar, needing some heel of my hand bumps to get it in. I keep getting spline marks on the port side. If I adjust front of engine up, I start to get marks port and top, go down, mostly 10:00 to 8:00.


I am stuck! (and tired!)

 

[Don S]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

Turn the engine a quarter turn and a half turn and see what happens.

 

[84EdH]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

Hi Don,

ok, but it will have to be in the morning.........I will post the results.

thanks

 

[Don S]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

Hi Don,

ok, but it will have to be in the morning.........

Absolutely not, it must be done NOW!






















But tomorrow will work just as well.

 

[84EdH]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

LOL your not old enough to be my dad! but you sure sound like him!

 

[84EdH]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

Well I had to cut my engine support stringers a bit lower and re-fiberglass because my engine would not adjust low enough. Am now at the point where alignment bar goes in all the way but with too much effort.

When I slide the align. tool in, it bumps the coupler and the end of the bar kicks to one side before sliding in. (takes two hands on bar). I have set the gimbal bearing. also, should the rear mounts be torqued to spec. before adjusting front?

help appreciated

 

[04fxdwgi]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

Also try thumping the end of the bar, while inserted, on the end at 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00, with a rubber mallet. Just not too hard. Sometimes the bearing will get off center a tad and needs to be "re-alligned" also.

 

[84EdH]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

yes, i have done that. the align seems close....it goes in all the way, just gets a bit tighter, the deeper it goes. I have been trying to micro-adjust up and down without improvement. still trying.

thanks

 

[Don S]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

You could also have sagging rear mounts. That would cause you to not have enough down adjustment.

You need everything tightened down as if you were done with the alignment to make sure it's right. If you still have to push the bar in, the adjustment is still off. If it's off the the side, and stays the same when you turn the engine half a turn, then you need to remove the lag bolts on the front motor mounts, move the engine to where the side to side is ok, then redrill and rebolt the mounts.

 

[84EdH]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

I finally got it. It did take a pinch of lateral movement (1/16" ?) on the front mounts to get the final smooth movement. The rear mounts were not sagging, it was just the stringer measurement height was a bit off during the rebuild. I am now ready to drill the holes for the lags and front mount installation. I have just been trying to get the alignment correct BEFORE drilling the mounts. I know I have to do the alingment all over after everything is installed and tight, but now I have the mount location marked and the adjustment is in the middle of the bolt.

Obviously, this is my first time doing this. I am grateful for the good help I got through this forum!
Two things I learned that were not elaborated in the sticky section on alignment.

First, after you set your rear mounts and tighten them, when you hoist the front of the engine for your height adjustment, be sure your lifting straight up from the middle of the thermostat ring. I think I got the lateral adjustment off a hair, by not doing this, my come a long was a little off to one side, maybe only an inch.

Second, when I did move the front of the engine toward port the 1/16th" or so, it worked better when I loosened the rear mounts before I adjusted the front of the engine over. Then I re-tightened and torqued the rear mounts, and then finished the front mount height adjustment.

Don, thanks for your knoweldge and patience!

 

[84EdH]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

Well, I thought I had it. I had everything aligneded, front mounts bolted in, and alignment bar easy and smooth entry. (top nuts on front mounts not on yet). When I bumped the engine around in 90 degree increments, I found the bar a little harder to push in. grease marks showed a bit low at one point, 180 degrees away, a bit hit high back to start and bar went in perfect.

the coupler is a year old, but never used. it has been that long since I found bad stringers. I cant return the coupler now. Any suggestions?

 

[Don S]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

(top nuts on front mounts not on yet).

Those have to be tight too when you do the final check. If the mount is not sitting on the lower nut because all the weight is on the other front mount as soon as you tighten the nuts down, you twist the engine.

This is where it's nice to have 2 people doing the job. Saves a lot of time and trips in and out of the boat.

 

[84EdH]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

Ok, I will try it with the top nuts secured, however, i know there is weight on both mounts. I cant tell if its perfectly balanced, but I was using the come-a-long with it just snug and then pushing on it to see if both sides lifted evenly before alignment, then kept turning nuts equal. will post results shortly.

 

[Don S]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

however, i know there is weight on both mounts. I cant tell if its perfectly balanced, but I was using the come-a-long

Don't use the come-a-long, just the lower nuts to adjust. Go by feel while turning. when it aligns, tighten the top nuts, if the alignment changes, then you was low on one side.
After you do a few hundred of these, it gets pretty easy.

 

[84EdH]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

Ok, I am counting toward 100....one.....

Here is what I found: I tightened the top nuts and re-checked alignment at the 12:00 position. bar was a bit harder to go in. grease marks said go higher. I loosed the top nuts, backed each side 1/4 turn, re-tightened the top nuts and checked alignment.

12:00 smooth trace grease marks go higher
6:00 not 100% smooth as 12:00, but good......grease marks say go higher
9:00 smooth like 12:00 grease marks say go higher
3:00 not 100% smooth but good grease marks say go lower.

checked twice. got consistant info.

in spots it was not 100% smooth, the bar went with ease until last two inches..then a slight bit more effort, with fingers hit bottom.

 

[84EdH]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

Don, after re-reading your last post, I think I may have a slight difference in front mount adjustment, because it did change a bit after I tightened the front mounts. From the info. I posted above, can you tell which side should come up?

 

[Don S]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

Tighten the top nut on one mount at a time, if the alignment moves. It's the low one.

 

[84EdH]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

thats pretty smart! ok i will try it

thanks

 

[84EdH]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

I apparently forgot to post that the end result was that the bar went in equally smooth in 4 quads after I got the left and right adjusting nuts lifting equally, and re-did the alingment. My coupler was fine. It was just the alingment guy that was bad. (me!)

 

[hopes&dreams83]

Re: Alignment Problem Grease Marks on port side

I apparently forgot to post that the end result was that the bar went in equally smooth in 4 quads after I got the left and right adjusting nuts lifting equally, and re-did the alingment. My coupler was fine. It was just the alingment guy that was bad. (me!)

I'm having the same issue right now driving me crazy. How did you get the left and right adjusting nuts to lift equally? Did you use a tape measure or some kind of guage?