Alpha One Gen 2 Outdrive not going back on

[Djunegarcia]

Hi all. Writing this forum tonight out of frustration. I have a Mercury Mercruiser Alpha One Gen 2 outdrive. So I’ve recently removed the outdrive to complete some maintenance on the gimbal housing. I’ve just replaced my main bellow, exhaust and shift cable bellows. Replaced gimbal bearing and seal that sits behind the bearing. Replace trim sending units. New water hose. Regreased u-joints and pretty much everything that requires it. Also replaced water inlet o-ring and gasket that fits between outdrive and gimbal housing. Now is the easy part right? My boat is level on its trailer. Throttle is in forward gear so shift pin is straight. Also have the shifter pin on the outdrive facing straight so it slides in to one another. I’ve slid the outdrive onto the gimbal housing and I am able to get it in to only have about a 1 1/8” gap. I can’t seem to get it any further. Been working on it for about 4 hours now. Any suggestions??

 

[jerryjerry05]

First your in the wrong section! Find the Mercruiser repairs a little further down the page.
Second, the o-rings on the shaft, remove them and clean the grease from the groove.
Then reinstall and grease only the top of the o-ring.
Too much grease under the o-ring lifts the ring and makes it bigger and the bigger won't fit in the gimbal bearing.
You have trouble getting the drive off?
Get or borrow an alignment shaft.

 

[alldodge]

Agree, and have you checked alignment?

 

[harringtondav]

Per above check alignment. Often the inner race of the gimbal bearing gets knocked out of alignment during installation. If you don't have an alignment bar, a 1" pipe will move the inner race around.
Worst case remove the splined coupler yoke shaft from the drive and use it to test alignment.
You may have also rotated the drive's coupler shaft out of timing with the engine coupler splines, causing interference. With the drive in FWD, slip a prop on the prop shaft and rotate it counter clockwise. This will cause the coupler shaft to rotate and engage the engine coupler.

 

[poconojoe]

You need an alignment bar. Without one, you'd be awful lucky to get it lined up properly.

Here's what learned when I did my gimbal bearing:
The gimbal bearing pivots all around at different angles. If it's not perfectly lined up (at the correct angle) with the engine coupler, you won't get the shaft to meet the splines of the coupler.

You need to get the alignment bar into the gimal bearing and smack the end of it, the part that's in your hand, left, right, up, down until you get it to slip into the coupler. NEVER ATTEMPT TO SMACK IT INTO THE COUPLER! It should slide in relatively easy. Too much grease on the driveshaft can also prevent it from going in.

If this procedure doesn't work, then your motor mounts need to be adjusted accordingly to correct the misalignment. But this is a last resort and may be difficult for a novice and you could be making matters worse. It's imperative that the gimal bearing is at the correct angle.

 

[Djunegarcia]

Thank you all for the replies. New to the forum sorry for posting in wrong area. Yes I have the alignment tool. I have aligned the bearing to coupler so that’s why I’m stumped. I will clean all surfaces and start again with a little less grease. Thank you

 

[poconojoe]

Thank you all for the replies. New to the forum sorry for posting in wrong area. Yes I have the alignment tool. I have aligned the bearing to coupler so that’s why I’m stumped. I will clean all surfaces and start again with a little less grease. Thank you

Sounds good.
Keep us updated on how you make out.

 

[Lou C]

OK here's a trick I used on my OMC Cobra, not sure if it will work on the Alpha but worth a try, they are similar enough...
get the gimble bearing lined up with the tool
get the drive at the right height relative to the transom mount (I use a drive jack, makes this job 100% easier on your back)
then, get a long, thin screwdriver and slide it in the u joint cross area. You can use this to slightly turn the driveshaft to get the driveshaft splines to align with the internal splines in the coupler. I used to have some days when it went right on, others where it fought me, at the last 1" or so, and finally figured out this was the reason. Just a 1/8" turn or less makes all the difference. If the screwdriver trick won't work, then have someone turn the prop shaft just slightly as you try to slide the drive on. Because the Alpha gets installed in fwd gear, this may help.

 

[GA_Boater]

Thank you all for the replies. New to the forum sorry for posting in wrong area. Yes I have the alignment tool. I have aligned the bearing to coupler so that’s why I’m stumped. I will clean all surfaces and start again with a little less grease. Thank you

This has been moved to the Mercruiser section. So don't start another thread.

 

[JASinIL2006]

This seems to happen to me every third or fourth time I install my drive. I have no idea what causes it. I'm sure the problem is caused by something I'm doing (or not doing), but I'll follow all the usual suggestions and still it won't go on.

I've found that if I leave it overnight and come back to it the next day, it almost always slides on the first try.

 

[Scott06]

If the alignment is good there's only a few things :

• Heavy amount of grease in coupler from alignment process
• drive and Shift linkage not in fwd ( you said this is ok)
• orings on driveshaft not going in gimbal bearing I think there are more orings than u need for a gen 2 in the gaskets set as it covers gen one mc1 as well
• you need to turn the input shaft so splines can align with coupler. Shift drive into fwd keep prop locked CCW with bungee cord or hold it. turn prop ccw to rotate the input shaft to line up with splines in coupler

 

[Lou C]

If the alignment is good there's only a few things :

• Heavy amount of grease in coupler from alignment process
• drive and Shift linkage not in fwd ( you said this is ok)
• orings on driveshaft not going in gimbal bearing I think there are more orings than u need for a gen 2 in the gaskets set as it covers gen one mc1 as well
• you need to turn the input shaft so splines can align with coupler. Shift drive into fwd keep prop locked CCW with bungee cord or hold it. turn prop ccw to rotate the input shaft to line up with splines in coupler

that's the part I'm referring to....

 

[Scott06]

that's the part I'm referring to....

didn't see your post, great minds think alike....

 

[achris]

 

[Lou C]

Great Vid Chris my brother just bought a 2020 Chapparal with the Mercruiser 4.5 Alpha so I guess I’ll be doing this with him sooner than later. Only thing I’ll add is if you’re older have a weak lower back get a drive jack! It and the alignment tool are the best money I have spent on I/O maintenance. Excuse my dirty salt water slipped drive!

 

[Djunegarcia]

Hi all I was able to get outdrive back on! Fishing time! So the alignment tool I was originally using was machined wrong. Purchased one from a local Mercruiser marina and walla!!!!

 

[Djunegarcia]

Black all bad. Copper great!

 

[jerryjerry05]

YEA!!!
I used an assortment of 2x10x12 blocks and just built them up to the right height.
Left the Cobra in either gear f/r, it changes gear to N when it slides all the way in.

 

[Djunegarcia]

Great tip! So I’ve got everything put back together and put the boat on my water hose. Everything seems to be running fine. No leaks no overheating however there is water coming from an area where the shift lever is. Is this normal because I can feel a little exhaust coming from this slot. Should I be worried? I’ve attached a photo

 

[Scott06]

Great tip! So I’ve got everything put back together and put the boat on my water hose. Everything seems to be running fine. No leaks no overheating however there is water coming from an area where the shift lever is. Is this normal because I can feel a little exhaust coming from this slot. Should I be worried? I’ve attached a photo

I do not think you should be worried the cause passage should drain this way intentionally