did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

[stang32]

I am trying to fit my outdrive on this boat i bought & i cant get it in, I lined up the engine w/the tool & when I try to fit the outdrive driveshaft in the hole, it won't go in all the way, & does not catch on the splines. the tool fits fine in the coupler, i am thinking, maybe the drive is wrong. the guy i bought this from did not have this outdrive on when I bought it & I am thinking there may be some mismatching going on. the shaft does have 3 o rings on it & the drive is a gen II drive & gimbal assy. the P.O. told me that the engine was a replacement but I am finding more & more things wrong with this boat as i work on it so I do not trust anything this guy tol me now.
I would not be suprised if this drive & engine were never mated up at all. please help!!

also ,both the driveshaft & coupler have 17 teeth.

 

[Don S]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

When you check the alignment with the alignment bar, how far up the alignment bar was the spline marks from the coupler?

If the drive is off, look in through the gimbal bearing, do you see splines in the coupler?

 

[tpenfield]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

Well, usually there is a reason for everything. . . So I am thinking the reason that the outdrive was not mounted when you bought the boat is because the previous owner could not get it to go in either.

 

[stang32]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

When you check the alignment with the alignment bar, how far up the alignment bar was the spline marks from the coupler?

If the drive is off, look in through the gimbal bearing, do you see splines in the coupler?

the spline marks go all the way to the end of the small (1")/first section or the bar


yes there are splines, 17

the driveshaft goes in but does not bottom out & feels like the shaft is too big for the coupler. granted, i am still struggling w/the alignment. beacuse the tools does not slide in as smooth & resistance free as it should.

 

[stang32]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

Well, usually there is a reason for everything. . . So I am thinking the reason that the outdrive was not mounted when you bought the boat is because the previous owner could not get it to go in either.

thats exactly my thought. he said he was replacing the gimbal bearing & bellows & his son who was doing it di not have time to finish it. now I am not a nucklehead, i got the boat fora great Price & even i i have to replace the drive, it is a good deal. he did say he could not get the drive in the last couple inches, i assumed it was an alignment issue.
which I am working on now.

 

[Don S]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

Did you put a lot of grease on the orings that go into the gimbal bearing? If so, and you have grease under the orings as well clean it all off. Especially under the orings. Then put them back on and put oil on them, not grease and give it a try. With new orings, it sometimes takes a bit of a kick to get the orings started through the gimbal bearing.

 

[achris]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

Let's start with what you have... Give us a year or serial number on the engine, the drive and the gimbal housing.... For all we know you might be trying to put a Gen II drive on an old 'O' drive bell housing!

Chris.......

Oh, and what the engine is, 4, 6 V8....

 

[stang32]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

the shaft does not go in far enough for the o rings to be an issue,I thought of that myself.,
the shaft stops just short of the1st o ring going into the bearing

 

[stang32]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

Let's start with what you have... Give us a year or serial number on the engine, the drive and the gimbal housing.... For all we know you might be trying to put a Gen II drive on an old 'O' drive bell housing!

Chris.......

Oh, and what the engine is, 4, 6 V8....

I would love to give ou that info but the engine is a replacement, no serial #'s, escept what was on the carb cover & that appears to be the original.
it is a 96 mercruiser 4.3 2 barrel.
alpha 1 gen II

 

[Don S]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

the shaft does not go in far enough for the o rings to be an issue,I thought of that myself.,
the shaft stops just short of the1st o ring going into the bearing

Sounds to me like you need to move the shaft around to get it aimed at the coupler. Maybe someone reach down behind the coupler and aim the shaft into the coupler while the guy on the outside pushes the drive forward.
If the new engine has an old style coupler, you will be missing part of the coupler that the third oring seals against and helps guide the spline shaft to the coupler.

 

[achris]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

I would love to give ou that info but the engine is a replacement, no serial #'s, escept what was on the carb cover & that appears to be the original.
it is a 96 mercruiser 4.3 2 barrel.
alpha 1 gen II

So give us that... What about the serial number on the drive, and the one on the gimbal housing?

Have you checked that you're not fouling on the big rubber ring inside the bell-housing, the one just next to the bellows retaining ring...

Have a watch of this video, it might help...

http://youtu.be/aGVrY4cWiDA

Chris......

 

[Miglater]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

Not sure if it relevant to the Gen II's but if it is.......

Is the control on the boat in forward gear WOT to align the shift shaft with the drive for installation?

 

[Don S]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

Yes it has to be in forward, but that only comes into play the last inch. The shaft would already be over half way in the coupler by then.

 

[stang32]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

the gimbal housing is not even assembled yet, I have not gotten to the point of installing the bellows, water tube & tilt assy. I just want to get the dam engine alligned & make certain this outdrive will fit. I hav the top 1/2 of the drive next to the boat & keep trying ot fit it into the coupler, I am having a real hard time with the alignment & I am starting to doubt myself & this is not good.
i just wantto see the shaft fit into the coupler & then I will relax a bit. i am temppted to rip the dam bearing out & see if the shaft fits without it, then I will have to install a new bearing. but I will then at least know that the drive shaft & coupler are right/matched.


I ned to put my kid to bed, then I will upload some photos, maybe you guys can get an idea from the photos.
thanks for your input.

 

[stang32]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

ok, here are some photos, ,
this is a photo of the tool bottomed out in the coupler/bearing
then there is a photo looking into the bearing. shows the splines on the coupler
next is the shaft in as far as it will go.

then the last photo is the tool i am using.

I hope this gives you a beter understanding of what i am dealing with.

ok, one last thing, the length of the tool goes in is 8 3/4"
the distance from the outside ofthe bearing to the front of the coupler is 10"
the distance that the shaft goes in is 6 3/4"
as much as I try, i can not get the engine aligned so that the tool slides in smoothly, it always needs some persuading.

 

[achris]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

I don't care how much you've assembled. The reason I'm asking for serial numbers is so I can check for you that the parts you have are compatible.... For all I know you're trying to fit parts together that were never designed to go together.... Without serial numbers we can't tell....

Right, from what I see the shaft is just starting to enter the coupler... You don't have the drive complete, so you can't turn the shaft.... THAT is why it's stopped. You're going to need to turn either the engine crankshaft or the input shaft on the drive-shaft housing....

HTH, but please, serial numbers?

And if you do get it turned and into the coupler, please let us know...

Chris......

 

[Don S]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

Have you turned the ujoint shaft to line the splines up while pushing the drive toward the front?

 

[achris]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

Have you turned the ujoint shaft to line the splines up while pushing the drive toward the front?

HAHA, beat ya.... for once.

 

[stang32]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

Have you turned the ujoint shaft to line the splines up while pushing the drive toward the front?

yes, i can get in there & turn the shaft, i feel it riding against the coupler in that I feel it skip each time the shaft tooth rides past a coupler tooth but never enough to grab into it & I try pushing it in as best I can but not going no matter how hard I try.


CHRIS: i understand your asking me for serial #'s but if I only have the #'s from the original motor, what good is that? I will post them though.

were do I find the gimbal & drive serial #'s?

 

[stang32]

Re: did mercuiser change the size of their couplers/drive shafts over the years?

the serial #'s on the flame arrester cover are as follows:

engine OF770340 NO # ON ENGINE

TRANSON OF661260- CONFIRMED ON GIMBAL

OUTDRIVE OF706002- NO # FOUND ON DRIVE