'76 Mercruiser 888 with Ford 302. 2 weeks ago, had a growl/grind coming from the front of the engine (had run fine one week before). Got it out of the water, back home, stethoscope out, and the noise appeared to be from the left side somewhere. Since there were no electrical problems, I ruled out alternator and attacked the water pump (after verifying on here that there were cases of changing the pump fixing a similar problem) -- $265. Went ahead and changed impeller, gear lube, annual lube maintenance, etc. -- $150 and 3 or 4 posts here on how to get the (*&*&% lower unit back on. Fired up the boat today -- still grinding -- priceless. Problem, it turns out, is a bracket (not the one that adjusts tension on the belt) that runs from the side of the alternator to the back of the power steering pump housing. The bolt on the back of the PS pump came loose, letting the bracket ride up and start rubbing the bottom of the flywheel, causing grinding that sounds like it is coming from the left side of the engine. Now (finally) the question. How do I get at that blind bolt without taking out fuel pump/filter and God knows what else. Also, does the bolt screw into the housing (I hope, but not that lucky), or is there a nut that fits in there somewhere. I have dug all around the bilge but can't find the nut (putting bilge cleaner in the bilge last week did not help this effort). Any help from anyone patient enough to get to this point in my tale of woe would be appreciated.
