Outdrive will not go back on Help Please

[koberlee]

I have an 84 Mercruiser 3.0 with an alpha one out drive I just replaced all of the bellows and the shift cable and the gimble bearing that the drive shaft goes through. I am now to the point of putting the outdrive back on and I am following the mercruiser instructions with the shifter and drive in forward and have vissually verified allignment of the the shifter setup I have the when I put the drive on I can feel the shaft splines engage and the drive goes almost all the way in but it pretudes about one inch and hangs up there. It acts like it is hanging up on the driveshaft orings that go into the gimbal bearing. The book says do not force the unit on

Does any one have any idea what I might be hanging up on or if there is something I am missing ?
Thanks

 

[thunderroad]

Re: Outdrive will not go back on Help Please

I've found that a little extra time spent with the alignment tool paid huge dividends when it came to putting the drive back on. I know it's tough to take it back off when you get that close, but.....
Also...are you sure the large rubber oring/gasket stayed in it's proper place when you were reinstalling the drive?
I certainly wouldn't consider brute force, but I don't think a little persuasion with a piece of 2x4 and a shop hammer would be totally out of line in all cases....but I'll defer to the more experienced here. I used to have to "tap" mine in the last 3/4" or so until I started getting more picky about the alignment. The last time I did it, all I had to do was lean against it and turn the prop a little and it slid right in.
And...if you're like me....let it sit a while and go back later. It might go right together.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Outdrive will not go back on Help Please

You didn't say if you used an alignment tool...did you?

 

[koberlee]

Re: Outdrive will not go back on Help Please

I used the driver that is called out in the manual to put the bearing in but I did not see a mention of an alignment tool. Is there a tool that aligns the bearing to the motor spline?

 

[tommays]

Re: Outdrive will not go back on Help Please

While the alignment should not change the bearing pivots in its housing and the alignment tool allows you to well get it aligned

If the alignment is good you have to "tap" on the tool a bit to get the bearing straight

 

[ziggy]

Re: Outdrive will not go back on Help Please

totally agree with bruce58.... did you?
totally agree with thunderroad too. take the extra time with yer alignment bar to get it as close as ya can. i did mine at 4 points, 12,3,6,9 o'clock. drive just slid back on w/o issues after splines were lined up....... on the other hand (ya know, the one that always gets ya into trouble), i've read that a slight kick to get a drive back on is not unusual........ just be sure alignment is correct with yer bar though....

heres the type alignment bar ya need. http://www.mercstuff.com/alignmenttool.htm ya can get them on ebay too, dime a dozen price wise....
it's a must have, must do item..... look in yer service manual under removal installation. it will describe this proceedure.... once again, it's a must do item....

 

[MikDee]

Re: Outdrive will not go back on Help Please

If you're that close, usually if they're stubborn, a good kick, or a few should help. Sometimes it's the weight of the outdrive that needs to be lifted slightly a bit, and turning the prop one way or the other sometimes helps,,, or, a bit of all three at once helps

 

[PSS-Mag]

Re: Outdrive will not go back on Help Please

I quit being gentle with mine after I almost had heat stroke last year from standing for an hour and a half holding it up trying to get it in.

Last night I slid mine on in record time, 10 mins or less, Completely bolted up rams and all.
There is always a small catch just as I get it on the bolts and thats usually where it hangs. Once I had it rested on the bolts, I rotated the prop to make sure I was engaged in the engine, then I took a piece of 3/4" plywood I had laying nearby placed it on the back of the drive, and with one small tap with 10lb short handle sledge, it slid past that catch and right on.

Force vs controlled leverage....

 

[DockedPay]

Re: Outdrive will not go back on Help Please

I put in new gimbal bearing recently (merc 350, alpha 1). If you change gimbal I believe you should do an allignment. I had a boat mechanic do my allignment because I didnt have a tool and wasn't that confident. The allignmnet cost me $100. Even though it was done (by a mechanic) I still had the same problem you have getting drive on. Once I knew the drive shaft splines where inside the motor I gave the drive a little kick and it pushed on the rest of the way. Note: I hear that if you are out of allignment and manage to force the drive on, you could cause problems such as ruining the engine coupler (??), or damaging the drive.