How To Align Your Boat Engine

[gm]

Prayers finally answered. A simple and complete video of this intimidating task.

[nordemoniac]

This helped me a lot. I was not able to insert an alignment tool after replacing the bearing. The mechanic said to ignore it, the bearing will take the difference, but I used the pipe tip, and adjusted the engine so it was at least possible, although a bit hard to get the tool in - and then I could give a slight knock on the bearing and it would slide through without any issues.

[alb]

What a wonderful, simple video. Thank you.

[haight]

Using the 1” bar definitely helps getting the engine at a close alignment if the alignment is way off. Then fine tune the alignment with the proper alignment tool. This “trick” saved lots of time.

[franciscotrujillo]

Hola, una mala alineación, puede provocar que un motor pierda potencia en respuesta al acelerar sin marcha metida, y con la subida de revoluciones suban también las vibraciones, ? Aparte de ruido en la zona del rodamiento del trabsom? Un saludo

[simonjohnson]

I contacted a boat mechanic about putting in a new gimbal bearing, and shift cable (because my boat was taking on water thru a slit in the shift cable boot) he instructed me on the kit I needed to order with the new bearing and gaskets, shift cable etc
He came over to my house where I keep my boat and removed the sterndrive to get to the worn out gimbal bearing and proceeded to install the new one with his alignment bar, but the bearing wouldn’t go into its place in the gimbal housing. His bar he was using was not being held horizontally so naturally the bearing won’t seat properly. He worked at this for at least an hour or more.
Finally he jumps up in my boat and removes the engine cover/shroud. He then proceeds to take his mallet and large crescent wrench and starts to strike the wrench to loosen the front engine bolt (which is responsible for the alignment of the engine coupler that the sterndrive fits in to) then he gets back out and starts hitting the alignment tool to seat the gimbal bearing, he couldn’t do it so I asked if I could try, I took his mallet and held the bar perfectly horizontal and seated the bearing on my first try. At this point I’m getting suspicious with his intent. So now that the bearing is in he can bolt my stern drive to the back of the boat and I could order a new lower unit that he could just bolt on when it comes in, needless to say, the stern drive will not slide in to the engine coupler because I believe he knocked the entire engine out of alignment by a few millimeters when he hit his wrench with his mallet on the front engine bolt and adjustable nut. Usually if there’s an alignment issue the stern drive will not come out easily but mine came right out with ease when he first took it off to get to the gimbal bearing. He kept on saying that my boat “hates him” because it was giving him such a hard time getting back together and he just couldn’t figure out why the sterndrive wasn’t going in. I then mentioned that he had turned the front engine bolt and he said that that wouldn’t be the problem. This event was Saturday Feb 13th, 2022. (I asked a mechanic on Thursday February 24th and there’s no reason to adjust that bolt in order to seat a gimbal bearing). So he promised to come back the next day (Feb 14) and get everything back together so I paid him $380 for his time that day and we set a time the following day and he came over and worked 4 more hours to absolutely no progress whatsoever. He couldn’t get the sterndrive back on. This was on Superbowl Sunday. At this point we both knew that I needed a new lower portion of the sterndrive so he recommended I just order a new one and when that comes in he’d come over and install for me. I just went ahead and ordered a new complete sterndrive and it arrived at my house and I texted him that it had come in and he’d come over on Wednesday which was Feb 23 to install it. On Wednesday, 3.5 hrs of trying to install the new stern drive but no success. Finally he gets up in the boat and looks around the back engine compartment and discovers the real reason why the sterndrive wouldn’t go into to the engine coupler and it was because my rear engine mounting bolts and bushings needed to be replaced. He said it was a really easy job then explained he needed to lift the entire engine out of the boat to be able to replace those parts (which would cost around $60 for parts) but his labor would be no less than $1000.00 and that this would fix the problem. At this point I just realized I am a victim of the “long con”
Shortly before finding the “real” reason the sterndrive wouldn’t go in he asked me if I knew what boat stands for, I said no, then he said Bend Over And Take it. He chuckled. I didn’t.
Prior to this recent event I had my boat at the marina exactly 13 months ago for a diagnostic and the technicians called me back in their shop area to explain to me what needed done and they showed me the gimbal bearing and my leaking lower unit of the sterndrive with the stern drive off the boat on their small hoist and I stood there and watched them reinstall the sterndrive. It reattached to the back of the boat with ease, but I thought nothing of it until this guy a few days ago had such difficulties for 3 separate days (Saturday February 13th, Sunday February 14th, and Wednesday February 23rd)
Now I feel like I’m being held hostage and I gotta pay $1000 ransom to get my boat back in working order which really just amounts to turning the front engine bolt to get the engine coupler back in alignment with the gimbal housing so the sterndrive shaft will slide in with ease like it did in the past.
So yesterday, Thursday February 24th, I went on to the website “Just Answers” where I texted back and forth with a certified boat technician and told him basically what I’ve written here and he concurred with me and I have a copy of our dialogue thru the JustAnswers App on my iPhone.
I’m wondering if I have a case with sufficient evidence that the court would recognize?
I never got anything in writing from him so I’m wondering if I’m out my $480? Thanks for reading this!
So basically I don’t think the front engine bolt needed to be messed with just to install a gimbal bearing

[pj]

Thank you for this informative video. I have been studying the engine
mounts on my Hino Marine diesels and while I do have the vertical
adjustments I do not seem to have a horizontal
adjustment. I am trying to figure out how one addresses this with my
setup. I wonder if perhaps the holes for the vertical mounting bolts are
slotted or just a little over-sized as an alternative to allow for
lateral movement. Have you ever encountered this situation?

[moccasinmarine]

This video is not complete. It doesn’t explain that the gimbal bearing twists in its housing. Sometimes you have to whack the alignment tool with your palm on the top or bottom to make it line up with the coupler. The link below explains it well at the l:49 mark.

[chrisappel]

You never showed hot to adjust you just stuck tool in

[markeagle]

A one inch pipe does not fit into a r/mr Alpha drive. Any other suggestions to get an initial adjustment?

[bennyray]

I have a boat with twin mercury 50 hp on. I can not git the motors to align with each other. If anyone can help I would thank you very much. Need help!

[techdavey]

Would you be checking the drive-line on your car every 300 hours?  Of course not! IMHO most drive-lines on boats really suck.  The main problem is that the engine mounts sag.  With most boat drive couplings this throws weight onto the stern-gland which then wears and leaks.  This state of affairs is so bad that many years ago a man who worked for Cardan invented the Aquadrive. (now copied with the Python-Drive)  

If the engine mounts on a car engine sag slightly it doesn't matter because the universal joints will take care of the problem.  Now available for boats!

Big ships don't have the need for frequent engine alignment as their engines don't have rubber mounts 

[pj]

Thank you for this informative video. I have been studying the engine
mounts on my Hino Marine diesels and while I do have the vertical
adjustments I do not seem to have a horizontal
adjustment. I am trying to figure out how one addresses this with my
setup. I wonder if perhaps the holes for the vertical mounting bolts are
slotted or just a little over-sized as an alternative to allow for
lateral movement. Have you ever encountered this situation?