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342 Coupler
CrewLounge
Member Posts: 92 ✭✭
i spun the couple out of my starboard engine on my 342. Had them both replaced 5 years ago. Only about 200 hours on them since then. Didn't hit anything that I know of. Shouldn't they last longer than that?
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I aligned mine when it still had a 4.3 in it... almost replaced the mounts due to wear, but suspected there was a v8 in my immediate future so I held off... turns out I was right!
so... new mounts, new location (had to fill holes and move mounts forward a bit), and I spent no less than a whole day aligning the outdrive... now, it would have taken minutes if I had a helper, and it would have been less if I hadn't adhered to some bad advice- someone with alignment bar in hand (most experienced person as it's the most important place) and someone with a 1 1/16th" wrench in their hand in the engine compartment cuts WAY back on time... but the bad advice was:
the 'turns' on the bolts don't have to match... however, the engine needs to be level.. I was told to make sure that if I had, for instance, six solid turns on one side, that is what I needed on the other- that ain't where it matters... the engine should be level, yes, but who is to say the glass on the blocks is uniform thickness? who is to say your boat is positioned dead level on the trailer or blocks? these are things I learned you gotta pay attention to...
in the end, sitting on the ground beside an outdrive, with an alignment bar in my hand an a tube of grease in the other is how i made it right... it's said "two fingers to install and remove", and I call BS on that, too... the skids in the grease marks is where it's at- if grease is uniformly put on the shaft, and you're careful not to scrape it on the gimbel (shove it in straight) you should have uniform skids in the grease representing the lands of the splines... if that is the case, you're good.. and it's true that a single 1/8th turn of the mount bolts can be the difference between aligned or not... by yourself, this is a painstaking process of climbing aboard, gettin back behind it... climbing aboard, getting back behind it...
I recommend you approach it like calling for artillery fire when there are no friendlies present- bracket instead of creep... shove the alignment bar in as far as you can to see which direction it needs to go, then adjust no less than twice that distance- shove it in again and see if you're equally off the opposite direction, or how far you came up short of that- do it again, halving the turns until just one 1/8th turn to either side up or down makes one greasy skid mark deeper than the other side... you're there, at this point... a final tiny adjustment and it's perfect...
beware, locking down the bolt can take it out... it's for this reason I'd rec you start out all the way seated and work your way 'up' in adjustments... the weight of the engine is considerable, but that mount can still snag and hold that weight on a single thread on that bolt- unless it's all the way down to begin with... if it's all the way down, it would take some magic of physics for the engine's weight to be suspended on a thread above seat...
if a boater with an outdrive owns no other specialized tools, the one they have should be an alignment rod... and they should check alignment before each season, and not rely on someone who say's they did... most every person i've ever heard of that's lost a coupler or a gimbel bearing (not due to lack of servicing) relied on a 'reputable' shop to align their engine/outdrive.
there are no doubt good shops around, and a few great ones.... the vast majority are just fellas looking to get paid and bounce to the next sucker, it's been my observation and experience..... it's the time of year right now that the good shops can be spotted easier (around here) as their yards are packed and the wait list is at it's longest (with maybe the exception of just prior to the season when everyone wants tune up and servicing to kick it off)...
PC BYC, Holland, MI
PC BYC, Holland, MI
Buy the alignment tool on line, they are like $45 or close. With the drive removed, it should slide right in with almost no pressure, literally (do grease it though). If it sticks or needs any force, you need to readjust the motor mounts, it is really not that difficult, having a friend help makes it way easier!
Mercury has a heavy duty coupler replacement for the small block chevy engines, again, with all the trouble to replace it, may as well upgrade it.
PC BYC, Holland, MI
PC BYC, Holland, MI