Outdrives

[Bryan Tuvell 33ZX]

My X-Drives come off tomorrow for a boot/bellow inspection/replace, alignment check, drive oil change and U joint lube.
Merc Mechanic at my Marina is doing the work. $68 an hour in labor.
Anything thing else I ought to have checked or done while their off?
I will post some new transom pictures of this weeks projects once it warms up.
Thanks in advance guys.
Bryan

[Tidbart]

Your Wallet! :biggrin: :biggrin:

Sorry Bryan, couldn't resist.

Bob

[Bryan Tuvell 33ZX]

Thanks TIDBART, MY WALLET WILL SCREAM SOON........
now you got me going, I have had a busy year and miss the board, the advice I trust from the dONZI boys....

DRIVES: I don't expect more than a couple hours of labor, but if the boots and bellows need changed I will be hating life. How much do they cost? I have not looked yet??????

KNOCK ON WOOD, after 4 bad seasons with drives, 3 or 4 drives on the 22ZX and, 3 on the 26ZX, always an issue, and don't blame the owner.
SO: The last two years have been awesome. I have always paid Merc guys for the required work and paid well to have it done. This boat just seems to be put together right. I just want to make sure a simple non mechanical guy like me has the power of knowledge, from you guys living and learning.

Things like the motor/drive alignment, tabs not being pushed down on motor mount washers, should NOT have been my problem, but Donzi's issues... So now that I have a strong runner in the 33ZX the money will be well worth it.

This week I had two holes put in the transom for the 496 HO oil lines, Donzi did not drill the two required holes when built, all to the tune of $300 for me, so NOW the boat is set up right for the power package.....

I praise Donzi, owned three, but they do screw up the dumbest SIMPLE crap. :mad:
WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE MICROWAVE mounting/well it is not mounted, it is supposed to sit in it's spot, and stay in place by 1/16 inch lip, who was running the router that day? That is being fixed too.. Like my exwife always said, who designed this cuddy, not a woman? All black fixtures? Finger prints everywhere... :)

Enough already, I know.
Bryan

[RickSE]

Oh man don't say alignment.

I know I need to check my alignment but I'm worried about what I'll do if it's off. My biggest problem is that there is no one in my area who I'd trust to work on my boat so I'm pretty much stuck doing it myself. I realigned my old 18-alpha several years ago but the new boat has an offshore bracket under the motor. I'm worried that if I need to it'll be very difficult to fine tune the alignment on the front mount. There are no jack screws so I'm assuming you just put a jack under the motor and break the bolts loose; maybe two jacks, one on each side. I gotta do it this winter though since I'm up to about 90 hours.

Bryan, sounds like you're going about it the right way. What about checking the gimbal bearings?

[Bryan Tuvell 33ZX]

ALMOST everything checked out, both motors were off in aligment, they were aligned in 2003 and now need it again, 3 more hours labor.
Everything else checked out good.

I worry about this alignment issue, but I have to give credit to a trained professional and trust his Merc training.
They said the would use a fork lift and chain to adjust the mounts.

Bryan

[Mr X]

Wow, I have never heard of that.....
usually it can be realigned by simply adjusting the large nuts on the mounts. Thats what they are for.

[mrfixxall]

ALMOST everything checked out, both motors were off in aligment, they were aligned in 2003 and now need it again, 3 more hours labor.
Everything else checked out good.
I worry about this alignment issue, but I have to give credit to a trained professional and trust his Merc training.
They said the would use a fork lift and chain to adjust the mounts.
Bryan


Is the boat equipped with race mounts???

[mrfixxall]

Wow, I have never heard of that.....
usually it can be realigned by simply adjusting the large nuts on the mounts. Thats what they are for.

mrx,some times its a pain in the but to get at the mounts with twin engines..lifting the engines with a forklift makes the process a little faster.I loosen the top nuts raise the engine a little ck aleignment when all is smooth with the tool then tighten the bottom nuts then crank on the top nuts and check the aleignment again with the tool.....

[Bryan Tuvell 33ZX]

Yes, offshore mounts, just remember you cannot get a newspaper between the insides of the two motors. A VERY tight fit, I would have wanted less sunpad and a staggered configuration.
I worked late tonight or I would have went and watched, I will be stopping by there tomorrow. I am more worried about a hand print at this point.

I trust them, I have "yet" to be screwed by them.
It is the marina that stores my boat, they are also a mega multi billion dollar yacht repair facility. Neat place, they just re surfaced the bottom of the Hershy Kiss.

Check out the links.
http://www.oceanmarinellc.com/repairs/index.html

http://www.oceanmarinellc.com/drystorage/index.html

Bryan

[Mr X]

mrx,some times its a pain in the but to get at the mounts with twin engines..lifting the engines with a forklift makes the process a little faster.I loosen the top nuts raise the engine a little ck aleignment when all is smooth with the tool then tighten the bottom nuts then crank on the top nuts and check the aleignment again with the tool.....
Great info!
This place is great, I keep learning new things everyday! :)

[Johntrip]

Had all that done last year when my motor mounts were replaced....:bonk:

[roadtrip se]

but some here would say "make sure you got plenty of shims!"

I actually did have a shim problem that caused a prop shaft leak, but you shouldn't have to worry about this with normal maintenance.

Shim it, shim it good!

[Cuda]

I just had some drive work done on the Minx. Two ujoints, new bellows, resealed, water pump etc, $1349.

[SS18]

As rule of thumb I have the drives pulled every season on my 353, inspected and alighned when re installed. It is preventive maintenance just blow a coupler and you will be pulling the engines not adjusting them.But then I rebuild the race boat drives three times A season Ouch! but it is cheaper than a grenaded case!
Jim

[SS18]

I just had some drive work done on the Minx. Two ujoints, new bellows, resealed, water pump etc, $1349.
That is two fold because you had assembly work done that is not necessarily
drive work. And remember a good tech(not a cheap one ) equates to trouble free boating most of the time.
JIm