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merc motor mounts L to R adjustment??

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eyeinstine

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hey folks,

Is there suposed to be a left to right adjustment procedure for the standard merc motor mounts?? One hole is slotted, and the aluminum motor mount brackets that are mounted to the stringer on my formula are slotted also.. But the Merc manual doesnt mention anything about aligning the motor side to side... Is this because the back motor mount bolts align the motor side to side, so therefore it cant be out of alignment??

If so, then as long as the rear mount bolts at the transom plate install smoothly without binding, then everything is okay and i should just tighten down the mounting bolts for the front motor mounts???

None of this pertains to the up/down adjustment on the motor mounts, just the two smaller (3/8"?) bolts that bolt the mount down to the stringer..

Thanks
Ron
 
#2 ·
The bolts at the transom assembly take care of the L&R. so you should just have the height adjustment with the front mounts.
It wouldn't hurt to buy a merc alignment tool. I got one on ebay last year for 40$
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
Thanks guys... kinda what i figured.. The bolts for the front mounts where lose, and i can see where the motors have been sliding back and forth.. :( So now im concerned if they stopped sliding on center.. I figure they should, and probably only moved in rough water, but the forces of the shaft, coupler, etc, should have made them stop pretty much on center.. Atleast i hope.. I did pull the drive on the motor that looked like it moved around the least.. It seems like it is aligned well side to side, but slightly off on the height.. SO the lose mounts would have caused that, so they are just off a bit because they are.. i gotta pull the risers/manifolds to get to the mounts to tighten them and adjust the heights.. :(

Thanks
Ron
 
#5 ·
Buy or rent an alignment tool, make adjustments so the tool should slide in and out with ease.

Then smear the end of alignment tool with grease, carefully slide tool in and back out (this is starting to sound perverted :D )
check the thickness of grease on the tool where the gimbal would be, adjust so grease is same thickness 360deg around.

You cannot check alignment with the shaft on the drive.

The second step with the grease is not absolutely necessary but gets it 100% dead on aligned.
 
#6 ·
Tip:

When the mount nuts come loose, as tempting as it may be, do not tighten the top nut down until tight. Your alignment is out, now you just locked it out of alignment.

Instead, tighten the underneath nut, raising the motor back up tight against the top nut. 90% of the time, that will bring the motor back in alignment, but always check it if you notice the lowered mount. The top nut rarely ever moves. If anything, it will make realigning alot easier as now you are just tweaking it.
What generally happens is the lower nut will back down, even with the locking tab bent over, and lower the motor down.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Thanks guys.. I do have an alignment tool.. i had to pick one up last year when i built/installed the motor in the F3 formula.. I have only checked the one motor so far, and the tool does go all the way, but takes a good amount of force.. So it is close.. Im thinking it was 'good enough' at this point the last time someone had the motors out.. I want to get it right on, so i'll work at it.. The top and bottom adjusting nuts on the mount are nice and tight.. It was only the two small bolts/nuts that attach the mount to the stringer bracket that were lose..

Hopefully i'll get some time later this week or the weekend to squeeze back in there and try and get this set right..

Thanks again!
Ron
 
#9 ·
Yeah. Definately keep working to get it straight. The tool should be able to be inserted with two fingers.

I've only come across a motor being off side to side one time. It took us a while to figure that out because of all the motors I've had out of boats I had never encountered that before this one. Point is it can happen. We used a bottle jack and a soft hammer to move the back end. We eventually got it.
Being able to read the grease marks is a big help.
 
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