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Shaft alignment


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Depends. It can be a real PITA, but I would guess that most competent dealers can complete it in 1-2 hours max.

I did a few and on some of the v-drive versions are a real PITA . Moving the motor is not easy of you don't have a gantry . Bottle jacks and big pieces of wood are your friend.

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I hit a small piece of wood last fall and did slightly damage my prop. I got it fixed, but haven't run it yet. Do I need to worry about the alignment?

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Most likely if it didn't trash the prop too badly, no. Shaft alignment is something that should be checked periodically though.

The rubber mounts the trans and engine can shift and sag over time. It's a good idea to get accustomed to doing it if you are gonna have inboards for any amount of time. Or you can just pay the dealer to do it. It really is one of the more challenging procedures to do maintenance wise. It's in a awkward spot on v-drive boats. Spec is .003" feeler gauge should pass at all points of the coupler with equal tension . .001" is ideal.

Edited by Bobby Bright
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I just had mine done a couple of weeks ago on a VLX. It took the mechanic about an hour and mine was within tolerance so no adjustment needed. I am guessing that this could turn into a 2 to 4 hour job depending on how bad out of algnment it is. This was on a V-Drive and like what was stated above it is difficult to get to the shaft housing just to check it. With labor rates the way they are at the dealer it can get quite expensive.

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If you know how to do it it shouldn't take more than an hour if you have to move the motor. Once I figured out how to move the motor mine took about 15 minutes to adjust and get within spec's. You will need a LARGE pry bar and some 2x6 wood cut into foot long pieces to pry against.

The pitch of the motor is controlled by bolts in the front the yaw is controlled by a large pry bar moving it from side to side. The yaw is the hard part. You'll have to put your big boy pants on to move it.

It's not that big of a deal once you know what you're doing.

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This is true is if you have the older cast style exhaust manifolds. Not so easy to move one that has the tubular long tube style headers. You usually can just pry the engine over against the engine frame and the manifold. With the tubular ones, you will bend or break the headers.

OP most likely has the older cast manifolds, so yes, easier on his boat. Just wanna set the generalization straight .

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Found a starboard motormount top nut loose on my new to me 12 VLX while checking everyhthing out. Checked alignment and found it out .014" top to bottom. Luckily the only adjustments I needed to make was to raise the mount nut that was below the loose upper nut. Got it back to spec and locked it all down. Have never had to make side to side ajustments though. I see where that would be a bit more difficult.

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