I've taken on a job I've never done before and I've run into a problem
I can't seem to beat. I have a 1986 Beretta with a 3.0 OMC engine and
outdrive. The outdrive shifting calbel was bad so I opt'ed to replace
it myself. I pulled the outdrive off using a hoist, which went very
easy, and I replaced the shifting cable ok. Then I adjusted it
according to specifications. Everything's going fine so far.

Now for the problem. I put the outdrive gasket on and greased up
everything real good. When I started to remount the outdrive I got it
to the point where the splines of the shaft are ready to go into the
engine drive shaft of the engine and I can't get it to go any farther.
I believe the shaft is dropping down enough to miss the hole but since
shaft has a double universal joint and the first universal joint is
already inside the boot, I can't figure out how to lift it. I've moved
the hoist up and down to try every angle I can think of. I tried
turning the shaft with the propeller while pushing the out drive in but
that didn't help. I've wiggled it everyway I can think of without any
success. I even tried tapping on the remaining part of the universal
that is still outside of the boot but nothing seems to help. Does
anyone here know what the secret to getting the outdrive to go back
into the engine shaft is?

Any help or any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

Tom Francis wrote:
On 8 Oct 2006 16:48:02 -0700, "Bob" wrote:

I've taken on a job I've never done before and I've run into a problem
I can't seem to beat. I have a 1986 Beretta with a 3.0 OMC engine and
outdrive. The outdrive shifting calbel was bad so I opt'ed to replace
it myself. I pulled the outdrive off using a hoist, which went very
easy, and I replaced the shifting cable ok. Then I adjusted it
according to specifications. Everything's going fine so far.

Now for the problem. I put the outdrive gasket on and greased up
everything real good. When I started to remount the outdrive I got it
to the point where the splines of the shaft are ready to go into the
engine drive shaft of the engine and I can't get it to go any farther.
I believe the shaft is dropping down enough to miss the hole but since
shaft has a double universal joint and the first universal joint is
already inside the boot, I can't figure out how to lift it. I've moved
the hoist up and down to try every angle I can think of. I tried
turning the shaft with the propeller while pushing the out drive in but
that didn't help. I've wiggled it everyway I can think of without any
success. I even tried tapping on the remaining part of the universal
that is still outside of the boot but nothing seems to help. Does
anyone here know what the secret to getting the outdrive to go back
into the engine shaft is?

Any help or any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

This may sound like a really stupid question, but does the drive shaft
have a master spline?

A master spline would be one of the grooves being larger than the
others and that fits into a corresponding slot in the flywheel or
transmission.

It's a pretty common way of aligning drive shafts and gears.

Tom Francis wrote:
On 8 Oct 2006 16:48:02 -0700, "Bob" wrote:

I've taken on a job I've never done before and I've run into a problem
I can't seem to beat. I have a 1986 Beretta with a 3.0 OMC engine and
outdrive. The outdrive shifting calbel was bad so I opt'ed to replace
it myself. I pulled the outdrive off using a hoist, which went very
easy, and I replaced the shifting cable ok. Then I adjusted it
according to specifications. Everything's going fine so far.

Now for the problem. I put the outdrive gasket on and greased up
everything real good. When I started to remount the outdrive I got it
to the point where the splines of the shaft are ready to go into the
engine drive shaft of the engine and I can't get it to go any farther.
I believe the shaft is dropping down enough to miss the hole but since
shaft has a double universal joint and the first universal joint is
already inside the boot, I can't figure out how to lift it. I've moved
the hoist up and down to try every angle I can think of. I tried
turning the shaft with the propeller while pushing the out drive in but
that didn't help. I've wiggled it everyway I can think of without any
success. I even tried tapping on the remaining part of the universal
that is still outside of the boot but nothing seems to help. Does
anyone here know what the secret to getting the outdrive to go back
into the engine shaft is?

Any help or any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

This may sound like a really stupid question, but does the drive shaft
have a master spline?

A master spline would be one of the grooves being larger than the
others and that fits into a corresponding slot in the flywheel or
transmission.

It's a pretty common way of aligning drive shafts and gears.

Don't know thw omc's but I can tell you that on merc i/os the engine has to
be aligned before the shaft will slide into the coupler. It is common for
the alignment to get off from the engine mounts and/or transom shifting or
sagging. The merc also has a double universal and the shaft goes through a
bearing before sliding into the splined coupler. When it is out of
alignment it will not go into the coupler. The merc tool for setting the
alignment claims it also fits some omcs so I'm thinking the process is the
same. On the mercs the engine mounts are adjustable up and down to change
the alignment. I suspect the omc must have something similar.

"Bob" wrote in message
ups.com...
I've taken on a job I've never done before and I've run into a problem
I can't seem to beat. I have a 1986 Beretta with a 3.0 OMC engine and
outdrive. The outdrive shifting calbel was bad so I opt'ed to replace
it myself. I pulled the outdrive off using a hoist, which went very
easy, and I replaced the shifting cable ok. Then I adjusted it
according to specifications. Everything's going fine so far.

Now for the problem. I put the outdrive gasket on and greased up
everything real good. When I started to remount the outdrive I got it
to the point where the splines of the shaft are ready to go into the
engine drive shaft of the engine and I can't get it to go any farther.
I believe the shaft is dropping down enough to miss the hole but since
shaft has a double universal joint and the first universal joint is
already inside the boot, I can't figure out how to lift it. I've moved
the hoist up and down to try every angle I can think of. I tried
turning the shaft with the propeller while pushing the out drive in but
that didn't help. I've wiggled it everyway I can think of without any
success. I even tried tapping on the remaining part of the universal
that is still outside of the boot but nothing seems to help. Does
anyone here know what the secret to getting the outdrive to go back
into the engine shaft is?

Any help or any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

"James" wrote in message
link.net...
Don't know thw omc's but I can tell you that on merc i/os the engine has
to
be aligned before the shaft will slide into the coupler. It is common for
the alignment to get off from the engine mounts and/or transom shifting or
sagging. The merc also has a double universal and the shaft goes through
a
bearing before sliding into the splined coupler. When it is out of
alignment it will not go into the coupler. The merc tool for setting the
alignment claims it also fits some omcs so I'm thinking the process is the
same. On the mercs the engine mounts are adjustable up and down to change
the alignment. I suspect the omc must have something similar.


Agree - However, if your engine is sitting on the mounts and they have not
been moved, it should not have gotten so far out of alignment that you can
not get the shaft in. Put your outdrive into gear and bump the prop with
your hand - you maybe able to wiggle the shaft enough to get it to go in.
Once started check (on merc) the shift fork or whatever other connection you
have to the tranny before tightening down.