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.