Engine alignment question

Speaking of routine maintenance, could someone please talk to engine alignment for me? I'm not talking "I hit a stump and things vibrate", just the normal (annual in the case of the Epics) checking of gaps between v-drive output and propshaft. Is it really required once a year, and do any of you do it? If I check it and it's out of spec, should I try to align myself or take it in?

Yes, I scoured the archives.

(Message edited by toyotafreak on April 09, 2004)

v-drives suck to align. take it to the dealer and let them show you how it's done, so you'll know how to do it next time.

If it aint shakN I wouldn't worry. Even the slightest misalignment will be felt in your rear end while driving(out of the hole is when it would be most noticeable). If it is starting to vibrate take it in to the shop. All they do is take a feeler gauge out and play with the engine mounts until it is just perfect again(its a pain if you haven't ever done it, soo its worth the $80 they will charge you). You can also get some shimmy and shake out of your strut bearing so check for wear there if you are having issues. And there's always prop issues, check for any damage. If your strut and prop are good, and there isn’t any shakN, your good. Unless, you just want to impress your friends with you long service record, I sure your local shop will oblige. Good Luck...

Thanks guys. $80 is pretty cheap if I get to watch and listen. Chris, that's funny about the length (and girth) of my service record :-)

We hit sandbar going maybe 10-15 MHP and had concerns about the prop, couldn't really tell if there was anything wrong...Took it to The guys at Paradise they said if you can turn the prop by hand your good to go..With LOTS of LBS in boat it seems to ever so slightly viberate just little getting out of hole. I don't really know if it's worth taking in again?

I just had my engine aligned. It cost about 180 bucks (shop rate is $98/hr, plus some parts). The boat ran fine, the prop turned by had relatively easy, but I found that the mounting bolts were loose and one set had come out, so I took it in.

After the alignment, the prop turns even easier by hand. I still haven't taken it out yet, but I hope to this week.

I looked into doing it myself, but decided it would be much easier to pay someone, because I figured it needed the alignment. Just to check it doesn't seem too difficult. You need to unbolt the coupler so you can freely turn the propshaft and the coupler to check things.

Here are some snippets lifted from malibuboatowners.com
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check my shaft alignment every spring, both the engine to strut alignment and the coupler alignment. All you need is a wrench or two of the right size and a couple feeler gauges. I found that most shops only spend about 5 minutes to check the coupler alignment and I saw one tech (it wasn't a Malibu shop) just grab the prop and give it a spin and told the owner his alignment was OK.

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on MBO someone posted a step-by-step alignment that they had found on google. I can post it here if someone wants it.