97 xp engine alignment dilemma

[Rdessewffy]

I just bought an SBT engine alignment tool and it's very simple to use. When I send it through the plate from the rear it touches the bottom of the through Holland is not centered. By the time it reaches the engine its 1/4 inch too low. I checked and re-checked to see if the alignment plate was not seated properly and it absolutely is. Looking at the parts manual I see there is a 10 mm washer (#4 in photo) for the pump support to be used only on top two bolts. It looks like it's supposed to be between the hull and support ( kind of like a shim?). I haven't removed the support yet and don't know if previous owner did. I feel like that washer there would solve my problem. Any one run into this? Weird that the engine needs to go lower ( I already tried to remove the shims under rear mounts between hull and spacers) but did nothing and I'm hesitant to leave them out. I know previous owner had engine out and did other work..... Thought I was going to be water testing this weekend but now I'm dead in the water lol. Thank you all!

 

[mikidymac]

The first thing you need to do is make sure all of the carrier bearing bolts are loose so it isn't pushing the alignment tool.

If it is loose and the tool is still too low the only way to fix it is to shim the pump mounting plate as that is what all of the alignment is based on.

On a ski that old the fiberglass hull could have warped and settled causing it to be out of alignment. We also don't know how precise Seadoo was in setting these up at the factory. One thing for sure is that the HX and 1997+ XP's are the most critical for alignment due to the two piece driveshafts.

 

[Rdessewffy]

Carrier bearing was loose and not hindering any thing. Thanks. I will shim it. Did I read the parts manual correctly? Is that 10mm washer where I think it should be between support and hull? I'll pull it apart tomorrow and see if there is one there or not. Thank you!

 

[mikidymac]

The washer isn’t the issue. That plastic shoe is siliconed on and there’s a good chance you’ll break it removing it. You will have to make shims out of aluminum or buy ones.

 

[etemplet]

Make sure there is nothing protruding that would prevent the alignment plate from being perfectly flush with the pump mount. If you want to lower the engine shim the front mount next to the Magneto. This might not be the best solution as you may get some angular misalgnment but the system they use really doesn't address that very well anyway. It is OK not to have shims under the engine mount plate.

In the picture this is what I found on a ski I was working on.

 

[Rdessewffy]

I tried to shim front up about 1/4 inch and wasn't enough. I'm going to pull the support after work. I read a post on another site where others have same issue and all they did was remove factory shims or move them and problem solved. I want everything centered to through hull. Thanks.

 

[etemplet]

Do you think the alignment has been in this position long term? If it is this far off now what would have been the condition previously? Assuming the engine mount bracket is installed properly there are not a lot of options to get the engine lower after you remove the shims.

 

[Rdessewffy]

Just getting started now. Does the plate look like it was hit? I think so.... would that knock everything out of alignment? I dont think so.... thank you.

 

[mikidymac]

No, won’t move the shoe.

 

[Rdessewffy]

I have no idea if the previous owner pulled the support or not. Does this picture look like factory to you? I got it off without breaking it and now I'm confident without a doubt I can get it shimmed properly and have it centered in through hull, for me that's the easy part. Pulling that thing off in one piece and cleaning it is the worst part for me lol. This is all new to me and I'm learning a lot about these machines. I just can't figure out why the support would be so low to create my condition unless the previous owner messed with it. Thank you!

 

[Rdessewffy]

Not related to my issue but I made a $50 tool from scrap for free to be able to pull this apart and service it with wear ring replacement. I had almost a 1/4 inch clearance around old ring! Some day this thing will cruise lol.

 

[etemplet]

Kudos for working to get to the bottom of this !!! Great job !!!

 

[Rdessewffy]

Kudos for working to get to the bottom of this !!! Great job !!!

Thank you!