'98 GTi Engine Alignment

[Yelloeye]

Hi all,

I'm wrapping up an engine replacement on my '98 Sea-Doo GTi and could use some tips on using the engine alignment tool and shims. Initially I had quite a bit of trouble getting the tool to go into the PTO, even without the alignment plate installed. After a lot of pushing and adding a liberal amount of driveshaft lube, it finally went in. There seems to be about 1/2" of free movement at the end of the PTO with the alignment tool installed, it gets a little tougher beyond that.

What exactly am I looking for on this alignment? I got it to be a nearly free slide before bolting it down, but once the bolts were snugged up it was difficult to move again.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Yelloeye]

Both ends of the driveshaft show some wear, unsure how much of that is normal and how much could be attributed to a bad alignment before I got it.

 

[jimmaki]

I don't think I would snug up the bolts with the alignment tool in the engine. You might bend the tool. Snug the bolts first and slide the tool up to the PTO and see which way the it's off and shim accordingly. Once you can get the tool to slide in freely with the bolts snugged, then extract the tool and torque the bolts. Run a final check by sliding the tool in after everything is to torqued to spec. You might try rotating the tool 90 degrees at a time to make sure you get the same result. If not, then the tool is already bent.

Hard to say from pictures without measuring anything, but if the PTO and impeller splines are good, then you might get away with using that shaft. If you think it has been run out of alignment before you got it, then check the drive shaft for straightness as well.

 

[Yelloeye]

Appreciate the response. I ended up playing with it a little bit more and got it to where it feels mostly smooth. It's not loose like I was expecting, but at least it's smooth.