How difficult to align a 717 in '96 GTI?
Understood there's a Seadoo tool for this.
I have original shims but will need realign on reinstall of the engine.
Thanks,
I just did one yesterday. Since I line up industrial mechanical equipment I have lots of shims. I'd really like to use the OEM shims but they are too proud of them for the $$.
Engine alignment isn't difficult at all. But the alignment tool is important to have. As this alignment is critical to pump bearings, wear ring, driveshaft/PTO/impeller splines etc. Engine alignment is just a matter of installing the engine onto its mounts, loosely installing the 13mm bolts and barely lifting up the rear of the engine to slide a shim onto the mounting bolt between the top of the motor mount and the bottom of the bed pan of the engine. Then checking if the alignment rod slides directly into the PTO hole without hitting any area around that hole.
I purchased a shim kit from Watercraft Superstore(SBT). It comes with plenty of 0.5mm and 1mm shims to do the job correctly. I aligned both of my skis and this kit came in handy.
I have a noob question. Are the engines aligned from the factory, does the dealer do this when the prep the machine, or is it something that only needs to be addressed if you pull out the engine for service?
I dunno.... I don't trust anything. The alignment in the top picture was on a running ski. Everything was loose needless to say and internal engine bearing were no doubt compromised. I like to see how close I can get the alignment on a ski sometimes so I pull out the dial indicators and check. I've never been able to get anywhere close without the tool. I've tried. LOL Good Luck !!