Inexpensive engine alignment tool- DIY

[jimmaki]

The tool can be made in one piece as well. AKA, just a straight piece of 18mm shaft. Then you will have full penetration into both the pump and PTO, with no possible flex were I am using the bushing. But you really need two pieces for setup, since if it is off, you can't put the pump on. For an XP or GSX, you could have a 2 piece to do the main setup, and then put in the solid shaft as a final verification. A GTX would need a little more material. I you could buy 4', you would be set. You also could use a longer steel bushing if you wanted. And remove the boot/carbon seal and make the shaft into the motor longer and the main shaft shorter. Or you could buy an SBT tool.

Again, this gets it really close. The real drive shaft does have a full inch of deflection travel in the convex splines. I sleep soundly at night knowing that I am WELL within the limits of the shaft, even with flex or movement over time. I assembled the ski today with the real shaft and pump. It slipped together like it was coated in butter. The carbon seal is square and almost perfectly centered. I am not landing this thing on a moving comet. I am comfortable that it worked for me. This has been a great discussion and at least it has some people understanding the power transmission system better.

Just a datapoint, I'm not sure how significant, but while tearing down my engine I had to remove the pump and shaft so I could tilt up the front of the engine to get one of the bottom mag cover bolts out. Rather than strain the rear mounts I loosened them as well. By the time I got done realigning the engine over the mounts I had to disconnect all mounts completely. One shim even fell out. Luckily I saw it fall out and knew where and how it should go back. I trial fit the pump and shaft back on and the shaft slid in the PTO like it never left. What's interesting is the carbon seal face had worn a good 1/4" off center from the top hat/shaft. I think the shaft is running true because the splines look cherry on both ends. I think the bellows holding the carbon seal was just installed by the factory misaligned (or it moved). I shall check that alignment when I do the final reassembly with a new carbon seal. (although I'm not totally sure how I'm going to do that or if I even need to.)

 

[soccerdad]

Yep, I have seen the thru-hull fitting low on one ski. All the aligment process does is align the motor to the pump, but you have to take what is there with the thru hull fitting. As long as everything is square, a little high or low should not be an issue. 1/4" seems like a lot though. If it wears a ridge into it, then things could go bad if it gets hung up on the ridge somehow.

 

[jimmaki]

Yep, I have seen the thru-hull fitting low on one ski. All the aligment process does is align the motor to the pump, but you have to take what is there with the thru hull fitting. As long as everything is square, a little high or low should not be an issue. 1/4" seems like a lot though. If it wears a ridge into it, then things could go bad if it gets hung up on the ridge somehow.

The bellows can be angled to some extent and the rear hose clamp tightened when the carbon seal is centered. Not an exact alignment but I could probably eyeball it closer than 1/4" or whatever amount it was off. Whether the pressure from the bellows is sufficient to force the two surfaces to properly mate is something I won't know until I try it.

There is a ridge and it probably has been like that for a long time since it is a good .040" deep.

 

[soccerdad]

Wow, that was way off. Did you have cavitation problems?

 

[jimmaki]

Wow, that was way off. Did you have cavitation problems?

Yes, but the VTS was locked past full up. Will know more when I get it back together, right now the engine is all over the place in pieces waiting on special tools to arrive.

 

[Isaac-1]

Soccerdad, which commonly available home tool would you suggest for cutting one of these rods? hack saw, jig saw, angle grinder, etc? Also does the rod need to be shorter than the drive shaft to leave a slight gap?

 

[soccerdad]

An angle grinder with a thin wheel would work. I think a hack saw would work too. I used a cutoff at work. A sawzall with a metal blade should work. It is tool steel, but not really that hard. I found that there will be a gap anyway if you cut it to the length of the driveshaft.

 

[boardmandan]

Would this work with a 1990 587?

 

[soccerdad]

I don't know much about your ski. But if it has a one piece drive shaft that is splined on both ends then I think it should.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Isaac-1]

I have decided to give this a try, my boat has a 17 inch drive shaft, so I should have about 19 inches of drill rod left over if anyone else wants the extra to build your own let me know.

 

[Robj]

I made my own tool and have used it on a few skis. Basically a 40 inch or so long piece of 7/8 precision ground round stock, with one end machined to fit into the PTO. I use an old pump with the bearings still in it. Bolt it onto the ski and push the rod through it. I compared my setup to a SBT alignment tool and mine had quite a bit less play. IMO my setup does a better job than the SBT tool.

 

[racerxxx]

I made my own tool and have used it on a few skis. Basically a 40 inch or so long piece of 7/8 precision ground round stock, with one end machined to fit into the PTO. I use an old pump with the bearings still in it. Bolt it onto the ski and push the rod through it. I compared my setup to a SBT alignment tool and mine had quite a bit less play. IMO my setup does a better job than the SBT tool.

What play did you have in the SBT tool? Mine is as tight as a frogs azz. The original Seadoo tools were a blank pump, they later switched to the flat plate----where SBT got their design.

 

[Robj]

We did not measure, just compared the side to side play. The pump shaft is 7/8 so the rod fits tight in the pump housing. Certainly tighter than the alignment tool we compared it to.

 

[DeanBrantley]

I'm putting 2 engines into my speedster next week and have a spare pump body, no impeller, just the pump body and bearings. So I take it I could bolt the pump body on the hull and slide the 18mm bar stock thru the pump and bearings on up to, and into, the PTO when the engine is aligned/shimmed correctly, no need for the PTFE sleeve/bearing. Am I right on this??

 

[MC87SS]

I know when I'm aligning engines... sometimes... the tool will start to slide into the engine, and then bind before it bottoms out. (when the PTO is warn) That's why the real tools are built to slide in and out.

I would think this design would actually show you that issue faster. If the small shaft was slid all the way in the PTO you would be able to clearly see if the front of the motor was to high or low, left or right from the start. With the OEM tool you would start by aligning the back of the motor but may have a different outcome once you get the front to the right height. I ran in to this a couple weeks ago, we aligned the back but by the time we got the front up enough to slide the shaft in without binding the back was actually to high. The angle would have been obvious from the start with this method.
If the carbon seal or carrier bearing is of some concern why not just take it off while doing the alignment? This would also allow you to see how much play was in the larger shaft by moving it slightly to find the center sweet spot. I do however believe a longer sleeve would really improve the accuracy.

Thanks for bringing this up, i was just about to bite the bullet and order the tool but now I may have to try this first.

 

[howie099]

You are almost doing the same thing that the polaris alignment design is. You take the impeller and shaft off of your pump, bolt your pump to the ski and use the long rod for alignment. So I don't see why you couldn't use a good pump w/good bearing and just make a rod long enough to reach the PTO on the engine. They system was good for Polaris but you notice Polaris is not in the game anymore.. I still do own the polaris tool, never know when I might need it again.

 

[rjtx667]

this worked good for me, thanks

also I did not want to wait for shipping, so I don't took my mic gauge to Home Depot. found that 1/2" emt electrical conduit was 17.94mm it worked good and a 4' section was under $2.00

 

[soccerdad]

I would be concerned that the EMT is not straight. Just make sure to check it on a really flat surface. Roll it like a pool cue...

 

[CASPX]

So here's a noob question.

If you use this DIY alignment tool; do you set the motor first then, re-remove the pump and then reinstall it with the actual drive shaft? ......and it stays aligned?

 

[rjtx667]

So here's a noob question.

If you use this DIY alignment tool; do you set the motor first then, re-remove the pump and then reinstall it with the actual drive shaft? ......and it stays aligned?

Thats what I did. when you align it with the DYI tool and the pump you tighten down the engine mounts then it stays in alignment so you can use the driveshaft after that.

Good Luck

 

[biggal76]

Old thread, I know. Question. Why not use 1 piece (talking about XP). Seems like one piece would be cheaper and easier. Also, 3/4" copper pipe is just slightly wider than 18mm and easy to find. If it's a tad too wide, seems you could easily sand the ends to fit into the PTO and jet pump-easy to get at Home Depot and much cheaper than $30+shipping and easier to cut as well. Anyone know the exact length needed to to fit between jet pump and PTO? Any reason this would not work just as well as the OP's tool?

 

[mikidymac]

You need something as rigid as possible, unlike copper. That is why the correct tool is a solid steel rod.

 

[Paul Bretz]

Mine is a piece of aluminum round stock from mcmaster thats trued to .003 over 3 foot span. I use that through an old pump thats been gutted except for the bearings.

 

[etemplet]

I purchased a used (barely) tool last week and installed my engine on the GTX. I think the tool is pretty neat and worth the money but I don't like playing around and guessing on direction of movement and amount of shims. Much quicker for me to use the dial indicator along with the tool. Now and know exactly where I am. I'd be curious to check alignments after using the tools. Not to discredit but for verification. Good Idea Soccerdad !!!

 

[rgardner928]

Soccerdad..the sleeve is extremely tight on the shaft. Is it supposed to be that tight? Did you do any rim job work to it?

And when measuring the length of your shaft. Did you add the rubber bumpers to the ends into that length? Or did you do it without them?

I just got my steel from the same place you got yours yesterday. I haven't cut anything yet. I just noticed the sleeve is extremely tight going on.

Btw..I have a 97 speedster.