Mercruiser Alpha One steering yoke removal

[bobofthenorth]

"Steering yoke" is my name - maybe there's an official name. I'm referring to the casting that the tilt cylinders mount to the bottom of and which holds the gimbal housing. My service manual is silent about how to remove this and I'm stumped. Somewhere I found advice to cut access holes in the side of the transom casting which I've done but my guts look enough different from what I found online that I've temporarily stopped. It appears to me that the yoke needs to move forward enough to slip past the ears on the bottom of the transom mounted casting. What am I missing?

[bobofthenorth]

Problem resolved. I found another Youtube that more clearly showed what a fustercluck that steering arm is to remove and I'm not going there. Mother Evans raised tall kids, not stupid ones. So now I've got a couple of access holes newly drilled that will get plugged and I just spent the last two hours standing on my head with every 7/16 wrench I own deployed. The object of my attention was that miserable little 1/4" bolt that holds the split rubber on the trim sender wires. I got the bottom one with no trouble but I was convinced I needed to remove the steering yoke to get at the top one. Engineers and lawyers - every problem known to man can be traced to either a lawyer or an engineer. It could have been worse. I used to have an awesome mechanic who was fond of creating custom wrenches. Curiously enough it was always a company wrench that got ground, heated, bent or (usually) all of the above. I didn't have to customize any wrenches so I guess it could have been worse but I haven't got it reassembled yet either.

[Ruffryder]

whatever you are doing, that upper square shaft does not need to be removed most likely...

[bobofthenorth]

whatever you are doing, that upper square shaft does not need to be removed most likely...

My only concern now is how much wear there is in the top of that yoke affair. I'm done for the day but tomorrow I'm going to torque everything up and assess the situation. I may still end up taking it apart.

[Sunbird]

Bob
The part giving you headaches is called a gymbal ring. On early Mercruiser Alpha drives the top joint was splined and the spines would eventually fail. This would cause a complete loss of steering.The later design replaced the spline with a large square that mated with the assembly at the top. To remove this ring there is a large pin at the bottom that has a slot in it for removal. The two holes you made at the top allow getting to the nut that has to be removed at the top.
If you don’t have play in this gymbal ring there is no reason to remove it. When you buy the new replacement it comes with plastic plugs that thread into the two holes you made. You will need a very large tap to thread these holes. The whole job is ugly but doable. A Mercruiser manual is very helpful.

[Ruffryder]

Yes those Pre-Alpha drives made from 1976 - 1982 had spline to square shaft, your 1983 - 1990 will have a SQ to SQ upper shaft...
Mercruiser's drilling 2 holes method would be much more difficult than JR marine

[builderdude]

Bob, what is it that needs repair/replacement? Trim limit switch?

[bobofthenorth]

Bob, what is it that needs repair/replacement? Trim limit switch?

What kicked this off was getting access to the top bolt on the plate that holds the split rubbers on the trim sender wires. Now I'm a little worried about how much play there is between the gimbal ring and that square shaft. I think its probably OK but I need to torque it up and check it tomorrow.

[bobofthenorth]

Mercruiser's drilling 2 holes method would be much more difficult than JR marine

Unfortunately it appears that isn't an option on my Alpha One Gen I drive.

[Ruffryder]

just have to come up with your own kit like I did to mine...