I will make a post about this. I did a quick search on the internet for engine alignment, and saw a comment that mentioned reading the grease. Since I had no better idea of how to judge which way to adjust me engine alignment problem, I decided to give it a try.
So, I took my new Merc alignment tool, put a piece of duct tape on the top half in the middle to mark the top, and stuck it in through the gimbal bearing into the coupler. Then I pulled it out and looked at the marking from the coupler splines. There were on the front half of the end of the tool mostly. Here is the top photo.
And here is what the tool looked like on the bottom. You can see that the spines hit the bottom a lot more towards the middle of the tool, not at the very end.
.This seemed pretty consistent with multiple checks, and with different engine crankshaft rotations. So I conclude that the tool, as it goes into the coupler, hits the spines at the top front of the tool, and as the tool is pushed down, the coupler splines drag on the tool away from the end of it. So it seems to me that the engine front end is too low. I have not yet adjusted it at all.
So, I took my new Merc alignment tool, put a piece of duct tape on the top half in the middle to mark the top, and stuck it in through the gimbal bearing into the coupler. Then I pulled it out and looked at the marking from the coupler splines. There were on the front half of the end of the tool mostly. Here is the top photo.
And here is what the tool looked like on the bottom. You can see that the spines hit the bottom a lot more towards the middle of the tool, not at the very end.
.This seemed pretty consistent with multiple checks, and with different engine crankshaft rotations. So I conclude that the tool, as it goes into the coupler, hits the spines at the top front of the tool, and as the tool is pushed down, the coupler splines drag on the tool away from the end of it. So it seems to me that the engine front end is too low. I have not yet adjusted it at all.