ESSENTIAL ALIGNMENT

Engine alignment with the transom is absolutely key, according to Jansen, who says he has spent hours getting that alignment just right—using a special Mercury tool that slides through the transom to the end of the engine-output shaft, and climbing in and out of the boat when nobody’s around to help—to bump the engine a fraction of an inch this way or that on the mounts.

“I know that if I don’t get the alignment right, I’ll have to pull these motors again in 40 hours to replace the rubber drive-shaft coupler,” Jansen says. “Mercury says you should be able to slide the alignment tool in and out using just your fingertips. It takes some patience.”