Engine alignment

I have a 2004 280 Sundancer twin 4.3 L MPI and Alpha One Gen 2 outdrives. I recently purchased a Mercruiser bellows kit that came with a gimbal bearing from Amazon. All parts were mercruiser and hopefully not a knockoff. I pulled the old Gimbal bearing out and installed the new one. I checked it with a caliper and it looks perfect all around. I put the engine alignment tool in and I could insert it all the way. I tried adjusting the engine mounts with no luck. I use a one inch diameter pipe and it appears to be dead center. Looking for any suggestions. Thanks

grease the tool and push. I had the same issue. I pulled the tool out and it showed the same amount on all sides, it was just tight.

I tried it wont get passed where the splines are. Thanks for the response.

If the alignment tool starts into the splines, it is aligned correctly in the housing. The up and down/side to side adjustment to allow it to fully slide into the coupler is done with the front engine mounts.
If the alignment tool does not want to start into the coupler splines, then the bearing needs to be tweaked in the housing. If the alignment tool is steel and not a cheap plastic one, you can use it with a little leverage once you figure out which way it has to go. Witness marks in the grease on the end of the tool after trying to install it will tell you what has to happen.
Have also seen couplers starting to fail that had bad runout. Checking the alignment in a few different crankshaft positions will rule that out as a problem.

Thanks! My son gave it a little tap on he side of the alignment tool and it went in. A little up adjustment on the front mounts made it near perfect. I guess it needed that sideways adjustment.