bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

[sptjet90Reflexx]

drive = OM160907
engine = OW012076

2004 sea ray 496 MAG bravo I

Do these bottles tend to get low? Its a new to me boat and I am curious where to look if I have a leak? Is it common for these to leak? I dont see anything in my bilge. Its low enough for the alarm to go off.

 

[Bondo]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

drive = OM160907
engine = OW012076

2004 sea ray 496 MAG bravo I

Do these bottles tend to get low? Its a new to me boat and I am curious where to look if I have a leak? Is it common for these to leak? I dont see anything in my bilge. Its low enough for the alarm to go off.

Ayuh,... It supplies the Drive so look for a leakin' seal, on the Drive,...

 

[alldodge]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

drive = OM160907
engine = OW012076

2004 sea ray 496 MAG bravo I

Do these bottles tend to get low? Its a new to me boat and I am curious where to look if I have a leak? Is it common for these to leak? I dont see anything in my bilge. Its low enough for the alarm to go off.

Pull the bottom plug on the drive and see if you see any milk or discoloration

 

[sptjet90Reflexx]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

will do. Dont have the boat with me at the moment. I will go get her some time this week.

 

[Squab]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

I just had the same thing with my boat. I noticed that the level was a little low and drained the entire system. No milk of metal. While draining I disconnected the bottle and noticed some oil around the bottom hose connection. Hope that is it. Guess I will jsut keep a eye on it

 

[pyrotek]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

I also had the same problem. No milk. My issue turned out to be a leaking gasket on the top cover of the bravo 1. I believe its a large round o-ring/gasket. When the boat was out of the water you could see an oil slick dripping down the outdrive. It was very very slow, but would cause the bottle to slowly empty. My theory as to why no water got in is because the oil is a slightly higher pressure since the oil reservoir is up higher. The top of my outdrive is at the surface of the water.

I haven't actually fixed mine yet, but I'm quite certain that's my problem.

 

[sptjet90Reflexx]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

I am picking her up in a few hours. Very excited.. Sadly its raining this weekend so will have to wait to take her out.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

How fast are you loosing oil?
When was the last time it was replaced?

When first replaced, there are some air bubbles captured in the assembly.
During the first few runs the air works it way out and the reserve oil flows in to take its place.
During a particularly long and hot run, the air that is normally in the upper unit will expand from the higher heat and burp out the reserve bottle. When it cool it will pull more oil out of the bottle.

If you are loosing an ounce a month (~20hrs) that is probably not a leak.
Don't be surprised if the bottle need a top off if you have 100+ hours since the last drive oil change.

But check all the other points to be sure, before you rule out any real problem.

 

[sptjet90Reflexx]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

Alright I am home and dont have a boat.. We went to start her up with water running and she fired right up. However water never made it out of the exhaust or the reliefs. Also found once we lowered the drive, gear oil was running out of the prop.

Waiting for a mechanic to come by and take a look. What do you guys think?

 

[Fun Times]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

Did they change the drive oil when at the shop? They may have missed the drain plug gasket, could be left over oil in the cavity behind the prop or a bad seal.

Some Bravo 1 drives require blocking off the low water pick up at the nose of the lower unit. That could impede the water flow and impeller.

 

[sptjet90Reflexx]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

Ya we taped that so no water would drain out. I Read something about having to fill it up from the engine side to get air bubbles out?

 

[Fun Times]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

Ya we taped that so no water would drain out. I Read something about having to fill it up from the engine side to get air bubbles out?

The drive oil should only be filled from the lower unit up to the oil bottle. It's considered a bad idea to fill from the top down as you most likely will create air in the system and you may not get all the air completely out. The drain plug is behind the prop.

 

[sptjet90Reflexx]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

I was referring to some way charging the water cooling system. I didnt mean the outdrive oil.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

I was referring to some way charging the water cooling system. I didnt mean the outdrive oil.

You really do not have to. If it will not prime, you might have a failed raw water pump impeller, or a plugged oil cooler.
If you had an impeller failure previously, the fragments might be in the oil and/or power steering cooler now.

 

[sptjet90Reflexx]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

@HT32BSX115

I have not purchased the boat yet. I was going to till I discovered this issue. We are having a mechanic look at it and renegotiating the price. On the bright side.. It did fire right up instantly. MAN! I love fuel injection!

 

[Fun Times]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

Was the engine winterized/drained this year and this was the first start up? If so it takes a good 40 seconds to fill the cooling system before you see water come out. You also should bump up the idle speed to 1300 RPM as soon as you can at start up, that should help prime the water intake if everything is in good working order.

Some have removed the intake hose from the pump and added water to start a prime but I've personally never had to do it. What works for me when I can't get water in a timely manner. First, I'd remove the flusher from the drive, raise and lower the drive two times, reconnect the flusher ensuring the flusher water flow hole is perfectly centered with all the holes on the lower gear housing, next turn on the water to full, start the engine, go to 1300 rpm, carefully feel the backside of the impeller housing to see if you feel cold water or heat building up. If you have any heat then your not getting water or sucking air. Then look for water coming out the ports within 50 seconds max.

 

[sptjet90Reflexx]

Re: bravo 1 gear oil bottle low

Yes it was winterized. It still had the tag on the boat. This was the first startup.

My father who is providing the funding is unsettled and afraid to purchase currently. He is worried about possible outdrive replacement even though the mechanics over the phone said probably 1500.00 max for both the water issue and the oil leaking issue. The Seller has agreed to come down 1000.00 to 20,500. I will call tomorrow and check on the status of their mechanic.