Bad luck with sterndrive?

agallant80

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Oct 25, 2010
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I am just wondering. Do all sterndrives have constant issues or did I just hit some bad luck with my boat. I bought it bran new in Febuairy of 2013 since then.

-Upper end of the B3 ourdrive had an issue causing a gear tooth to break off destroying the upper drive. A bit of a fight with the merc rep but the approved the replacement under warranty

-Growling sound coming from the outdrive when turning but no one can find anything wrong. Guess I will just have to live with this

-Fitting at the end of the gear lube reservoir hose leaking. This $5 part could not be in a worse location resulting in the better part of a Saturday to swap it out. I hope it was the hose fitting and not the acutual through hull part which requires much more labor to swap out.

-Bellows ring came off when I removed the outdrive this year. Have to order new one and the install tool and hope that there is nothing wrong with the bellows

Do I just have bad luck or are sterndrives this bad for everyone?
 

JustJason

Vice Admiral
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Aug 27, 2007
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5,319
Unless its a Donzi Sweet 16 or some other collectable type boat... I will never own another sterndrive. There are so many parts and pieces to a sterndrive assembly its amazing it works at all.
 
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skydiveD30571

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I think you'll find that a majority of sterndrive owners here, me included, have never had a problem with theirs...and I'm pretty mean to mine. Usually with simple preventative maintenance they are pretty bulletproof. Of course with anything in life, there are always lemons and it sounds like you got one.
 

agallant80

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Every time I fix something on it I always tell myself "this is the last round they it will be OK' of course not having a driveway and running back and forth between the storage lot to work on it does not help.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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I think its a string of bad luck. However I have found that the normal issues of gears, lube, seal leaks, etc. do not care if its an outboard, Inboard, or I/O.
 

thumpar

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Jun 21, 2007
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I had my last boat for 7 years. It was a 1983 with a Mercruiser. The only major thing I had to do to it was the bellows. I did all the normal maintenance and it treated us well. Some of your issues could be from Bayliner. They put it all together.
 

bruceb58

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Mar 5, 2006
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30,454
I think it's just you. :)

Speaking of luck, whatever happened to that Excursion with the blown engine?
 

agallant80

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I think it's just you. :)

Speaking of luck, whatever happened to that Excursion with the blown engine?


Sold it, ate about $4,000 on the whole thing, traded the Harlem Roller (Chrysler 300) on a 2013 F150 Ecoboost Lariat. Only saving grace was it was a left over 2013 and I got about $18K off of sticker and 1.99%
 
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Volphin

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Jun 5, 2011
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1,405
I prefer outboards for saltwater and sterndrives for freshwater. Had about the same number of repairs on each.
 

GasCan II

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jul 15, 2010
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I have been running Mercruisers alphas and Bravos for about 35years with very few problems except self caused ones.
I don't how we got off on cars and trucks ?
 

tpenfield

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Agallant - I think you are having bad luck as your issues, many somewhat minor, are out of the norm. One thing to consider is the the boat manufacturer does the installation of the engines/outdrives and may have a lot to do about the final fit and condition of the components of the stern drive.
 

HT32BSX115

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Dec 8, 2005
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10,083
I bought my 1997 model 7.4L+ Bravo III on Craigslist for my 87 Fourwins project in 2005 from a guy that had REAL bad luck with his 24ft Bayliner.......A tree fell on it!

I've used it pretty much every summer since and it's been absolutely flawless all these years.

All I do is normal maintenance.
 

agallant80

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Oct 25, 2010
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The wife and I are going to upgrade soon. I am going back and forth between another stern drive or a vdrive setup. The thing that worries me about the vdrive is it does not seam as forgiving if you touch bottom.
 

agallant80

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Oct 25, 2010
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I don't how we got off on cars and trucks ?


I had this brilliant idea of saving money by buying an older truck to save on commuting costs and a car for every day commuting. So off to the dealer I go. I buy a 2013 Chrysler 300 and a 2001 Ford Excursion. Plan is working great. Saving a tonne of money on fuel costs and have a lower car payment. Excursion developes a tick while towing boat and BAM shoot a piston through each side of the block. $800 tow home Engine would have been about 5K to replace. Spoke to wife and we just decided it was penny wise pound foolish so off to Ford I go. 2013 F150 Ecoboost Lariot is the daily driver. Now I know to shut up and just put the gas in to her. Its cheaper in the long run......
 

Bondo

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The wife and I are going to upgrade soon. I am going back and forth between another stern drive or a vdrive setup. The thing that worries me about the vdrive is it does not seam as forgiving if you touch bottom.

Ayuh,....The reason I won't be tryin' any V-drive, or inboards,....

With the highs, 'n lows seen on My home waters, the trimability of an I/O is Priceless,....
'n it may get Worse,....

The Greenies are pushin' for a different water management plan for the St. Lawrence Seaway system,....
If they win, the highs will be Much Higher, which already floods 1 of my properties,....
'n the lows will be Much Lower,... which, for me, will mean a floatin' dock to reach the barges,... :rolleyes:
 

alldodge

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Mar 8, 2009
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40,581
The best thing about V-drives are they are lower maintenance, and more so if you get dripless shaft seals. They are put on boats which stay in the water most often (excluding tournament ski boats). They also draft less water then an I/O. The bad thing is the fuel efficiency is in the toilet. When your up on plane the top of the prop is pushing water against air. Looks like to jets of water coming out of the tunnels. I refer V-drives as tunnel drives because of the tunnels the props set in.

With all the troubles you have had with the drive I would suspect it was all caused by the manufacture or the dealer you bought the boat from. As tpenfield stated, this is all installed by one of them
 
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