Bravo 3 Oil Leak- Is this bad?

I had my bravo 3 drive split and the top taken apart 2 weeks ago trying to find a shifting problem and to clean out the lower unit. The boat has yet to touch water yet 1 week after i had oil coming out from where the props meet the lower unit. I was told by the mechanic that this was probably just spill over from when he took it apart and that it pressure tested fine.

Fast forrwad to today; the marina moved my boat sometime during the week and now I see oil seeping from the top cap plate of the drive. Please tell me this is just due to it being taken apart/being moved and I shouldnt worry. The oil wasn't there previously and they boat has not been in the water yet.

see attached pic

Thx
brian

Re: Bravo 3 Oil Leak- Is this bad?

So after a week of the drive sitting on its side while the bellows were being replaced there was a whole lot of oil that dripped out of the top plate of the drive. My friend who replaced the bellows said that it is probably due to the seal/ o-ring right under the cap. And that it probably wasnt put back together correctly. If you guys think it can simply be taken care of by removing the top plate while attached to the boat I will just go ahead and do it. I want to avoid dealing with the mechanic who did the drive service as I know I won't be able to stay civil while doing so.

what do you guys think?

Thx

Re: Bravo 3 Oil Leak- Is this bad?

There are seals on the cap and the back cover. Replace them. Then drain the gear lube and pressure test the drive and check everything by spraying with soapy water. If it blows bubbles, you have a leak.

Re: Bravo 3 Oil Leak- Is this bad?

dolemite_1 said:

what do you guys think?

Click to expand...

In add onto what Don said to do, have a good read in service manual 28, section 3a as that has diagrams and information you will want to know.

Also the little bolts are 12 point and I picked up a socket at Home Depot; I think it was 3/8 size--maybe someone can verify that as I may not be able to get to my boat until the weekend to check. Not sure if using a standard socket would work but I remember my previous mobile mechanic also carried a 12 point socket so I imagine it's recommended.

Mark

Re: Bravo 3 Oil Leak- Is this bad?

So I replaced the seals under the top plate and back plate and pressure tested the drive at 11psi for 2 hrs and at15 psi for 10 min spinning the props every so often and everything held.

With that being said the original seals looked fine and the bolts were all snugged down before I removed the plates. Is there anything else I should check? I just want to make sure as close to a quart of oil had leaked out of the top plate originally .

Thx

Re: Bravo 3 Oil Leak- Is this bad?

dolemite_1: Just curious how you made out since I just noticed the same exact situation on my bravo 1 and remembered your post.

Are you able to remove the top plate without draining the oil? Maybe just clamp the oil reservoir hose inside the engine compartment?

Re: Bravo 3 Oil Leak- Is this bad?

I drained the oil and captured it in a gallon milk container with part of the top cut off and just reused it. With that said if i had to take a guess you could take the top plate off with out losing oil with the resoiver line clamped. You can tell pretty quickly if the 2 seals are bad.

I havent seen any leaking since