Bravo 3 Gimbal Ring Wear

[Zackman]

Ah, life... isn?t it grand. What started out as a simple lube oil leak appears to be turning into a major winter project (at least by my standards).​

I was leaking lube oil from the reservoir line at the connection to the bell housing. I now have that all apart and was checking the gimbal ring, when I noticed a lot of slop in the steering. After further investigation, thanks in part to this great thread http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=249776, seems yours truly never checked the torque on the u-bolt. Now I have excessive wear on the gimbal ring, which will require repair or replacement.​

Anyhow, my question is... should I pull the motor and inner transom plate or should I go the access plug route? I'm tempted to remove the motor and inner transom plate for 1) make installing the outer water hose and lube oil bulk head assembly easier especially the e-ring) and 2) won't have to drill into the outer transom assembly and deal with the plugs for the rest of the boats life.​

Really looking for a sanity check and have plenty of time, since every MerCruiser parts outlet seems to be closed until 1/5/09.​

 

[Bondo]

Re: Bravo 3 Gimbal Ring Wear

Ayuh,...

Personally,... I'd Avoid option #2 at All costs....

I can have a motor sitting on the floor in a 1/2hr....
It would take Me longer than that to decide whether I was about to Drill those Holes in the Right places.....

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Bravo 3 Gimbal Ring Wear

Yeah I tend to agree.

Although I haven't had to do that mod to mine, After reading about drilling a hole back there, I would absolutely pull the engine to fix it instead of drilling. ( have a big shop to work in with a great over head hoist etc) I really think that mod is for someone that just cannot pull the engine easily.


Merry Christmas!


Rick

 

[45Auto]

Re: Bravo 3 Gimbal Ring Wear

I used the JR stuff on mine because of the hassle it would have been to pull the motor (I posted the pics on that thread you referenced). Mine was on a 496 in a 22' Crownline. The motor is pretty much shoe-horned into it, not a whole lot of room to work around. Would have taken me half a day just to pull the interior parts, hatch cover, etc, it would have taken to get to the motor. I was more than happy with the JR set up, I'd do the same thing again without even thinking about it.

Came in handy when I bumped a log in the river and cracked the new gimbal ring a year later (see this thread; http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=282896&highlight=lucky+skeg). I had the broken gimbal ring off and the new one on in about half an hour. Took a little longer to fix the skeg though ......

If you have the time and equipment, pull the motor, especially if you can do it in half an hour! If you have the bucks, just pay someone else to do it.

 

[Zackman]

Re: Bravo 3 Gimbal Ring Wear

45Auto, I've got basically the same boat... It's a 99 Crownline 225 CCR with the 350 and Bravo 3. If I would have known what I was getting myself into before I started, I probably would have paid someone to do it. I now have it half apart, and it would be more trouble to put it back together than to finish the job, I think.​

It's going to take me more than a half hour to pull the motor ​

Very impressive weld repair on the skeg in your referenced thread above.​