Bravo 3 outdrive not draining

[stormyj]

I searched and didnt find anything. I drained my bravo 3 with sump. removed the cap on the sump in engine compartment. Pulled the bottom plug, no metal on magnet. Pulled the vent plug, oil drained from outdrive. Let it drain for 30 min or so. It stopped dripping. Looked in eng compartment, and the sump was still filled with oil. Is there a reason why that would have happened? This is a new boat to me and supposedly the last guy had a mechanic do all his maintenance. I know its 90w oil, so its pretty thick, but its like 72 today, so I would figure it would drain out, slowly but surely. Any ideas?

 

[stormyj]

When all else fails, read the manual. lol. From the book. Im going to leave this up here so that when others that dont have the book ask this question, they can find it here.
1. Remove the gear lube monitor from the bracket. This is the sump in your engine compartment.
2. Empty the contents into a suitable container.
3. Install the gear lube monitor in the bracket.
4. Bravo One Models: Remove the propeller, lower the sterndrive unit to the full down/in position, remove the oil fill/drain
screw and sealing washer and drain the oil.
5. All Other Models: Place the sterndrive unit in full trim limit out position, remove the oil fill/drain screw and sealing washer
and drain the oil.
6. Remove the oil vent screw and sealing washer. Allow the oil to drain completely.
IMPORTANT: If any water drained from the oil fill/drain hole, or if the oil appears milky, the sterndrive unit is leaking and
should be checked immediately by your authorized Mercury MerCruiser dealer.
7. Lower the sterndrive unit so that the propeller shaft is level. Fill the sterndrive unit, through the oil fill/drain hole, with
specified gear lubricant until an air‑free stream of lubricant flows from oil vent hole.

 

[alldodge]

The lube will drain out over time but being its thich it takes quite a while. When running it moves easier because its warmer and under slight pressure. I like to wash the lube bottle out with some diesel or other light weight oil

 

[Fun Times]

This gear lube type over time tends to become gummy at the bottom of the reservoir bottle and clogs the drain fitting & hose area of the bottle… it’s recommended to clean the bottle every few years especially if the gear oil hasn’t been changed in a while.
Could try blowing down on the lid area of the bottle to see if it will help clear out the gunked up area to start draining too.

 

[stormyj]

I think because of the viscosity, they suggest to just drain the sump by hand, removing and draining, and then just forcing oil up through the tube, mixing with the new oil.

 

[QBhoy]

Hi...good news is tat you have asked advice from a forum to include some of the most knowledgeable and patient guys there ever was a collection of. presumably you are referring to the gear oil and gear oil only...not the engine oil (sorry for asking..but a layman might read your post as referring to such a thing combined)...anyway..just thinking around the gear oil only...opening and removing just the gear oil drain screw will mean a long wait for the full capacity of oil to drain out...removing this and the upper vent screw will drain the content of oil quicker for sure `(the most common and lazy method)...doing the latter and also waiting for the full contents of not only the drive oil capacity...but to include the header tank contents too (the correct and proper method)...will mean some patience and waiting overnight usually. Great practice to do this...

 

[stormyj]

Yup. Well, Im not doing that exactly. simply draining the outdrive then emptying the gear lube monitor (what merc calls it) in the engine compartment. then when I fill the outdrive via the drain plug, ill top off in the engine compartment. This is actually the first time doing it on this boat. Had a volvo previously which did not have a gear lube monitor, so never had to do it. Thanks for all the input.

 

[bruceb58]

When I drain my Bravo 3 drive, the lube bottle also drains at the same time.

When I fill, I fill from the bottom until it reaches the vent. Install drain and vent plugs and then fill the gear oil bottle.

 

[alldodge]

^^ Doing it this way works well, but there will still be an air pocket which will go down when using the first few hours

 

[bruceb58]

^^ Doing it this way works well, but there will still be an air pocket which will go down when using the first few hours

Yep...take that into account and fill it later.