Bravo III gear noise

[HT32BSX115]

Howdy all,

Well the Bravo III install runs pretty good.

My brother (the previous owner when it was a King Cobra Boat) was up for a few days and we actually had nice enough weather to take the boat over to Lake Tapps and run it around a bit.

He said it goes every bit as fast as it did with the 460 King Cobra in it.

It comes out of the hole twice as fast as it EVER did. He was very impressed. (He wants it back!! )


Since this is my first experience with a Bravo III I have nothing to compare it to. It (supposedly) has about 120hrs on it since new. When I changed the drive oil with Merc HP there was no water and the old oil looked ok. No metal in the oil or stuck to the magnetic plugs. The drive doesn't seem to lose an inordinate amount of oil running. I do put a small amount in the drive reservoir once in a while. (I have heard that B-III's do lose a little oil normally)


I was winterizing everything yesterday and noticed that when I'm running in neutral at idle it seems to be fairly noisy in the upper part of the gearbox.

This is a relative thing since I have never heard another Bravo running and maybe I should go over to a Merc dealer and hang around the service dept so I can listen to a couple of Bravos idling on muffs and make up my own mind.

I know there's a lot of gears in there and maybe the Bravo III's are just normally noisy.

Running down the lake it's barely noticeable and the drive oil reservoir doesn't increase much in the level and the drive doesn't seem to get hot or anything.


Any thoughts?



Thanks,


Rick

 

[thrasher]

Re: Bravo III gear noise

You say the drive oil level doesn't increase much. Any increase is a sign of a leak! There is no other way the level can increase unless something else is entering into the outdrive (Usually water).. Was the statement a slip of the hand? If not It sounds like you need to be performing a leak test on the outdrive.. I don't have a bravo3 so can't help you with the other questions.

Gary

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Bravo III gear noise

Well I guess I said something about increase. It really doesn't increase at all and I guess my choice of words was poor. It would be more accurate to say that the drive reservoir doesn't pressurize much at all. (although it does pressurize slightly as it warms up from running around the lake)

It does seem to lose a very small amount of oil. very slight. The decrease has been decreasing since I changed the oil. (This is supposed to be common after changing the oil)

It seems that I read somewhere that Bravo III's DO lose a very small amount of oil over time and it's documented in a service bulletin somewhere.

But this is somewhat beside the point. My question refers to the upper drive noise.

Are Bravo III's "noisy(er)"?

You say the drive oil level doesn't increase much. Any increase is a sign of a leak! There is no other way the level can increase unless something else is entering into the outdrive (Usually water).. Was the statement a slip of the hand? If not It sounds like you need to be performing a leak test on the outdrive.. I don't have a bravo3 so can't help you with the other questions.

Gary

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Bravo III gear noise

"Are Bravo III's "noisy(er)"?"

I've never thought so...

 

[baconbiscut]

Re: Bravo III gear noise

I was winterizing everything yesterday and noticed that when I'm running in neutral at idle it seems to be fairly noisy in the upper part of the gearbox.


What kind of noise. Our Bravo One drive with 25hrs on it makes a noise like the kind when keep on clicking a pen but you can only here it when you lay done on the swim platform.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Bravo III gear noise

Well my best description woiuld be gear noise. All drives have gear noise to some extent.

When I had it off the Gimbal bearing turned easily and smoothly.

The U-joints were in fine shape and I greased them a little.

The noise is pretty much in the top gears/bearings.

I suppose I'll have to hear a couple different drives to make a final determination.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Bravo III gear noise

If you're in Peoria tomorrow, stop by, I'll have mine out of the water and you can listen all you want!

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Bravo III gear noise

I'd love to!

I'll be in Denver tomorrow night though and coming back on SUN!

If you're in Peoria tomorrow, stop by, I'll have mine out of the water and you can listen all you want!

 

[BAYLINER185]

Re: Bravo III gear noise

Well I have a BRAVO I on my bayliner 2755 and it makes more noise when you spin the prop by hand then my Alpha drive does. I havent ran on muffs so I have no idea how much noise it makes. Also the prop is harder to spin by hand on a BRAVO I then an alpha. Just that many more gears and the shear size of the gears I think is why.

The Oil leverl dimineshing is normal. It also says that will happen in the manual for my Alpha drive. It says after you fill the lower unit to put the vent screw back on and continue to fill until the lube monitor fills up. It says to check the level after your 1st run after service as the level may lower in the monitor as the air that can be trapped starts to escape as you run the drive.