Merc Bravo 2 Hydraulic Ram Oil Flush Help

[Group_er]

Hey everyone. I would like to flush the oil on my Bravo 2 leg. The Hydraulic oil for the rams that is, not the leg oil. The boat is currently in the water and I would preper to attemp this maintanance without having to pay to pull the boat.
Can anybody suggest how I would go abouts doing this?
I had planned on pulling one line off of the motor/pump/reservoir assemly at a time, while having a helper hit the up or down switch for the leg, while I catch the fluid in a bucket and keep the reservoir topped up.
Can anybody comment for me? Have you done this? Will this work? lol!

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Merc Bravo 2 Hydraulic Ram Oil Flush Help

Why do you think it needs flushed?

 

[Group_er]

Re: Merc Bravo 2 Hydraulic Ram Oil Flush Help

hmm... I just figured it couldnt hurt? It hasnt been done since it was new in 95. and idt a little louder lately. (the pump)
I figured it was a good idea!?

 

[MarkSee]

Re: Merc Bravo 2 Hydraulic Ram Oil Flush Help

hmm... I just figured it couldnt hurt? It hasnt been done since it was new in 95. and idt a little louder lately. (the pump).I figured it was a good idea!?
Can anybody comment for me? Have you done this? Will this work?

Seems reasonable and actually would give you a chance to make sure that it is not "milky" in color which means water intrusion.

So it's a '95 slipped boat and you've never needed to replace the trim lines? That's amazing as I needed to do that in my slipped 2005 Maxum and 2001 Sea Ray. Or were they replaced but you think the fluid was just not changed?

Here's what I would do to be sure that I did not strip anything by removing the lines and make a simple job more complicated or expensive.

Since it's not a requirement to use the expensive Merc fluid, simply get a turkey baster and suck out what you can from the reservoir then fill it with cheap fluid. Run the drive up and down several times then repeat the fluid removal/fill/drive exercise process as many times until you like the color of the fluid in the reservoir.

That may not be the prettiest or most "mechanical" way to do it, but sure seems the safest way to me and will achieve what you want for the most part.

Mark

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Merc Bravo 2 Hydraulic Ram Oil Flush Help

Also suprised that you haven't had to rebuild the rams (and thus replace the fluid) already on a boat in a slip, of that age.


I wouldn't mess with it, unless it's milky, which means you have a leak and would have to fix that first. But if you want to, Mark's idea is the best one.

 

[Group_er]

Re: Merc Bravo 2 Hydraulic Ram Oil Flush Help

Thanks for the input guys. I never thought about the fact that its been in a slip most of its life. Ive only owned the boat for about 5-6 years. Ive had it in a slip for probly 4 years in total, And im insure about the previous owner. At least a few years I would assume.
I considered replacing the lines when the boat was out last, I did a overhaul of the leg (bellows seals, paint, zincs, exc) but my budget just couldnt squeeze the lines in that time. I think they were $100 a piece, or $100 a pair. I dont remember.
But when I checked the oil level in the resivour a while ago, There was a red piece of paper attahced to the pump body (from thr factory I believe) saying to remove the red plug from under the resivour cap befor operating pump. When I un screwed the cap, the red plug was still there! I just assumed the previous owner installed the pump when the motor/leg was replaced, (1995) hooked up the motor, and never looked at it again. Thats why I thought a fluid flush couldnt hurt. I also sounded a little different from the past just befor I checked the fluid.
The merc dealer sold me a power steering and power trim fluid, Clear like water. The fluid that was in the resivour was golden yellowy blowny.... lol
Not sure if it was ment to be, or if it started life out as clear.

I used the turkey baster and sucked the resivour dry and topped it up with new. Then undoing one line at a time, (ended up making a HUGE mess) but by trial and error managed to get nothing but new clear fluid running out of the lines. Ill probly turkeybast the resivour one more time 1/2 way thru this summer just... because. Then I think I can probly forget about it for another decade =)
Thanks for the help guys!

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Merc Bravo 2 Hydraulic Ram Oil Flush Help

You can actually put just about ANY oil (ATF, PS, motor oil, John Deere Hy-Gard, etc) in the trim system.....It's the simplest of hydraulic systems....

I used ATF because it's red and I can see red if it leaks... If you get water in it, it turns pink, pretty hard to miss.

Unless it's leaking, or looking like it has water intrusion, I wouldn't fool with it until a trim cyl has to come off.