Pulling a Bravo3 off.

[Lou C]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

Check the bellows for cracks and water. Also if you see gear oil in the bellows the input shaft seal may be leaking.
I use Pennzoil Marine wheel bearing grease on the gimble and u-joints and OMC triple guard grease on the driveshaft splines.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

Check the bellows for cracks and water.

Let's hope they are good since his boat is a 2013!

 

[Lou C]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

D'oh!
I have heard of improperly installed bellows leaking on even new boats.

 

[aerobat]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

Let's hope they are good since his boat is a 2013!

in this case i personally would not remove the drive at all , only gear oil change ... we last year pulled a bravo 3 on my parents 2010 sundancer after two years and 80 hours first time and all was in perfect condition finally resulting the work was not needed.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

Well there is a story behind this drive. I bought the boat new and it never sounded right. After about 10 hours I developed an issue where it would get stuck in forward and I could not get it in to neutral or reverse (real fun at a public ****). ANy ways I was going to pull the thing apart myself thinking it was a shifter cable or something. DonS convinced me to bring it back to the dealer where they discovered that a gear in the upper was miscast and had broked apart destroying the upper. Mercruiser sent a new upper and the dealer replaced it. Got the boat back and it was a night and day difference. I would like to take the drive off to make sure the alignment is correct and to inspect everything I can. Im not sure if I will trust this until I can inspect with my own eyes. As for pulling the drive on the regular I will prob do it every other year going forward.

 

[alldodge]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

If your going to do the work in a storage lot I would recommend putting something together to help. If your working on gravel put together a modified version of the jacks above with small wider air filled tires. Without some assistance sooner or later your going to damage something (your self or the drive). All in all you have it right

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

in this case i personally would not remove the drive at all , only gear oil change ... we last year pulled a bravo 3 on my parents 2010 sundancer after two years and 80 hours first time and all was in perfect condition finally resulting the work was not needed.

According to Mercury, is IS needed if you are going to check the alignment each year.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

I pull my drive off, check alignment and change gear oil EVERY year.

This is preventative maintenance for the most expensive part on the boat. Penny wise pound foolish not to do it and takes little time once you learn how to do it.

 

[thumpar]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

I have to pull my drive to fit the boat in the garage so I am kind of forced to do maintenance. With the back of the boat touching the wall, drive off and the trailer tongue removed I have about 1/2" when the door is closed. On my old boat I would pull it every other year. I know you are supposed to do it every year but we only do about 15 hours a year.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

I have to pull my drive to fit the boat in the garage so I am kind of forced to do maintenance. With the back of the boat touching the wall, drive off and the trailer tongue removed I have about 1/2" when the door is closed. On my old boat I would pull it every other year. I know you are supposed to do it every year but we only do about 15 hours a year.

If I couldn't park my boat inside during non-use, I wouldn't want it!

 

[alldodge]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

Bring on a few more pounds of foolish, been doing it way to many years to change now. Never had trouble removing the drive doing it every two years. Guess if it ever did not slide out easy every two years, that could give me an indication to change my inspect/maintenance schedule.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

Bring on a few more pounds of foolish,

Its not how easy it pulls off, its if you have water in the bellows. Do not want to have water sitting in the bellows that long if there was a leak.

 

[alldodge]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

Do not want to have water sitting in the bellows that long if there was a leak.

If there was a leak sufficient enough to cause an issue I pretty sure I would notice it. If the u-joints were going out there would be some kind of noise. There would be water showing up in the bilge. If the u-joints went out before I noticed something was wrong the next thing I would do is get my hearing checked.

 

[thumpar]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

If I couldn't park my boat inside during non-use, I wouldn't want it!

We have full covers and only use it in the summer. It doesn't rain here in the summer except for maybe a couple days.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

If there was a leak sufficient enough to cause an issue I pretty sure I would notice it.

The problem is that you won't. The water will rust up the shaft going into your drive and then ruin the oil seal.

Your choice! I would rather find the problem in the winter going into the off season than have the problem occur during boating season on a vacation. I usually like to prevent things from happening rather than waiting for the noise. For something that takes less than an hour, easy thing to do.

 

[alldodge]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

The problem is that you won't. The water will rust up the shaft going into your drive and then ruin the oil seal.

Nope, do not agree, rust yep that can and does happen, oil seal no. Rubber doesn't rust and what rust that might have formed on the other surface of the oil seal would not be an issue. We are talking about a very small amount of water, because if it was more then just a little it would be noticed. We just have differences of opinions on what can happen and the impacts of those changes, and I will try hard to let you have the next last word.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

We just have differences of opinions on what can happen and the impacts of those changes

True. I always go by DonS's recommendations. He seemed to know a lot more than any of us.

http://forums.iboats.com/mercruiser-i-o-inboard-engines-outdrives/water-u-joint-bellows-210924.html
See DonS's post #3

 

[Lou C]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

I've heard that this can happen, but have not had it happen to me, because I've kept after it. I do think that if water sat in the bellows all winter, rust could form on the shaft, and when you went to start it, the rust could conceivably damage the seal. Of course the seal itself could wear out due to 'natural causes' or just wear a groove in the sealing surface.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

All you have to do is read this thread once and realize the drive needs to come off every year.
http://forums.iboats.com/mercruiser-i-o-inboard-engines-outdrives/motor-siezed-today-635256.html

 

[Lou C]

Re: Pulling a Bravo3 off.

Those of us in salt water regions have to be extra vigilant about maintenance. For the time it takes it's cheap insurance and even after 10 seasons of mooring this boat in salt water for 6 months per season, I've had minor repairs (1 bellows & gimble still running same u-joints). Nothing like the disaster in the post Bruce linked.
I believe all three I/O msnufacturers list the drive pull in the yearly maintenance. If you don't do it then you can't complain if you have a problem. I've heard stories of people who could not get the drive off after the bellows leaked and corroded the driveshaft into the coupler splines.