314joey

iTrader: (1)

Since I had my drives serviced a month or so ago I've been getting a ton of prop slippage and then after talking to a friend of mine he told me that there's two settings where the hydraulics hook to the drive, one for a bravo III and one for bravo I.

My Formula has Bravo I and he said it looks like whoever put the drives back on has the drives set for Bravo III and that setting won't let the drive far enough down in the water for my boat to get planed out with all this slippage, has anyone heard of this, need to fix this.

I've had the boat and props for over tens years and never had this problem before.

It all started happening after I got the drives serviced, I want to know what's up before I take it back, it's good to know if this could be the problem.

No there's no dings or chips in my props or outdrives and nothing stopping the water flow to my drives, thanks for any input.

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

He meant the spacer for the trim ram rod. Not hyd lines. You need to remove the rod and place the spacer on the other side of rod to allow drive to drop lower

Ran-Dom 32

yep... the celery stick is in the wrong position, pull the pin & make sure its facing the rear

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

Look where the trim rams attach to the back drive. The hole on the drive is oblong. There is a plastic "celery stick": in that oblong hole. which can be placed fore or aft of the pin holding on the hydraulic rams. The plastic "celery stick" should probably be placed fore on your boat allowing the drives to tuck in a little further.

Visible in these two diagrams:



Part 30:

314joey

iTrader: (1)

That's what he told me it was....................I forgot he called a celery stick, do you think that this setting being in the wrong spot can cause this much cavitation, it's a bear to get out of the water.

Thanks guys.

Now my next question, shouldn't any mercruiser authorized mechanic know this ?

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

Depending on load, yes.

It's a 10 minute fix. It would be very difficult to do if the boat is on a lift unless you have a platform to stand on.
On trailer or rack, you would want a floor jack or a large block of wood to rest the drive on briefly. Also, a small finishing nail will come in handy to hold back your drive indicators assuming you have mechanical indicators along the trim rams.

JRider

iTrader: (1)

I have never seen this before...wonder what position mine was in for the last 8 yrs

314joey

iTrader: (1)

My boat is backed into my slip, he said he might be able to put a 2"x4" under the skag to take the pressure off it so he could pull the pin and replace it in the correct place.

Someone can sit on the dock and easily work on my drives.

4mulafastech

My 292 with Bravo 1's from Formula came with the celery sticks in the aft position which limited how far the drives would tuck-in. I was told this was normal practice for Formula to reduce the chance of an inexperienced driver getting into trouble with bow steer in case they kept it tucked all the way in and cranked the wheel. I moved the celery sticks to the forward position the first year owning the boat and it did make a difference getting on plane.

Griff

It is the only reason that this would be happening after a drive service.

Different boat makes/models have the spacer installed forward or aft. Some boats are affected more than others by its position.
Just take it back and have them swap them.