glastron

You are so right about the twisted prop shaft. I noticed it last season. So are you saying, if you leave the water you need to be off the gas all the way and then upon entry, roll it back on gradually?

glastron

Griff, to answer your question, yes it seems like once it kicks out of gear it needs to come all the way down to idle to go back in.

Vinny P

Being that you have not been backing off the throttle when in the air, I am surprised you havent blown the drive to bits yet.

glastron

I have been getting off the gas. As a matter of fact I have been going down to about 1/4 when the boat leaves the water. It may just be my timeing. But it seems funny that it is just the one drive that does it.

Edward R. Cozzi

There have been two major changes to the gear sets since 1988 when the Bravo drive was introduced. Most of those early drives have either already grenaded and have been repaired with the new stuff, or upgraded during a refresh. My friends 1989 Bullet has 369 hours on the original drives and his boat does what you describe. It has nothing to do with your throttling technique. Some of the earlier Bravos with the power shifters were even more problematic with those symptoms you describe.
After the upgrades it will take only 12 lbs. of effort to shift the drive. The original Bravos needed up to 39 lbs! You should have heard the TRS guys screaming with their new Bravo boats back then!

Payton

Ed, that's good information.
Glastron, as far as backing off the thottle, back off only as far as you need to to keep the RPMs from going up. It is just as bad to have your prop going to slow when it re enters the water as going to fast. either way it's a shock to the drive and will bend and break things.

glastron

I want to thank you guys for all your help on this issue. I am planning of going through the outdrives this month and see what I have. I understand that I can upgrade with the XR kit.

Just another note. The drive that kicks out of gear does have a very stiff shiffter. Once in a while I have to kind of horse in in and out of gear.

These drives have never been apart as far as I know. I have had the boat for 4 years now. When I got it the boat would go about 60, now we have had it on GPS at 85. With the age of the boat and the outdrives in such a mess, I dont think I want to go any faster with this boat.

Mr Gadgets

Glastron,
The technique is when the bow starts to rise over a wave and the wave gets to your feet, then you have X amount of feet before the props leave the water, depending on the length of your boat. You pull back on the throttles until you feel the boat crest the arch of the launch.. then back into the throttles. That way you should be able to match the exit and reentry rpms. At least that is my technique.

As far as the drive poping out of gear, the cable could be missadjusted or you could have internal issuse. A miss timing of the driven gears may cause it, or weak clutch springs are a possiblity. They have upgraded the the cone clutch and springs over the years.

As far as the XR upgrade kit, well it isnt that easy. The drive has to be set up for the XR gears, and a steel tower in the Bravo 1 case is highly recommended. I use the XR new style top cap that also has a steel tower and install a steel tower in the case. That gives the driven gears a solid base to work in. If you want more info, give me a call and I can explain the options and issues of going to XR upgrade.

There is a kit available that installs X grears, the thick floored helical gears.. Lots of options!!

Hope this helps
Dick

616-403-1006 cell

glastron

Thanks Dick, if you dont mind I think I will give you a call we I can get some more info on the drives.

Thanks again