Bravo 1 drive oil?
 

Hey Guys

On all the outdrives I have ever changed oil on, there was usually a "full" plug at the top of the lower unit and a "fill" hole a the bottom, I was looking at a Bravo 1 today and there is no "fill" hole at the bottom?, there IS a plug at the top, but, nothing at the bottom, a buddy of mine said it fills from behind the prop?, is this normal?, thanks for any info!!

Michael

Yep, behind the prop

Okay, i'm a rookie, but doesn't it Drain from the prop plug and fill from the top? I was planning on just popping the top plug and squirting oil in till it was level with the top hole.

Am I wrong? How the heck am I meant to fill from the bottom without pissing oil everywhere?

You need to fill from the bottom plug up to the top vent plug and if you have a bottle in side the boat keep pumping till it is full also. you need to get all the air pockets pushed out.fill it up till oil starts coming out the top vent then plug it, then keep pumping if you have the bottle inside.Have the drive level. just have some rags on hand. if you are pumping by hand it won't be that many [psi] and it should not go all over the plase. Just let it flow out a little to get the air out at the top vent.

Roger, that makes sense. I just thought it was like topping up a car manual trans, fill, let sit, top up, close and enjoy!

Cheers!

How about if you pumped gear oil until it weeped out the top vent hole, then put the plug back in the top and filled the resevior inside the boat and left the cap off?, wouldn't the weight of the grear oil push the air out?, I guess its just as easy to pump it in from the bottom until both the drive and resevior are full, was just curious?

Thanks!
Michael

I always do like "M20Michael", the bottle usually burps ones, reducing the oil in the bottle (after 5 minutes of driving), I just top it off and then I'm set.

Problems with filling the bottle from the bottom-plug is that the regular mercruiser-single-use-pump starts to leak ones the drive is full and you are trying to push more oil in thru the filled drive and into the small hose that leads to the bottle...

1. Fill from bottom hole until oil comes out of vent
2. Close vent and top off straight into the bottle
3. Check after 3-5 minutes of driving if the "burp" has happend, and top off the bottle

Well I know a lot of guys do it that way also and it seams to work.But [imo] to keep pumping is not that much harder to do.It is also a good feeling you did the best job you can to get all the air out of the rubber hose from the drive to the bottle seeing the hose is about 2-3 feet long, could be one big air pocket.also the bottle is gravity fed and a lot of times the bottle will get gumed up and not flow and it is nice knowing you did your best by pumping to push the old gummy oil out of the way to let new oil flow in to help safe guard your $$ 6 grand plus drive unit.

How about if you filled the lower unit up until it weeped out the top hole, put the plug back in the bottom hole, then moved the pump up and put it in the top vent hole and pumped the rest of the oil in from there?, would it be easier to fill the resevior from there as opposed to the bottom of the lower unit?

I just leave the top plug in, fill it from the bottom, and keep an eye on the resevoir. I've never had any problems and I have a cheap plastic fitting that screws into the lower plug. The only think that sucks is getting that thing unscrewed, and the plug in quickly...

You can do it either way - I prefer to fill it up the the vent, plug it up - then top off the inside resevoir. Once the initial burp happens it's good to go.

Thats the way I do it. Keep checking the resevior the first few times out. Top off as nessesary.

He is right, gunk will clog the resevior. I take mine apart and cleen it about every other year.

Now I am confused as hell...also a rookie...
 

so does all of this mean that when you drain the lower unit, you are also draining the outdrive and the reservoir bottle?

And, by the way, do some Bravos have the drain plug on the side, and some behind the prop, or has somebody put a lower on mine that should not be there?

Scott

As far as I know most Bravo 1's are behind the prop. My old boat had an Alpha and it was on the side. My friend has a Bravo 3 and it is on the side. It seems like I have seen some Bravo 1's on the side but I am not sure of of the years.

Yes to drain it it is best if you pull the black cap off the bottle in side the boat, Then pull the lower plug off the drive then loosen the side vent plug as much as you can, have a rag in hand.

some of the early bravo 1's where on the side of the drive, then they moved it behind the prop. They did it for better performance less drag and no air bubbles to the prop. If I remember right it was from late 1988 - 1990. just a year or too.

It is a hole lot easyr if you remove the zink plate all you need is a 5/16 socet to get the to bolts out.

I have my resevoir off now, since [suprise!!] it leaks, I am gonna clean it out before I put it back in and seal it up so it hopefully doesn't leak for awhile, do you need to clean the hose too?, or just the resevior?

I agree, the biggest pain in butt is trying to get that damn [oil soaked] plug back IN the hole, without cross threading it, or................dropping it back IN to the bucket you put under the lower unit to stop oil from running all over your driveway and watching helplessly as ALL of the oil you just spent 20 mins pumping INTO the lower unit proceeds to drain back out, as you fish around in a futile attempt to find the plug, then try and re install the plug, only to realize you have to put all the oil that drained out back IN again before you can try [again] to reinstall the plug, thats usually when you will go to stand up and catch the lip of the drain bucket with your knee or toe and dump 3 quarts of oil all over the driveway.................Ahem....Not speaking for experience or anything!

Have lots of rags and maybe even disposable gloves?, it might just be me, but, that Hypoid oil smells awful, especially when its used, reminds me of draining the rear end fluid out of cars back in my automotive days, that stuff made me gag, and if it got on your hands it was there for days!

Michael

I see that as a lot of extra work. Also should be about the same pressure to fill the bottle the rest of the way. Just pump slow and steady.Some times you might need to put a pin hole in the top of the [qt] oil bottle.

Your spilling half the oil all over the place well then it sounds like your doing the job the right way good job. [LOL] No you don't need to clean the hose should be ok.

Use a screw starter and have it handy with the screw ready to be installed. Makes it alot easier and helps keep the spillage down. Remember the washer!!

I prefer to fill completely from the bottom hole, till lube just enters the bottle. Then top it off at the bottle after the level settles down.

I also slide the full old oil bucket out of the way and slide a empty clean bucket when I do the fast draw plug and washer install, so if it drops it is right there. Also if it drops I do the dutch boy thing with my finger until I get the washer and plug picked up reassembled and positioned in my fat little fingers. Oh and I do it with the boat on the lift while squating on top of a floating platform just to hone my three ring circus skills.

Thanks to Boat Teck and US1 Fountain!, I was having a heck of a time getting the threads to start on the adapter for the hand pump, then I remembered "Boat Teck" saying it was easier if you pulled that zinc plate off, I was a little leary when I undid the 2 bolts and popped the plate off the entire lower unit would fall out as well!, ha ha!, but, it didn't and the adapter threaded in there like butter!, Thanks!

When I put the plug back in I had my Father at the ready with the screw starter, as soon as I pulled the adapter out he stuck the screw in, it worked great, we lost MAYBE an ounce or two of oil!, Thanks US FOUNTAIN!!

Quick question, when I re installed the prop there was a brass/bronze plate that was the last thing on the prop shaft before the actual lower unit housing, its "flat" on one side and bevelved with a smaller "inner" circle on the other, I installed this with the "flat" side again the unit and the "stepped" one against the prop, is this right?, again, Thanks!

Yes it sounds like you installed it right. did you get the prop on tight. I use a block of wood between a blade and the cav plate on the drive, and crank it down and match up one of the 6 fingers on the lock and push down 3 of them. No problem glad I could help you out.

I used a 1/2 drive ratchet and got it pretty tight, do you happen to know the torque spec?, if so, I will torque it to the required amount, I have good Torque wrenches here, Thanks again!