I pulled my Bravo 1 this weekend to check my gimbal bearing and decided to try my Bravo 3 on the boat. Since the B1 was off I decided to pop the covers to inspect the gears. Gears all look fine, but there is a lot of clearance between the pinion and the top gear. Probably upwards of 0.040", enough for me to question if everything is OK. After looking at it I can't figure out where the extra clearance would have come from it in wasn't like that before. The pinion can't really back off unless the retainer is loosened, right? Gearing looks good, no metal in oil. I did cavitate the drive in a sharp turn which required me to come off plane to recover. I did play with the throttle lightly to see if it would grab again, but wouldn't.

FYI the backlash feeling in the B3 drive was much tighter. I just don't what to put it back on if there is something wrong. Any insight?

Also, how much power does the Bravo 1 soak up, 30hp?

Put the top cap back on and then check the lash on the upper gear. The gear stack is compressed by the top cap. With it off, it is a mess, nothing to locate or compress that top gear into position..
Hope that helps.
Dick

Thanks for the feedback, I heard that earlier on another fourm. With the cap on there is still some noticable slack, but I just don't knwo what could have changed without being wayout of wack. I'm slowly convincing myself it's OK.