Interesting issue. Are they replacing gears & bearings or are you getting a new drive each time?

JASONSMITH - they have been replacing both the upper & lower units each time.

So here is the update. Shop initially called me and tried to say the drive if fine. They hooked it up to the hose and it shifted into gear just fine on land. I asked them to water test it to see what happens under load. In the water it did exactly what happened to me (engine rev without drive engaging). They drained the gear lube to find metal shavings (as expected).

The story now is that they put the wrong drive on after the accident and have been replacing it with the same each time and that is why they are failing. Apparently the base line Bravo III is not designed for my combination of horsepower and weight.

The solution - Mercruiser is supplying me with a Bravo IIIX drive to accommodate for load and power. I am being told this will resolve my issues. This "upgrade" is not costing me anything.

Any thoughts?

I have friends with cruisers that weigh alot more than your boat running BBC's and plain B3's with no issues.

Your shop said the drive was fine, but really wasn't once put in the water, and then they find metal shavings?? Kinda makes one question the shop?

At least you are getting a new drive outta the deal. Hopefully this will be the cure.

Sounds like time to find another shop in my opinion

Again, I have over 300 hours on a combo similar to yours with a standard Bravo III drive with zero issues.

Bingo.

They sound pretty useless and incompetent.

Agreed on the incompetence of the shop - I don't think there is any doubt there.

Unfortunately, I almost feel locked in at this point due to the fact that they have been dealing with Merc on the warranty end of it. I am going to get this drive installed and be sure I get all of my paperwork so that I can go someplace else if/when it fails again (I assume Merc warranty covers any Merc approved shop).

I am also working on the insurance end to find out what their policy is in regards to discovery of damage 3 years after accident - my guess is I'm on my own, but it's worth a shot.

Get the drive replaced with the warranty then get it checked out some where else, might be worth a few bucks to make sure it is correct

Call Mercury Customer Service Directly.
407.574.6566
Have your Serial Numbers handy.
Ask to have someone review the entire case history.

Explain the situation, and that you would like to go to a new service center. I've had to do this before.

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