I'm looking at purchasing a Formula with a 454/Bravo 3 on it and the guy selling mentioned that he "topped off the gear oil" with half a quart. when we splashed the boat we were getting an oil bubble every 5-10 seconds that would float up and make all sorts of perty colors on the surface. My mechanic who works on my alpha 1 boat said the drive might need to be resealed. He doesn't do work on bravo 3's so i'm trying to find out as much as I can before I make an offer on the boat.

Are there any obvious things to look for?
Are there any special tools required to take off the props on a b3?

If you don't have the merc tool you can get away with an adjustable wrench on the outside prop nut and a large crescent wrench on the larger second nut. I use a piece of 2x4 to wedge the prop to the cavitation plate when tightening/ loosening the nuts fyi