I sucked the oil out of my XR's today. The oil looked good. Just a shade darker than new Merc HiPo gear lube. About 30 hours. One of my questions is this, magnets had fuzz which look like a lot till you wipe it off then it looks like only a little tiny bit BUT there was a small sliver about 1/8 long, very thin, shaped like a vagina (sorry couldnt think of anything else shaped like that) is this typical?

Should I be afraid and expect to spit a tooth?
I also thought about the fact that maybe its a good time to swap drives? Is it?

Put in Amsoil Severe gear 75-140 optimistically surprised by the look and feel and liked it.... Guess we'll see.

It seems like the gears are starting to get pits in them. Fuzz is ok but i would be a little worried about vaginas stuck to the magnet lol.

I had slivers on my magnet for 3 or 4 oil changes (75 or so hrs) in both drives, had them torn down and was surprised at how big the pits were. I had all new gears put in them and have run Amsoil in them for about 50 hrs and barely have any fuzz on them.

I would swap the drives and this winter tear them down and check the gears.

ANY slivers means problems. Dust that dissinegrates between your fingers is OK. Tiny slivers and splinters of metal you need to freshen the drives or be prepared for them to break. The longer you wait the more expensive the rebuild. 2-4k a side if you catch it early 5-6k a side when something snaps.

450hp and under might last a while

500hp and more just keep lowering the life expectancy as the power rises.

Good luck but I would rebuild or have a good spare ready if your worried about down time.




Swapping the drives really doesn't do enough and has not proven to be benificial.

I thought maybe it would be typical from time to time if for example the outer edge tip slightly wers and cracks off.

Wouldnt pitting be chunks rather than slivers?

The outer hardened surface of the gears failing is what creates the slivers and pitting.

Great, I love news that is going to cost me $6000

Look at the bright side... You can still go boating.

I would try swapping them and maybe they will be fine for a little while. Its definetley not a fix, it's just a bandaid for awhile.

fairly typical, unless you are gay. then everything looks like a banana.

You can buy a brand new drive for that. Look around, deals are out there.

The longer you run them the more the metal shavings that are not on the magnet yet get carried through the drive wearing out other parts. Yes the tiny tiny slivers are bad. I did not believe it either the first time until they broke soon after finding them.

Sorry bud its just part of the bravo blues.

Anything over 450hp eats bravos up faster then they should. There's no magic solution.