bravo one gear lub?
 

Ok guys I know when changing the lube u pump fro the bottom till it comes out the top hole then put tbe plugs back in and fill the reservoir. Now on my new boat the top plug is behind the steering and tie bar mount and the only way to get to it is by removing the mount. Can u just pump from the bottom till it shows up in the reservoir and not have to take apart the steering?

You should take steering apart and get the plug out. The reason is to not get any air trapped inside the drive. With bravos you shouldn't take any unnecessary chances lol.

For what it is worth - I have a Bravo 3 and have the drive/oil serviced every year - At the conclusion of the service the reservoir is always full. However, there will typically be an "air bubble" in the system that will relieve itself over the winter which will evident in the reservoir in the spring. I fill the reservoir before I take the boat out and then check and top off as necessary.

thought this may help you-- sorry if it's too basic

3pointstar

Just an FYI - your reservoir can still be full all the time even if you drained the lower unit oil completely out. Merc gear oil and condensation that forms inside the bottle can gel up very thick over time that can prevent the oil flow. The reservoir a lot of times, needs to be clean out completely as well to prevent this from happening.. This will also depend on the gear oil used. Merc High Perf gels like crazy on the bottom of the reservoir. I see this all the time

Yep. I clean my bottle out every yr when changing gear lube.

And sometimes it will stick the float causing the alarm to stay on even when its full of gear oil. that's common to.

Thanks for the help I always change the reservoir lube when I do the drives. Looks like I will be taking the steering apart damn that sucks lol

What kind of steering is it? On the Marine Machine halo, there is a hole on the side where the vent is, where you can put a screwdriver in there.

Can you stick a right angle screwdriver in there and pull the plug out?

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No hole to get in there. I will try to see if I can work it out with a right angle screwdriver

Fill it from the bottom all the way to the full line on the bottle, no need to pull any plugs, if you fill to the top hole and then put the plug in, then fill from the top bottle side down, then you have a chance of an air pocket JMO

Thats what I was thinking of doing. Leave the top off the reservoir and pump it from the bottom all the way up into the reservoir that would push any air out the top u would think. It would be more pumping but it would be worth it to not take every thing apart.

Always removed the top plug, mostly for drain venting, then filled from bottom till came out top, reinstalled top plug, then pumped a couple more pumps till lube started coming in the bottle to purge the air out of the hose, then just topped off bottle from inside.

I'd think if you leave the top plug in, you'd just have a little more resistance as your now venting thru the bell housing/upper housing check ball and resorvoir hose with smaller openings than the open top hole, so possibly just gotta pump slower.

I left steering on ansd just pulled the bottom plug and rez cap and let drain over night then pumped up till it filled the rez to the full line and worked out good.

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Yes.

I have the same issue with my Marine Machine steering and have been doing it that way for 5+ years.
Make sure the caps are off the reservoirs when you pump lube into the drives.

Mine do not have the hole on the '97 AT but did on my '96 Pantera. Same steering bracket except for the hole.

I use a screwdriver bit with a 1/4" wrench on it to loosen and tighten the upper plug. Once it's loose you can get enough grip with a screwdriver at an angle to remove it.

Just drain 1/2 a qt and top off the bottle....

Lol!!! :bananalove:

BE CAREFUL doing that. Sometimes it will continue expanding after you stop pumping and create a HUGE mess. Ask me how I know that. Stop at the "add" line on the bottle, and come back and top it off the next day.

That drove me nuts.

I have the same steering.... I use a right angle flat head to get mine off.

I leave the top plug in and fill from the bottom up all the way to the reservoir.

Using a 5 gallon pail with a pail pump helps with less air bubbles from changing bottles.

Remove and clean the reservoir.

+1

I use this pressurized gear case filler. Makes it go pretty quick. The moment I see the oil start to enter the reservoir, I release the pressure.