RickyDanner

Boat has been sitting a while and we went to transport and noticed port side drive oil reservoir is empty.

We raised the drive to transport, oil came out of the block looking thing that sits below the gimble housing. This little block has two hydraulic lines attached. Lines appear to be snug and not leaking.

Thoughts on where to start troubleshooting?

'93 boat, 600 hours, bravo one drives, we believe original, serviced regularly since we've had the boat (5 years). No other known issues.

Thanks,

Ricky

JaayTeee

This would be a combination of things, but you might have a pinion seal leaking, allowing drive oil in the bellows...if the bellows are original, they may be a bit brittle, you tilted the drives up, and they tore, leaking oil down on to the lower swivel area.......or the reservoir hose from the transom assy to
the bell housing could be leaking.

BUP

iTrader: (9)

Drain outdrive gear oil completely and pressure test the drive, if pressure will not hold then pull outdrive - pressure test again using a soapy spray bottle mix to find leak source. Next is to pressure test the drive reservoir ( from bell housing anti dribble valve to bottle). Before doing any off this make sure you check - could be your fitting or line to drive reservoir on the backside in the gimbal & transom assembly area.

RickyDanner

Ok- checking the hoses and obvious stuff tomorrow. In the event pulling the drive is needed, does anyone have a write up on drive removal? Also, i am not 100% sure of what a bellow is. A search online looks like it is a similar to a boot. I assume there are two of these per drive, one lower for the through prop exhaust and one upper that you speak of. The shop removed the lower as part of their "silent choice removal" ( another story). Am I correct on the upper?

This is the first time we have had to dive into the drives, so please excuse the noob questions.

Thanks,

Ricky

Tinkerer

Pull the drive - if there is oil inside the bellows the input shaft seal is bad. I had to have mine replaced two years ago (1992 Bravo 1 ) Replace all of the bellows and check the drive alignment. And check the U joints for wear. If you are handy you can do everything but the new drive seals yourself.

BUP

iTrader: (9)

One it is best yes to pull the drive and drain gear oil from outdrive beforehand - pressure test the outdrive to see if it holds air or not - you can have more than one leak - do it right the first time. The lines way at the bottom of outdrive are for the power trim as I think what to you referred to.. The LINE we are talking about is inbetween your transom assembly for transferring gear lube from the reservoir to the outdrive - keeping the proper level in the drive. .

No offense but it sounds like you never even pulled a drive before or done any sort of indepth marine repairs. I am not saying this to knock U but will say it might be best to have a shop or someone that has resealed outdrives before to do this job. My point is I see more people jack their stuff up and cost them way more money because they think they know how it is done but the reality is they and their friends are clueless nor have the proper tools to even perform the work. A freaking hammer is their tool for everything.

In the long run it costs them more, Sometimes a whole new outdrive and more. Seen it more than once.

If you attempt any service repairs it is wise to buy the OEM service manuals. I still am lost as to why people and do it yourselfers do not. I understand not wanting to pay for a service shop repairs but not spending for the service manuals - I am lost about this totally.

Again do it right the first time around and maybe by someone who knows how, not by somonee who thinks they know how, it really cost less that way.

Best outdrive advice I can give anyone is - after draining your lower unit gear oil - pressure test the drive - you want to spin your propshaft and your u joint input shaft also to see if you still hold the same exact pressure on the gauge.

If not find your leak source. Many people run an unbalance prop this hurts the propshaft seal and as the prop spins it creates negative pressure in which can pull gear lube out while running down the lake. Small amounts to larger amounts. Bravo Three's are a real problem for doing this as well.

Tinkerer

I learned how to do my own repairs when possible years ago. Drive repairs are done by Dick Tryce. I have had three encounters in my early days of boating and none of the mechanics could fix the problem. I figured it out for myself and repaired it.

BUP

iTrader: (9)

Yes I already know you can work on your own boat, but I am just making sure everyone knows I was referring to the OP that it might be more than can he can handle at this moment especially being in a hurry to get out on the water. We have lakes again finally.

To reseal any outdrive you will need the proper tools plus rolling torque specs and if you dig any deeper, the manual and all the specs will have to be known plus the knowledge, Again not saying to degrade anyone but its not a 2 minute fix nor for someone to tackle it without really knowing how.. Outdrives are not cheap. Just getting the rolling torque specs completely wrong can lead to failure.

Also in some shops defense a lot are trained in OEM set ups and factory equipment. Very hard to get a boat worked on by a dealership when it has nothing stock about it nor any OEM set ups - example - this block match with these aftermarket heads, paired up with an aftermarket MPI system and some ECM with whatever tune it might have by whomever. Very hard to work on this type of app. Just saying

Tinkerer

Isn't that what I said. I told him that he would need to have someone replace the seals. Replacing bellows is fairly simple for someone with some hands on experience.

BUP

iTrader: (9)

Yes I was just generalizing not pointing at you.