Bravo One gear lube?
 

What viscosity gear lube do you all run 90w or 80/90w?

What non Mercruiser brand Amsoil, Mobil One, etc???

:party-smiley-004:

I believe the Service Manuals for Bravo drives say to use Mercruiser oil...only. I don't think this is just them essentially "selling their own stuff"; but rather simply the recommendation based on years of studies and millions of dollars of R&D. One can always find a detractor or supporter for any oil, or spark plug, or type of wax, etc. I have been on this forum a long time and have seen literally countless oil threads, whether that is engine oil or gear lube. And there is always anecdotal evidence from the fans or haters of any oil. There are tremendous forces at work on a marine engine outdrive gears...I simply go with the guys who make the things.

i second that... BUT !

8 years ago i was out of drive oil so took a chance with GM 75-90 synthetic gear oil and did not miss a beat ! I might have them refreshed for peace of mind ... but i dont run the boat hard at all so might help!

The Old Standard
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...157042797.jpeg

New Extreme Performance from Merc Racing


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...20373ae39.jpeg

Then for aftermarket many people like NEO and several Amsoil. Do some searches on those two here.

We use neo oil…after 30-40 hours still looks brand new. Likely won’t return to using merc

I used Lucas M8 synthetic gear oil and never had an issue. Like others mentioned there will always be opinions on everything out there from wax to oil to filters etc.
https://static.summitracing.com/glob.../luc-10652.jpg

Go to wal-mart and buy the Quicksilver High Performance like SB posted. $10 a quart. Change it every season.

Just bought six quarts of Quicksilver High Performance 90W from Walmart. $10.47 a quart and they delivered it to my doorstep.

And a 5 quart jug or 3 of mobil 1 15w-50 ? :)

Yep...^^^^^^^^

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...320d915637.jpg
I have been using this for years and holds up way better then the merc gear lube. Coms out like new at changes and dont smell burnt-out. I also had issues with the merc oil guming up in the bottles causing a low gear oil alarm to sound every now and then.

I switched to that a few years ago on a B3 . From the very first shift into gear I could hear a difference.
Shifting seems smoother and definitely quieter now as does outdrive whine when running .
I'm sure I read here somewhere a long time ago that there's something about this stuff that in the event of water ingress into the gearcase it keeps water way from bearings and gears.

I've been running Valvoline synthetic 75-140W in my bravos for several years now, add one pint of Lucas Synthetic stabilizer per drive. Been doing a 2-3 season drain interval. They shift great, and being 900+ hour drives, getting ZERO iron mud or fuzz on magnets unlike with Merc lube.