Why don't NXT drives have showers????
 

I see drive showers on Bravos but not on NXTdrives. Can someone learn me something about that??? :grinser010::grinser010::grinser010:

Drive showers are a bandaid for overpowered drives.

NXT drives are dry sumped. the oil pump is constantly moving the oil that is cooled by water moving past the lower. Bravo's dont pump oil, they are just full so the oil on top gets hotter and hotter with out a drive shower.

I have put them on my last 5 boats that were all STOCK Merc power!

Maybe showers don't do anything except keep the drive clean.....

I do believe they cool & R a benefit! How much/little it does in the long run?????????? most people like their "parts" clean!!!:party-smiley-004:

U+1..

I used an onboard cooler/ filter arrangement with a pump and threw the showers in the scrap where they belong.

with the cooler system the oil always looked as good coming out as it did going in -- with 700 hp in front of the xr's--

well worth the money!

I'd like to see more info on that system. I'm not sold on showers and don't run one on my XR w/525.

Go on summit or jegs and buy a drive axle oil pump like they use in stock cars, and use it to push the drive oil through a stock merc engine oil cooler just after the raw water pump. From there i ran it through a spin on filter housing and then back into the drive.
I had the ports done on the upper housing while being rebuilt. Make sure to plumb the cool clean oil back into the gear area.

Sorry i don't think i took any pics of the setup before i sold the drives and system.

there used to be an add in the classifieds for this type, but they didn't include the filter housings. We did mine out of stainless braided line at the time also.

dave

Change oil every 50 hours and you'll never need them.

The main reason you see so many drive showers on Bravo and Alpha drives is primarily as a preventive measure. Because under way the top half of the drive is out of the water it receives no cooling support. What causes all of the heat is that the gear set without any cooling gets very hot. This heat cause the oil to move away from the bearing limiting all of the support the oil provides to these components. A drive shower operates in some what the same way a oil cooler does. Buy just reducing the temperature of the upper unit into a comfortable operating range the oil is not forced or cooked away by un-due heat. All a drive shower really does is keep from cooking the oil in the outdrive prematurely providing extended life characteristics of your outdrives oiling system. Just as an Oil cooler protects your engine from excessive oil temperatures a drive shower does the same thing.

While there have been dozens of claims as to whose is best or cools the most? The simple fact is they all perform adequately and reduce the temperature down to safe operating levels. When choosing you should consider such things as do you use the top of the outdrive as a step? Do you have clearance issues with the back of the hull? Choose a unit with a water pick that is angled not 90 degree's to better perform under trim conditions, And lastly demand stainless steel to avoid corrosion problems.

Best Regards

Fixx
 

Volvo penta aquamatic 280!!! mini # 6 drive:drink:

Interesting but sounds complicated.

after only a couple of hours on fresh rebuilt xr's i thought it was time better spent then idling in and paying for another drive failure. I guess it all depends what one feels is complicated...

Now there will not be a bravo type drive behind anything over 500 hp for me, the drive was not meant to take it.

When i scan through the threads in the drive tech section the reoccouring theme is -- how to get a bravo to stay together--. Kinda says somethng doesn't it?

they have their place, -- it's just not on a big/heavy/higher hp boat.

or as the direction of this thread go with an NXT -- there isn't drive showers because they don't need them.

dave

I just don't see how to make it work. Where do you drill and tap into the drive? How does the reservoir fit in?

Very cool! I'm surprised I haven't seen this mentioned before.

Have to agree with that one. Scooping up water and dumping it on the top cap is, as they say, like pizzin' on a spark plug.

You need an actual cooler or radiator.

I saw U do'n that in Key West!!:evilb:

Yeah, but where's my beer you were gonna buy??:drink:

Ya had 2 much already, that's why U didn't even know U were wiz'n on your 525's from the cockpit!!:lolhit::grinser010: I guess U were using the bilge pump form of flushing!!!

building the 725 Ilmor boat next week. Thinking you want to ride it in KW this year's race? We won't be pizzin'! :kiss:

send pix!:coolcowboy:

You would think they would listen to someone who has spent multiple years working on these drives. I guess they never asked themselves why Merc never put one on them. After all Merc did design, develop, engineer and manufacture these drives. Not to mention that they have to warranty them too.

DREW MARINE HAS HAD A COOLING SYSTEM FOR YEARS
COOLING IS MOST NEEDED ON HI SPEED HI X DIMENSION OLDER SETUPS

How hot is Hot!
 

Remember being out with a friend quite a few years ago now when I knew even less about outdrives than I know now and he demonstrated how hot Bravo drives get in performance boats at speed. I was arguing that those silly drive showers I had seen on drives were a waste and the water being boated in would more than adequately cool the drive and oil. He stopped the boat slowly and told me to place the palm of my hand on top of the drive. After sporting a nice big blistered section on the palm of my hand for about a week or so, I never made that silly statement again!!

Want to make your Bravo drive last longer, 1. Cool it any way you can. 2. Use good drive oil and change it every 25 hours or so, cheap insurance!!

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

I agree showers&steering=extra life on drives!