Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

Is slight metal peach fuzz on the Bravox1 drive drain plug magnet normal or not after 0-88 hours with Mercury factory gear lube?

Hours represent a lot of low - moderate speed cruising, wake boarding, tubing and a few hot laps.

The Bravo1 is now running Redline heavy shock proof synthetic lube.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

It's normal - any other concerns other than the metal?

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

No, that is it.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

If you rub that fuzz between your fingers and feel any chunks, then it is time to take a look inside. How long between drive oil changes??

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

as long as no chunks your fine that is very normal that is alot of hours to go between changes!!!!!!! by leaving it in like that youd be suprized at what that does to the gears !!!!!!

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

The total 88 hours which included the breakin period. In other words this was the first oil change.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

should of been changed at 20 hours

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

I am a rookie. All I had to start with was the Mercruiser Service & Maintenance Manual which said 100 hours for the lower unit and engine oil change interval.

Is that 20 hour interval in general or just for the break in period and if the latter what is the general change interval?

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

for break in...regular sould be about 50hrs what I tell my customers is that they want to do itmid season and at winterize that way if they rip a seal and have water in it they will know yes merc says 100 hrs but if you do that it wont live lond under hard loads ect merc changed it from 20 and 50 but 100hrs way to long on x drives that take a load

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

Mine is a stock 496HO with the Bravo1x and I mostly do low speed cruising when the wife is aboard (that is a lot), wake boarding/tubing a lot and WOT hot laps occasionally. Now that I have Redline Heavy Shock Resistant Synthetic Gear Lube in the drive what would be a reasonable change interval?

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

My gear lube goes no longer than 30-35 hours between changes. Engine oil & filter every 15-20 hours.

Last time I changed gear lube, there was no peach fuzz, and the lube looked good. Frequent changes = cheap insurance IMO

Edit....I run about the same as you. Wife in the boat it's mostly cruising, and she is usually with me. Then some good hard romp and WFO time when wifey isn't with me.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

I hear what you are saying.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

Rage, red line is a great lube but is 0 friction the problem is the bravo drives have a cone clutch which works on friction I have alot a few customers that had wanted red line in there drives and have refused to because you want some friction.... others my feel differt but I wont use it in a bravo also roller bearings need a small amount of friction to roll.


kidnova your on the money cheap ins to save a drive and will last alot longer......

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

GOODT,

Interesting. What is the symptom displayed when the cone clutch does not have sufficient friction? Grinding gears when shifting? A clunk when shifting? Vibration? Abnormal wear of ____? Other?

Have you or others seen documented damage/excessive wear/flat spotting do to the roller bearings and/or to their mating surfaces do to the zero friction condition associated with the Redline Heavy Shock Resistant Gear Lube?

If so I will drain it now and replace it with... what do you recommend?

Thanks!

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

Kidnova,

What lower unit lube do you use in your ?Bravo1? What hp / boat weight are you running? I have NO problem changing the lubes as often as appropriate to maximize life/durability.

Thanks for the input!

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

I havent seen anything in writing for red line as for noise the cone clutch does not make noise but you will notice slow shifting as for flat spots ect you will notice the drive overheating drive resovoir overflowing ect if you read the bottle it says 0 friction not good for drives, great for motors.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

0 friction is no good for roller bearings and friction clutches, it works well with bushing and insert bearings.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

GOODT,

It says that on the Redline Heavy Shock Proof Synthetic Gear Lube bottle? I'll have to look at a bottle when I get back to the lake this weekend.

I am a little confused. Redline Heavy Shock Proof Synthetic Gear Lube is designed and marketed by Redline for use in automotive racing differentials which have roller bearings in them and surely have to deal with a lot of energy/horsepower absorption. What is the difference between an automotive differential roller bearing and a lower unit drive roller bearing?

The clutch issue is another matter however but I believe when I checked the Redline web site the Redline Heavy Shock Proof Synthetic Gear Lube was specifically recommended for use in marine I/O drives as well. Maybe THEY added something so that the friction clutch will work properly. I have a hand full of hours with the Redline Heavy Shock Proof Synthetic Gear Lube in my Bravo1x drive and it seems to shift as it did before with the Mercruiser factory gear lube i.e. no problems with slow shifting so far. I will pay closer attention in the future.

It is hard to imagine a company like Redline marketing a product that is not suitable for the application. They are racing oriented and sloppy engineering is not the road to a their kind of reputation in a racing environment. Conversely I can easily imagine an oil company that mass merchandises a gazillion different oils to the general public getting it wrong.

I appreciate the information and any additional comments on my thoughts / questions above.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

I have had good luck with Redline Shockproof Heavy running standard Bravo's on a Black Thunder with 650+ hp 540's. I wouldn't worry about not having enough friction, I'd worry about having too much.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

I talked to a Redline tech, Dave. He confirmed that they recommend the Redline Heavy Shock Proof Synthetic Gear Lube for Bravo1 drives (and a lot of others). Dave has been with Redline for eight years and they have been recommending this oil for drives since before then and no complaints just satisfied customers and compliments on its performance in drives. I Asked specifically about the 'friction cone' in the drive and was told "no problems".

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

I ran the Redline Heavy for two 50 hour changes (B-1, 600hp)
No problems whatsover, and magnet had almost nothing on it.

Put m-1 75-90 in at last change because my Redline didn't show. Will look at magnet when changing here soon.

It does seem that I am seeing about 100rpm more with the M-1 when comparing the two. Could redline be that sticky?

The Redline takes forevvveeerr to drain and can be messy, but it seems to be the ultimate gearlube.

Always ran the M-1 gearlube in our racecars and no problem there either.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

EASY WAY TO SOLVE THIS ISSUE CALL MERCURY RACING AND ASK THEM, simple physics roller bearings need a small amout of friction to turn and cone clutches need friction to grab not saying im 100% right but been building drives for 25 years and I wont use it.....it is a great lube in motors

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

I use the Merc High Performance gear lube. I believe it is a pure synthetic, but can't swear to that. It goes in a Bravo 1. Engine is 500 hp ZZ502. Boat is a Wellcraft 23 Nova that weighs +,-4000 lbs. Heavy little sucker, not very efficient hull so it take some hp to get it moving fast. Does 70-73 depending on temp, humidity, chop. Mostly cruising but does get run hard from time to time.

Guess I'm a little nutty about changing the engine and out drive fluids, but I've never had a problem with either.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

GOODT,

Was the "drive overheating drive resovoir overflowing" woth Redline Heavy Shock Proof Synthetic Gear Lube? If not what synthetic gear lube was it?

Thanks!

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

Thats if the bearing have flat spots which will cause the drive to overheat which will cause the bottle to overflow flat spot cause heat (heat causes expansion) bottle overflows

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

GOODT,

I understand.

What was the brand/make of synthetic gear lube in the drive when it experienced the over heat and the resulting over flow?

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

none inparticular that will happen with any lube or liquid have seen it many times usually after someone brings me there boat with a blown drive

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

I have had good luck with Royal Purple. It may not be better, but from experience it doesnt seem to be any worse..
If you see any fuzz, that means the bearings are seeing it also.. Change it more often..

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

Mr Gadgets,

Thanks for the change interval rule of thumb.

What is Royal Purple?

What are your thoughts regarding issue of the drive "bearings flat spotting" because of the synthetics are too slick and as a result "the bearings are not rotating"?

What is your thoughts regarding the issue of the drive "fricton cone not working properly" because of the synthetics are too slick?

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

And they used to say thing about synthetic oil in motors with roller cams. :rolleyes: Not enough friction and the rollers don't turn....

I dunno, it's a crap shoot!

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

I'm not sure what's going on with RedLine. I've been running it in my '96 41 Velocity 600hp per side since the boat was new. In the entire time I've only suffered one broken drive, knocked a couple teeth off the pinion gear after not throttling after a huge launch. Never had a drive bottle overflow, find almost no peach fuzz on the magnets. Used to change the oil every 40 hours, now it's more like every 100 hours.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

If you want to run thats great as long as the warr is up because it my understanding that they wont cover a claim if you use it.

might want to call merc tech assistance to make sure

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

Joe, I live right across the bridge form you in Annapolis and I'm just wondering what kind of work you do...just drives? engines? how about fuel injection?
Thanks, Dave

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

What's wrong with Merc Hi Perf lube? Have to run for 1yr to validate warranty but you guy's like or don't like?

GOODT..Riggs Marine says same thing re friction. He knows and is 15 min from factory in Fondulac.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

If there is 0 friction then would there not be 0 wear?

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

I can't find a compelling reason to stop using it. For me it works, 9 years and no failures in one drive and once teeth on the other. Big boat in big water constantly beating the snot out of it. Don't know of many other Bravos that have been running for that long without issues.

Like I said not sure what is going on with other people with overflowing drive bottles, I haven't seen it.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

dont fix it if it ain't broke....I don't blame you with the good track record.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

Mr Gadgets,

Questions above.

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

all im saying is think twice and that I wouldnt use it as for 0 friction 0 wear true to a point with out friction it makes it harder for the cone clutch friction to "grab" also without a little friction roller bearings have a harder time rolling.


Lowflying: I work on all systems specialize in high performance and drives but work on all have been in the business 25 yrs was with the local fountain,sonic dealer for the last 5 now working for my self and do mobile service at no extra charge, if you would like references I have many that I can give you and have certifcations from merc,volvo,omc,and seadoo If I can be of any help give me a call at 410-570-7995

Re: Peach Fuzz on Bravox1 drain plug magnet??
 

That ShockProof oil sure is sticky! Seeing the way it sticks to everything including the drive canister, it has to be doing a good job sticking to the gears bearings etc. And I can now see how it's "shock proof". I'll have the drives apart in a few months and we'll see how they're holding up.

Is there is scientific evidence that the bearings won't turn because of zero friction, like I said the same thing was said about roller cams in motors years ago and now that's not the case.