Bravo1 Annual Service Guide - Help
 

Hello everyone,

I have purchased the Bravo1 service kit, Oring, etc and have the grease as well as alignment tool. Already drained out all gear lube - looked good, no water, etc.

Is there a Do-It-Yourself step by step that I could follow to make sure I have every step completed? Something that is for beginners to learn the ropes.

Have serviced TRS drives in the past, this will be my first Bravo1. Just wanting to make sure I have all items checked off.

Thanks for all the help

try youtube. But all I do is drain like you did, hook up the pump to the bottom of the drive(the whole where it drained out) and pump 3 Qts or so back into it until the drive fluid comes out the top hole, then put the screws with the new orings back. I then grease the prop shaft lightly with marine grease and put the prop back on. Grease the zerts, although on my bravo at least you can pump till the cows come home, dont know how many it should take, but all your doing is lubing the gimbal. From there just a visual inspection, spin the prop lightly to make sure you dont hear any clicking or noises. Should be it.

Never attempted the alignment tool thing, wouldnt think that would be necessary every year.

thanks for the info

no problem. Im not saying doing allingment is a bad thing, but unless your hearing groan during a turn or some other noise or take the drive off I wouldnt think there would be any reason to allign it every year. I know most marinas up here a standard practice is not to allign it unless the drive comes off or you have an issue.

how do the bolts going through bell housing ,into transom plate ,move the motor side to side

I check the alignment every year. I pull the drive every year so why not? The first time I tried the alignment tool I had to lower the front of the engine nearly 1/2 inch. I bought the boat used so who knows how long it was like that. Makes me a little concerned about the coupler.

Take a good look at the gimbal bellows. It is fairly heavy rubber and is pretty stiff, but should not be hard or feel inflexible. Any cracks are a dead giveaway that it must be replaced. Store the boat with the drive as far down as possible. That relieves a lot of the stress on the bellows.

On my boat, getting to the grease nipples on the drive coupler is difficult. As soldier4402 sugggests, coat the splines with a good grease prior to replacing the drive. I like a moly grease for a spline lube as Molybdnum is the only lube additive I know that will impregnate the metal for good sliding and high contact load protection. I also wipe out any excess grease from the bellows etc while I'm looking up in there. It is also a good idea to lube the gimbal bearing while the drive is off. That way you can look and stop pumping when you first see grease coming out from under the seal. You don't want to pump away and blow the seal out.

On another note, the book says that you should get 3 qts of lube in the drive. I have never gotten much more than 2 in mine.

Don't forget antiseize paste on the studs and nuts when you put the drive back on. This will make removal next year much easier and protect against galvanic corrosion between the aluminum housing and the stainless studs.

Good luck.

Dan

BajaDan

Thanks for the insight and helpful information. Going to tackle it this weekend..

I think it depends on how much you used the year prior and how much you got it. Maybe the newer drives are different but on mine I get dang close to three and sometimes a little more after filling the resovoirs, if you have those. 2 or less I might be worried that your burning a lot up or old stuff is getting trapped somehwere.

Not leaking, but trapped? That is a thought. Never had one apart to see if that is possible.

Dan