If So My Mistake Ill Check My Manual Tomorrow.

I had this happen to both drives (1988 bravos with 420 hrs)
I fixed mine and have sent the tools to two others on the board to fix.

the stainless bolt strips out of the aluminum housing. you need to get a stainless helicoil kit ( which i have) . drill the threads out, retap for the helicoil, install helicoil, and reinstall the original bolt.

this can be done on the boat without removing the drive. pull both indicators, remove both bolts, place a block or jack under the skeg, and slide the drive back, pivoting on the hyd cylinders to allow the threads to move rearward past the housing. drill and tap and install the helicoils. i placed a piece of metal flashing between the gimbal and the drive shaft bellows so the drill or tap would not cut the bellows.

if you pm me your address or post it here. I will send the kit. it includes a few helicoils, the drill, the tap. and a six point allen. and somewhere i have a delron drill guide I made to help the drill go in true.

after re-installing the bolts, when installing the trim limit indicators, calibrate them so the drives do not overtrim per the merc spec (23" maybe??) and also calibrate your trim indicators for the guages. make sure you put a little antisieze on the small screws for the indicators when reinstalling, they can corrode and be a real bugger to get off to get to the bolt if needed the next time.

FYI, when the drives don't stop at the same location due to limit switch, or the gauges read incorrect, this is an indication the bolt is rotating. that's how I knew

good luck

Ramb

Thanks for the offer to send the kit.

I think I'm okay at the moment. The left one appeared to just be loose and tightened up fine. I ran the boat last weekend and the pin was still tight when I got back.

I appreciate all the help, everyone.

-Steve

What is the torque spec for the two bolts at the top of the ring?

As per Seloc manual thru 1991,
"tighten the two gimbal ring bolts to a torque value of ...for bravo -- 40 ft lbs"
also for hinge pins use torque of 60 ft lb

which is different from US1's Merc Bravo manual which says 90-100 for hinge pins. I wonder if Merc changed the torque values???

I tend to go with Mercs specs over Seloc.

No argument here - I think I better buy the merc manual...

Check the Bushing!!
One thing I haven't seen anyone mention is the pivot pin bushing. There is a composit bushing (Merc #23-847637) that goes in the bell housing assembly that will wear out and make the pivot pin wear loose. All the locktite in the world won't keep that pin tight if that bushing is worn or gone. The outdrive slaming back and forth will loosen that pin if the bushing is worn.

dash,
I hope he has it fixed this threads last response besides yours was 8-17-04 a year ago.

Happy ready though!

Yeah it's old thread ... but he IS the first one to correctly mention to check the bushings!