So I'm moving right along on rebuilding my Bravo 1. I noticed that the service manual (merc manual 1989) shows a different arrangement in the bearing carrier than I have on mine (1998 drive). My question is whether the specs in the 1989 manual apply to my 1998 drive. My gut feel is that the bearing preloads and gear backlash should be the same, but if anyone here knows otherwise, I'd really appreciate your input.

Second question. The manual says to coat the bearing carrier with "Perfect seal". I am not sure what they are talking about, but I'm thinking of using non-hardening permatex.

Thanks in advance,

Rene

There are 2 different styles of bearing carrier arrangements to get the correct preload. The older ones use shims, while the newer uses a crush ring that gets tightened (crushed), not torqed, until you acheive the correct propshaft free turning preload. Gotta use the correct specs as they are totally different. My '99's had the crush ring. Don't know when the change over was.
Perfect Seal Is Mercs non hardening sealer.

While the Merc manual says to use a crush collar in later lower cases, you can set up the lower bearing pre-load by using shims . I have done it and had no problems.

I was told the same thing by a "reputable",if there is such a thing, bravo rebuilding shop owner.He likes to shim all high performance drives.He says he has had the crush collar compress under load and this creates movement in the bearing carrier.

Nordic95

Just how much load can you put on the crush collar in reverse?

Got Me,I just learned how to spell OUTDRIVE,never mind fix one yet.I am just repeating what I was told.

Nordic95

I would think that the tapered roller bearing on the bearing carrier would take all of the load and trasfer it to the case via the threads on the locking nut. Therefore, I don't think that it takes any load. Thanks for the replies.

Rene

The manual that I'm using shows the crush ring but also has a needle bearing in the carrier. Mine only has a tapered roller bearing in the carrier. I'll look into a different manual and check.

Thank you,

Rene