Hello,
I have posted here before but have a new question. I purchased a 2002 Crownline 288BR last year. Wound up replacing the engine (long story). Now the new engine is in. Getting ready to put the Outdrive back on.

The engine is a 375 HP - 496 MAG with a Bravo III Duo Prop outdrive. While the outdrive is off (and before I put it back on) what should I inspect/replace while it is out. I figure it will be easier and better, to do the work now rather than put it together just to find out I should have looked at something and then have to pull it off all over again. I only had it in the water for about 20 minutes last year before I had issues and had it towed back in. Been working on it ever since. End of season and the boat is almost ready...go figure.

Also, what seals and O-rings should be replaced while putting it back on? (I did put new/reconditioned Props on it)

Any advice is appreciated.

thank you,
Wmrath

I thing I would check is the gimble bearing. See it is spins nice and easy without noise. If not I'd look to replace it. Its rather cheap and easy to do when the outdrive is off, imossible with it on. I would look at replacing the seal in between the drive and the gimble and the imput shaft o-rings, depending on how they look.

Whoever put the engine in should of did this, but I would make sure the engine alignment is right too.

I,m assuming since it,s mid November you are done till spring. If that is true I would lean real hard toward doing it all. Gimbal bearing,bellows, shift cable boot, lube and inspect u-joints,clean and regrease input shaft, new o-rings and of course water passage gasket. You put all that time and money into getting the engine going,make sure this part is as good as possible and have trouble free boating next summer.(verify alignment also)

Hello again everyone. This are all great suggestions and comments. This has become a DIY due to the cost of having it done at the shop. I have a friend that is a car mechanic that is helping me (or I am helping him). We have not been taking any short cuts so far and do not plan to now. I am down in Florida, so the season really does not end for another month and will start back up in March. I would like to have the engine broken in by then. The Gimbal bearing appears good. I was planning on replacing the bellows, o-rings and water passage gasket. Since the outdrive is off, we might tackle the gimbal bearing anyway. I have an alignment tool on the way (that was definitely an oversight). I was looking at a kit with everything on Amazon that appeared to have all the gaskets, o-rings and bellows. We did notice corrosion going into the shift cable. The boat was not having issues shifting but is there something I should look into? Input shaft has been cleaned and re-greased. We are not familiar with working on the outdrive at all. (U-joints would entail taking the outdrive apart, correct?)
thanks again for all the constructive advise.

Put your fingers inside the gimbal bearing and rotate it. If it feels smooth as silk with no roughness, your good

Move the U joints around and see if you can find any play or roughness, if none found you should be good. The drive can be removed in 20 minutes if you find it making noise later. The outdrive doesn't have to come apart to replace them, but is easier to remove the drive shaft from the drive

Just a suggestion as an earlier post says, replace the complete bellows, hose, seals & gimble bearing kit.
If the u joints appear to be original, I would do them also. My luck is whatever I did not replace with the drive already off, I'll end up doing when it fails. I learned the hard way.

Have a 25 year old original gimbal bearing in one of my boats, never been touched, just greased yearly

I just suggested replacing stuff because boat is new to you and you have all ready had a surprise. Definitely the bellows and gaskets. Gimbal , check and do whatever makes you comfortable. There not expensive. I wouldn’t just change the u- joints. Make sure they are perfectly smooth. Look for rusty colored grease coming out when you grease them.

Hello everyone,
I wanted to post a thank you for all the advice and provide a follow-up. There turned out to be a little more than expected with the outdrive. After taking the advice, I purchased the bellows, gimbal bearing, and seals (all as a kit). I also purchase the alignment tool to ensure the engine was aligned with the shaft. When we pulled the gimbal to get to the bellows, we noticed some light shining through from the bilge (the engine hatch was open). Closer inspection revealed an actual hole had eroded on the transom plate (about 3/8" wide and a little over an inch long!). Obviously the transom plate had to be replaced. Cheapest I found for a new assembly was $2400. I found a used one on Ebay with the gimbal, hoses, wires, trim sender and rams for much less. However, replacing this required pulling the engine back out (after just getting this new engine in)...well crap...so today everything is back in, wired, on the fluid in and ready to start. We pulled the fuel line and cranked it a few times (10 second crank, 30 second rest) to built the oil pressure. Then hooked everything up and fired the engine. She fired right up! Yeah!! Now you will find a new post. New engine, will start but will not keep running (dies after about 30 seconds). Baby steps, but this project should be in the water pretty soon thanks to the good people on this forum!