Guys,

I've noticed a varying delay in going into gear. Typically, it goes right into gear, but there have been a few times, starting this spring and increasingly over time, that, when I shift into gear, usually forward, it takes a second or two, sometimes more, for the drive to go into gear. There have been a couple times, I felt compelled to kinda "double clutch" it, and it went right into gear. I damned near hit the transfer dock this last weekend as the wife stepped off to retrieve the truck and trailer, the delay was long enough. Otherwise, there doesn't seem to be any slippage when in gear. In fact, shifting sometimes seems almost a bit TOO positive when it does go into gear. Is this a linkage thing or is it time to have the outdrive opened up and looked at more closely than just the magnet during a drive oil change? It is a Gaffrig offshore shifter to a stock Bravo1 drive.

Thanks. Brad.

My experience with that over the years is a worn cone clutch. Gears are usually in need too. Did have luck cleaning up engagement area and replacing clutch. Worked for years until a gear chipped off.

The adjustment is easy to check. Maybe you get luck but it’s never been that for me

Worn cone clutch, common wear part.

Guys,

So.... How long do I have? Based on my description, am I good for the remainder of the season? Or is it gonna leave me stranded 30mi up the SouthFork before then, and/or do further damage to peripheral parts if I wait? I will be talking to Hilltop Marine about workload and scheduling, just to get ahead of it, but I don't want to dig into anything if it can wait until the boating is done for the year.

What about parts? Without actually looking, I'd assume they're all on the slow boat from China. I've always gotten a good report card from Hilltop every time they've changed the drive oil, as far as the magnet is concerned, but we've not had it open beyond that. Are there any non-OEM options out there that would be more preferable without modifications to the case? If new gears are in order, I'm a little wary of OEM Merc gears, as, from my observation and reading, overall durability of the Bravo platform has diminished since my drive was built.

Thanks. Brad.

yup, cone clutch. Same thing happened to me. It will get worse the longer you wait and it could cause other damage

You can disconnect the lower shift cable from the lever on the shifter bracket,
start it up and manually move the cable and see how it shifts, if that works,
you may just have a stretched cable, but I’ve changed out several due to
gear cup, cone issues also.

Not to jump your tread if all else failed I have 2 Bravo 1 in good condition pm me thanks

How many hours on your drive Brad?

It’ll fail when you need it the most. I put two new ones in last year when the drives were rebuilt. OEM from BAM marine is where I order from and your best bet imo.

Cone clutch

Roll the dice on how long you have.