drive maintenance

[brwn234]

What kinda maintenance do I need to do to my Bravo I outdrive? When I winterized it I drained the old high performance fluid and filled from the bottom with new. There's a grease fitting on the starboard side so I squirted a few pumps of grease in there. But other than that what else is there? What about lubricating the drive shaft or universal joint? Checking alignment? anything else? I'm still kinda new to the I/O think, last boat was a jet drive, virtually no maintenance. The engine I'm good with and I'm pretty mechanicaly inclined I just dont know a whole lot about the drive yet.

[bdog_402]

What kinda maintenance do I need to do to my Bravo I outdrive? When I winterized it I drained the old high performance fluid and filled from the bottom with new. There's a grease fitting on the starboard side so I squirted a few pumps of grease in there. But other than that what else is there? What about lubricating the drive shaft or universal joint? Checking alignment? anything else? I'm still kinda new to the I/O think, last boat was a jet drive, virtually no maintenance. The engine I'm good with and I'm pretty mechanicaly inclined I just dont know a whole lot about the drive yet. Pull the prop and grease the prop shaft grease ever nipple you can find.

[brwn234]

How many greas fittings are there? It's tight in between the motor and the transom. It's hard to find them if you dont know where to look or when your done. What about the bellows, can I replace this myself if I need to? Or are there special tools a Mercruiser dealer would have?

[LKSD]

It may have sealed U joints depending on the year, However it is still a good idea to periodically pull the drive.. This way you can check for debris build up & clean it off around the cable, check gimble bearing & everything else in there.. Also depending on the age you should be checking your boots & hoses as well there.. ALso you should still periodically replace the impeller even though the bravo doesnt have one in the drive (its engine mounted)... :) :) Jamie / lakeside

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[brwn234]

Can I just unbolt it from the transom and reinstall it without any problems? I was under the impression I had to realign everything after that. Rather than hound you guys with a million questions and sound like a newb, whats a good affordable shop manual for a '00 bravo I?

[RedDog]

Removing the drive does not cause a need for realignment. I can remove and reinstall my Bravo by myself (so far - getting older and weaker). It is real heavy and balancing it is the key.

You can find decent manuals at Boaters World or West Marine.

[Ranman]

You only need to re-align if the engine moves. You can R&R the drive pretty much as often as you want. I have checked my drive alignment annually and in the last 5 years, I have not had to realign the engine and this is even after several engine removals. I just make sure the mounts don't move.

[fasttrucker]

I had my motor mounts vibrate down and replaced them with a race plate/mounts good to 1000 hp.