B3 cone clutch

boatman37

boatman37

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2015
4,242
pittsburgh
Boat Info
2006 Crownline 250CR. 5.7 Merc BIII
Previous: 1986 Sea Ray 250 Sundancer. 260 Merc Alpha 1 Gen 1
Engines
5.7 Merc BIII
So looks like I need to replace my cone clutch this winter. Can a shop replace this with only the outdrive and no boat? Thinking about pulling the drive before storage then storing it with no drive. That would let me take the drive to a shop and they can take their time. Just figuring they will be pretty busy around October and April?

Thinking about doing it myself but afraid of messing up an $8000 drive. I use to build my own race engines back 25-30 years ago. Doesn't look that difficult but not sure it is worth saving the extra money for the chance of me screwing something up?

Oh, it's a 2006 with 245 hours
 
If you can re and re the drive, the clutch assembly won't be a problem. Put together a stand for your drive at the height it rests on your trailer and then you will need a few specialty tools to remove the input assembly and set up the shift linkage. After market tools are available for cheep on amazon for the DIY guys.
 
lol. Not sure I want to tackle this myself. Anywhere I can download a manual for it? I will search for one but if anyone knows off the top of their head where to find one then great. Won't be pulling the boat for a few more weeks so no hurry yet
 
Do a search for Mercruiser Service Manual Number 28. I pulled it up several years ago and printed it off. Covers all 3 Bravo's. Lists procedures and tooling for them. Probably several Youtube vids on it as well.
 
Simple enough job, only special tool needed is the big spanner for the large input shaft retaining nut.
 
Thanks guys. I did see a video where they used the spanner wrench. Thinking maybe take it and have it pressure tested etc to make sure everything is taken care of?
 
Only 245 hours and the clutch is worn out?

Did something happen to the drive that would cause such premature failure?
 
blaster said:
Only 245 hours and the clutch is worn out?

Did something happen to the drive that would cause such premature failure?
Click to expand...
Not that I know of. It had 203 hours on it when we bought it and surveyed good. This issue just started about 4-6 weeks ago. But in my research I have seen alot of posts with this happening on several boats with similar hours. I replaced the carb and the next time out we noticed the slipping. It was fine before that.
 
Turns out I had the wrong oil in it because the shop only had Sierra and sold me the one they told me I needed. Hoping that was the reason it was slipping. Just changed the outdrive oil and put the Quicksilver High Performance stuff in it this time. The old stuff looked good. No water or metallics visible. Will see how it is next year then make a decision on the cone clutch.
 
I have replaced the cone clutches in two separate boats with B3’s. On was at 400hrs the other at 500hrs. I too thought better oil would help but in the end just changed the clutches. Do yourself a favor and change the clutch this off season and be done with it. Also if you don’t already have one, install a drive shower to keep the B3 cool. A slipping clutch is not good on the drive and the last thing you want to have happen is the outride not to engage when you least expect it. It wont take a shop very long to do this job and can also pressure test and inspect the rest of the drive. Good Luck.
 
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