Hard shifting Bravo Drive - fixed

[Quint4]

My Bravo II has always shifted hard. I put on a new lower shift cable last season and it did not help. This year it got worse and I decided to pull the boat and dig into the drive a bit.
I removed the back cover plate and discovered a rather rusty shift linkage and detent ball/spring. I cleaned everything up real good and removed all old 101 lube from the linkage.
Beneath the cover plate are two separate areas. The upper area houses the clutch and gear assembly bathed in gear lube. The lower area is the shift linkage which is lubricated with special lube 101 (the green stuff). I paper toweled all the lube out and used a small LED flashlight to examine the linkage that receives the shift cable. It looked good with no notable deformation or damage.
You will lose maybe 1/2 quart of gear oil during the procedure.I kept the drive tilted up a bit to minimize loss. I should mention Bravos should not be shifted unless they are running....so I've heard.
I lubed the linkage with 101 and put in a new gasket ($9.50). I replaced the cover and topped off the merc high performance gear oil. I put her back in the water....the verdict? It shifts great! I am hoping the rusting was from minimal water intrusion on a 17 yr old drive that maybe had never had the back cover off before.
Here are some pics......drive and boat did not too look bad for being in the water for almost two months!

 

[Searaybio270]

Quint4,
Thanks for that info. I have a 270 Sundancer and the starboard shifter is always a bit tight. I have replace the cable (twice) without much luck. I will take a stab at this. Thanks again,

 

[mwph]

Great information & great pics too. Thanks for taking the time post it!

 

[skolbe]

This is a great post - My 260 was starting to shift harder and I had replaced cables and it sounds like you found the fix.

 

[swift1]

new cable and controls fixed mine after replacing the "third" lower cable didn't.

 

[out-n-aboat]

Nice post Quint. Hope she is running smooth now.

 

[Quint4]

She is running and shifting great. I am trailering 4 hours North to Lake Erie this weekend
for aquapalooza and some Lake Erie Islands fun.

 

[Phlorida]

Quint -

I had saved this thread for one of my winter projects. Obviously this didn't happen last winter but it appears to be hopeful for this year right behind the stereo project.

I had thought that you replaced the detente ball and spring along with the gaskets but now that I reread this it doesn't say that. Did you just clean up the detente ball assembly or did you replace it?

 

[Quint4]

Just cleaned everything up with a spray can of carb cleaner. Only thing new was rubber gasket.

 

[Loneranger]

What type of gasket is that between the housing and the transom? It looks like a bead of caulk?

 

[dr.j]

Excellant info and well displayed. Wonder if a BIII is the same? Can't wait till spring to have a look.

 

[Phlorida]

This is weird, what happened to the original post and pictures from Quint4? The #1 post on this thread is now a response to the original thread.

 

[Quint4]

I just checked it and all looks normal?

 

[Phlorida]

Yes, it does now and obviously it did early this morning when Dr J posted a response. When I posted this, the response that is now #2 was showing as #1. I checked it from two different browsers to see if it was a local issue and your original post was missing in both cases.

I just checked it and all looks normal?

 

[frank2644]

Thank you, thank you.....my Bravo II now shifts like butter.

Your pictures and instructions were great... only small problem was the detent ball was stock in the sleeve. Being round and smooth I couldn't grab it to pull it out. Finally decided to hit it with a rubber hammer and after a few shots it bounced out.

Thanks, again.

 

[Quint4]

Glad to help.

 

[mwph]

Quint may get the timeless post award. 3 years and its still helping new viewers.
For those that haven't noticed lately, there is a reason he has that "Technical Contributor" icon next to his name.

 

[westek12]

My Bravo II has always shifted hard. I put on a new lower shift cable last season and it did not help. This year it got worse and I decided to pull the boat and dig into the drive a bit.
I removed the back cover plate and discovered a rather rusty shift linkage and detent ball/spring. I cleaned everything up real good and removed all old 101 lube from the linkage.
Beneath the cover plate are two separate areas. The upper area houses the clutch and gear assembly bathed in gear lube. The lower area is the shift linkage which is lubricated with special lube 101 (the green stuff). I paper toweled all the lube out and used a small LED flashlight to examine the linkage that receives the shift cable. It looked good with no notable deformation or damage.
You will lose maybe 1/2 quart of gear oil during the procedure.I kept the drive tilted up a bit to minimize loss. I should mention Bravos should not be shifted unless they are running....so I've heard.
I lubed the linkage with 101 and put in a new gasket ($9.50). I replaced the cover and topped off the merc high performance gear oil. I put her back in the water....the verdict? It shifts great! I am hoping the rusting was from minimal water intrusion on a 17 yr old drive that maybe had never had the back cover off before.
Here are some pics......drive and boat did not too look bad for being in the water for almost two months!

I'm having the exact same issue with a Sea Ray 240 with Mercuiser 350 MPI and plan to repeat your procedure but the images/links you uploaded on imageshack seems to be dead... Any possibility of recovering these valuable images please? My thanks in advance.

Westek12

 

[Quint4]

This may be a record for oldest thread revived. I unfortunately do not have the pics anymore....sold the boat years ago. Hopefully my description will get you through.

 

[Bill Curtis]

I'm having the exact same issue with a Sea Ray 240 with Mercuiser 350 MPI and plan to repeat your procedure but the images/links you uploaded on imageshack seems to be dead... Any possibility of recovering these valuable images please? My thanks in advance.

Westek12

Perhaps this will assist.. (suggest getting the Bravo manual too. I have it in PDF if you want it. Just send me a PM)