'93 240BR Vague Steering Problem

[BradH]

I have a '93 240BR with a 7.4L/Bravo One drive. The boat is new to us and only has ~80 original hours. Our second outing was this weekend and I came away quite frustrated with the steering feel of the boat - there is no "on center" feel like our previous Volvo-powered boats and the handling/steering is vague at low and high speeds. The whole rig feels very over boosted; I can turn the wheel with my pinky at speed with ease.

As this is my first Mercruiser Bravo driven boat, I don't have much of a frame of reference for what it should feel like. All I know is that what I experienced isn't right.

Other symptoms include a sooty transom and a significant amount of exhaust "churning" at the water line. I'm guessing that these are related.

Where do I start? Do I have a drive problem, exhaust problem or steering problem, or is a combination thereof? Any direction here would help.

Cheers,

Brad

 

[tdappleman]

I can't answer the steering question but would think it shouldn't be so boosted it could be turned that easily. A sooty transom can be a result of the exhaust bellows not connecting to the outdrive. If you tilt the drive up you should see a rubber bellows connecting the exhaust from the transom to the outdrive - this allows the exhaust to go through the prop and away from the transom. I encountered this as well on mine since I have one drive where the exhaust bellows wont stay on the outdrive and I finally just left it off.

 

[BradH]

As far as the exhaust, I have the "exhaust tube" that mates the transom assembly to the lower unit when the drive is all the way down. According to the parts diagrams that I've found online, this is correct. It just doesn't appear to be the most elegant solution to routing the exhaust down through the prop.

tdappleman - did you have the tube or a full bellows? Did you see any "wierd" handling or other performance issues when you took off the tube or bellows?

Cheers,

Brad

 

[tdappleman]

I have the full bellows - the starboard engine is still connected at both ends, the port engine is off on the drive end. I haven't noticed any performance or handling differences at all. The exhaust is a little louder at idle and not much difference at cruising speeds. I may end up getting the short tube for both sides to eliminate the full bellows and not have it appear that something is disconnected.