bbwhitejr
Well-Known Member
+1 on Dennis’ “over the net” diagnosis. Shifting in and out of gear with out the engine running has likely caused your issue.
Bennett
Bennett
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I think I am with you Daze, I didn't feel hitting something; I think it was more of a mechanical issue rather than external objects. Pictures may confirm what you said; will see them tomorrow.Obviously I'm just taking a stab at this since it's hard to accurately diagnose things over the net, and regardless the drive needs to come off and the actual issue will be found. But, in the meantime...
-- If you hit something hard enough to damage a Bravo drive, you most likely would have felt the impact. And 100% guaranteed that there would be physical damage to the exterior casing. Since that would have been very noticeable and you didn't mention that...
-- When you did the shifting into and out of gear with the engine off, damage was done to the shifting mechanism in the drive. This is almost guaranteed to happen when a Bravo drive is shifted without the engine running. An Alpha can be shifted with no issues.
-- You left the marina and were still able to get into gear at this point. Running up on plane vibrated things a little more and the final damage was done. As long as you kept the throttle on, the drive stayed engaged in gear. Once you let off the throttle it allowed the drive to shift out of gear (since the shifting mechanism was now damaged to the point of failure).
-- At this point, the drive slipped out of gear at a high RPM and because of the pressure of the water on the prop started turning backwards. The gears then (because they weren't being controlled by a cable anymore) tried to shift into fwd or reverse at the same time the prop was spinning very fast.
-- Essentially, the drive tried to shift into gear with the prop spinning very fast. Like reving your engine up in neutral and quickly popping the tranny into gear.
-- When you did the shifting into and out of gear with the engine off, damage was done to the shifting mechanism in the drive. This is almost guaranteed to happen when a Bravo drive is shifted without the engine running. An Alpha can be shifted with no issues.
Sometimes you have no choice but to shift when the engine is off, like stalled out in gear.I am curious, could you elaborate a little more?
What kind of damage can happen by shifting a Bravo drive with the engine off?
Is this all Bravo drives, B1, B2, and B3?
No sarcasm here, I just want to know for myself.
The earlier drives came with an aluminum jaw that was prone to wear out and pop the cable coming out of forward. "bravo stuck in forward". Merc had a bulletin out in the late 90's replacing it with a steel linkage. Found that out the hard way. Mine was missed.Sometimes you have no choice but to shift when the engine is off, like stalled out in gear.
I've done it many times with no bad results. Having several Bravo's apart, I can say what looks like the weakest part is the shaft that has the jaws to accept the cable, the shift forks look plenty rugged.
ah yeah now I see it.The last picture show the u-joint bellows torn. You can see the coiled wire sticking out and a jagged edge of the bellows.
-Kevin, it was funny seeing me and my wife walking behind the travellift taking the boat back to the shipyard; we looked like walking behind a dead body in a funeral!!!