Many thanks. A very clear tutorial and exactly what I needed to know to try and find the source of oil leaking into the water passages on a brand new drive.
Your video was a god sent to me. You did such a clear and instructional job explaining. I did just what u said to do and the hidden bolt under the rear Zinc was the one that was hidden the best. I am leaking oil from the rear by the prop. Took off the lower unit everything was good only 5-6 barnacles. Going to replace rubber I rings and see from there. Thanks again
I chased one of these overheat issues for months myself. Turned out to be the impeller had “spun”. It was new but the bond between the rubber fins and the metal sleeve was bad causing the impeller to stop working when revved over 2300 rpm. Worked great at low RPM. What a pain in the boat.
David. It ended up being the size of the hole between the leg and motor. Merc reduces that area and apparently prone to buildup - I heard it was common overheating issue with Bravo 3's. I ended up installing a thru-hull for direct cooling. No more pain in the boat :)
Did you find the cause of your overheating issue? I'm currently chasing one myself. Very frustrating. New risers and manifolds, new thermostat, new impeller, gear oil looks good. I think it may be water restrictions but not sure where to best put my efforts
100% found the issue. These have a large volume intake in the leg that gets reduced down as it passes through the transom and then opens up to larger diameter tubing that leads into the raw water pump. I ended up drilling a hole in the bottom of the boat and installed a bronze thru-hull with shutoff valve that T's into the system just before the pump. So I bypassed the stock design (but left it hooked up). The valve is so I can close off the thru-hull and still run the boat on the trailer if required with the hose connected to the leg. If the valve is closed in the ocean the boat heats up. With the valve open she runs nice and cold. Never overheated again. Google "GROCO Bronze Combo Scoop Thru-Hull with nut"
hey not sure if you're still active. But I'm chasing an over heating issue also. I have a vessel view so today when my engine over heated and went into guardian it was because "blocked coolant pressure" and said" stop engine and check for plugged water inlet. this only occurs after a few minutes of cruising at 3g rpms after about 10 minutes of total drive time.. any recommendations.
Cody, My impellor broke apart into many pieces in the past. I removed the entire cooling system and removed bits from fuel cooler, oil cooler, heat exchanger and other places... everything had bits in it. If you have ever had a broken impeller you may have bits everywhere. That said, this particular overheating issue was the a restricted flow where the leg passes through the hull. I did a bronze thru-hull and bypassed the leg for cooling. Never overheated again. Cheers.
Many thanks. A very clear tutorial and exactly what I needed to know to try and find the source of oil leaking into the water passages on a brand new drive.
Thanks Peter.
Your video was a god sent to me. You did such a clear and instructional job explaining.
I did just what u said to do and the hidden bolt under the rear Zinc was the one that was hidden the best.
I am leaking oil from the rear by the prop.
Took off the lower unit everything was good only 5-6 barnacles.
Going to replace rubber I rings and see from there.
Thanks again
That's awesome Sonny.
I chased one of these overheat issues for months myself. Turned out to be the impeller had “spun”. It was new but the bond between the rubber fins and the metal sleeve was bad causing the impeller to stop working when revved over 2300 rpm. Worked great at low RPM. What a pain in the boat.
David. It ended up being the size of the hole between the leg and motor. Merc reduces that area and apparently prone to buildup - I heard it was common overheating issue with Bravo 3's. I ended up installing a thru-hull for direct cooling. No more pain in the boat :)
@@robpoole9388 They call it “Bravoitis”. Gotta have a thru hull.
The only thing that would have made the video better was if you said the size of the tools needed.
I think whenever you disassemble units parts of parts like that is better to clean and put some grease on the o-rings.
Did you find the cause of your overheating issue? I'm currently chasing one myself. Very frustrating. New risers and manifolds, new thermostat, new impeller, gear oil looks good. I think it may be water restrictions but not sure where to best put my efforts
100% found the issue. These have a large volume intake in the leg that gets reduced down as it passes through the transom and then opens up to larger diameter tubing that leads into the raw water pump. I ended up drilling a hole in the bottom of the boat and installed a bronze thru-hull with shutoff valve that T's into the system just before the pump. So I bypassed the stock design (but left it hooked up). The valve is so I can close off the thru-hull and still run the boat on the trailer if required with the hose connected to the leg. If the valve is closed in the ocean the boat heats up. With the valve open she runs nice and cold. Never overheated again. Google "GROCO Bronze Combo Scoop Thru-Hull with nut"
What kinda of waterway are you putting that in , my bravo iii is 25 years old amd doesnt look that bad . How did that pitting happen ?
Sat in the ocean on our West Coast for 18 years until I put a trailer under it in 2018 - it now gets stored inside and dry.
hey not sure if you're still active. But I'm chasing an over heating issue also. I have a vessel view so today when my engine over heated and went into guardian it was because "blocked coolant pressure" and said" stop engine and check for plugged water inlet. this only occurs after a few minutes of cruising at 3g rpms after about 10 minutes of total drive time.. any recommendations.
Cody, My impellor broke apart into many pieces in the past. I removed the entire cooling system and removed bits from fuel cooler, oil cooler, heat exchanger and other places... everything had bits in it. If you have ever had a broken impeller you may have bits everywhere. That said, this particular overheating issue was the a restricted flow where the leg passes through the hull. I did a bronze thru-hull and bypassed the leg for cooling. Never overheated again. Cheers.
Anyone know the size of the allen wrench?
I believe that's a 3/8. Mine was actually not a Allen under there it was a socket.