zog02

I have a bravo outdrive that has recently had to be taken apart to replace the main bearing in the upper unit. When the bearing let loose it spread lots of metal shavings all over the upper and lower unit. I tore it all apart and cleaned everything out. I put it back together filled it with oil and have run it three times since the problem with good results. I changed the gear oil each time in order to get rid of any remaining metal grit. Each of the three times the small amount of metal grit has become less. Today I changed the oil and spun the prop by hand with no oil in it. I noticed a small noise when there was no oil in it. When I filled it back up with oil it sounded normal. There is no resistance to spinning the prop by hand. Am I worrying to much or is this something I need to look into.

Reed Jensen

More importantly... how did it feel when you were turning it without oil? Did it feel smooth like when it has oil?... or did it feel "notchy"?.. Personally... I think you might be worrying too much about it... I can feel when any gears (outdrive) or final drive on an axle are going bad more by the feel than any sound. If your outdrives have straight gears.. they are going to feel a little "notchy" anyway. If you were to turn the props in the reverse of their rotation... then the faces that mate while under power will be meshing... feel for roughness... if the gears were failing... you would feel the gears "grab" and then let go... then "grab" again... with a grinding feeling in the "grab" area... If you have experience setting up final drives... and have handled axles that have burned or failed gears in them... you can tell by the feel... If you haven't "felt up" a lot of gears... then you might not be able to feel the difference... I'd suggest you keep looking at the oil...

robyw1

Everything will make a little noise when spun w/o oil.

Roby