bravo 3 carrier replacement advice

dieselsmoke

Member
Aug 21, 2016
95
nj
Boat Info
2004 Select 220
Engines
5.0mpi bravo
I was looking for some advice from the pros here. I have a 2004 220 select with a Bravo 3. The drive overall is in nice shape however the carrier has seen some better days. Its not leaking and doesn't have any obvious bearing noise. At this point I'm going with the "aint broke so dont fix it" attitude but wanted some other opinions. I think that if it started to fail I would notice a loss of oil and/or bearing noise and hopefully not a sudden break down scenario. I can handle changing the carrier but if all goes well I'm looking at probably $750 and who knows what pandora's box I may open. So the question is, leave it until I have good reason to dig into it the drive? or get after it before the boats in the water? Its a 2004 220 select. Thanks in advance
 

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My buddy has a 280 and his carriers were replaced recently. He was experiencing low oil in the outdrive alarm (some alarm went off....he'd fill it up and it would come back). Carrier seals were shot. We watched the mechanic pull one off. It's not hard if you have the right tools and the rigs to easily remove the lower unit and get it to a bench. He had to use quite a bit of heat to get the carrier seal off, but it eventually came off. I can't remember what the price of the seal was, but I want to say it was $$$.

In doing your "analysis", you need to consider what a complete lower unit failure will cost you. If you have it down that far, you may as well change it.

Just my 2 cents,

Jaybeaux
 
You don't say what your problem is. Sounds like you don't have one.
Leave it be. Touch up the bare metal areas
 
You don't say what your problem is. Sounds like you don't have one.
Leave it be. Touch up the bare metal areas
My only problem is that the carrier has some severe corrosion and appears to be near the end of its lifespan. I was wondering if others though that Id be pushing my luck running it in that shape and to change it, Or, if the advice would be to leave it alone, use it, and add it to the "watch list"
 
Option B would be my choice, You have some exterior corrosion, address that.
You really don't know what it's lifespan is until it fails, which could be several years.
If it's going to disturb your sleep replace it. I wouldn't
 
I know its gonna be huge pain once I tear into it. So I plan to ride the life out of it!
 
I’m a big believer in preventative maintenance. My perspective is to replace parts going bad before they actually fail, and before they cause other damage.

Last year my carrier was juuuuust starting to leak a bit of oil but no water had entered. When replacing it my mechanic advised the cost depended on how stuck it was in the drive. It it had corroded on and could not be removed the entire lower unit would need to be replaced. You may want to weigh that factor in determining whether to defer the replacement or not.
 
I agree with you Brad. No need to invite trouble. Just had mine replaced, $399 for the part from BoatersEmporium.com, and had Marina replace for $200. Done, I can rest easy!
 
FWIW - With that much corrosion I would be concerned that the mercathode is working and I have the correct type of anodes. I did not notice if you slipped the boat and if in New Jersey is it in salt water ( which I will assume) you will need aluminum anodes.
If you decide on sanding it down and painting and painting it you may want to consider buying a probe to check your mercathode is working.
 
Excellent point boatrboy. On my 2004, SR hid the fuse for my Mercathode behind the DC breaker panel and my Mercathode controller had fried itself. The replacement unit I bought came with a 5 amp fuse, however SR used a 20a fuse for original equipment that never blew. I installed a 5a switch/breaker so I can turn the system off when the boat is out of the water. BTW, the newer units have an LED to indicate the status of the system.
 
Older thread but I think my Merthacode had to have failed and mine look really bad. Some oil leaking but definitely concerned about if he can get them off.
 

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I would cleanup the surface corrosion, prime them with zinc chromate primer and paint (the new ones have a similar coating) and keep boating. Next, address the cause of the corrosion, whether it's anodes, mercathode etc. I think you will be opening pandora's box if you try to change those out. You could easily end up with much bigger problems - ie a damaged housing and new oil leaks.
 
Thanks Bill, they did come off and thankfully he didn't crack the lowers. I was worried. All back in water :)
 

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