Overheating. Almost done saga.

Here the thing i didnt know. Bravoitis involves collapsed hoses. We replaced both the one from outdrive that connects to a metal tube that goes thru transom, and the one from the tube to the impeller. But it was the tube that was corroded. Mechanic said he couldn’t fit a pencil through it. So technically it wasnt Bravoitis, but it kind of was.
I havent seen this yet but after they pull outdrive tomorrow i will take pictures and post.
 
Well, hot damn! (Can I say that?) I only hope your shade tree mechanic didn't cost a lot of money. They already cost you the summer. And, Happy Birthday!
 
Happy Birthday Pirate!

Glad to hear they got on it!

Hopefully you’ll be making a wake in no time.
 
Nater Potater said:
Well, hot damn! (Can I say that?) I only hope your shade tree mechanic didn't cost a lot of money. They already cost you the summer. And, Happy Birthday!
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Was a buddy, $200. In hindsight, the boat has new thermostat, 5 new hoses, solved a bad intake gasket, impeller, so it wasnt a total waste. When done she will have a whole new coolant system, soup to nuts.
And its a gem. A really really nice boat that no way shows here age. Think Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch.
 
Pirate Lady said:
Bravoitis involves collapsed hoses.
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Excellent news. Glad they identified the source. So "Bravoitis" is a general term for poor cooling potential for the water routing associated with the Bravo III drive system. There are many aspects. The drive itself runs hot due to poor routing -Fix for this is Outdrive shower, the Hosing reduces from I think 1 1/4" to 5/8" back to 1 1/4" to get through the transom. That is another part of it. The fix for this as noted above is add Thru Hull seacock cooling. When you do this, you have to maintain the drive OEM water flow too or you will overheat the outdrive. These are just 2 of the Bravoitis symptoms and cures. There are others I am sure too, but I think these are the big two. The trim limiter switch you mention they will work on, that is also a common fail on our mercruiser older boats. Hopefully its in the switch itself and not the wiring through the transom because you can pull your hair on trying to run that down too. Regardless, glad to here the outcome is not catastrophic!
 
Went today, outdrive is off.
To replace that clogged tube, every thing has to come off related to outdrive (not just the drive, the whole assembly except for the horse collar against the transom), and they recommend that since we don’t know when the other parts were last replaced lets just do it know. He said they had a tough time getting the outdrive off, probably hasn't been removed in years. All parts come as a package because if this far in, just do it all.
They are replacing …
Gimbal bearing, all bellows, shift cable, trim gauge sender, trim limit sender, clogged tube, impeller. Change outdrive oil.
Said I be good for at least 5 - 6 years. Using all Mercruiser parts, no aftermarket.
Total bill $1400. Not bad. I paid more than that to replace my front part of the canvas top.
I cant say enough how I wish I had taken to these guys when it first happened. I might have missed a week, not 3 months.
 
That's a fairly reasonable price for all that work. I'd say you got off easy.

And I wouldn't discount the other work done by your friend. Either way, the work done by him you would be doing anyway within 1 year max. You will have a great baseline to start with now that everything is complete vs. piece meal it over the course of several years. You will feel much more confident taking it out on the water, especially on longer trips if you decide to. The other advantage of your friend doing that work is that you probably saved significantly on the labor side. Yes, you lost some time on the water.... Long term I think you're in a better position.
 
Didn't you just replace the impeller? Make sure they keep the "old" one and put it in the box of spare parts for emergency use. You never know.
 
JHornsby3 said:
Didn't you just replace the impeller? Make sure they keep the "old" one and put it in the box of spare parts for emergency use. You never know.
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We did, but he recommended taking a look at it because with limited water flow during the test runs, it may have been damaged. He included it in price but will adjust if not needed.
 
douglee25 said:
That's a fairly reasonable price for all that work. I'd say you got off easy.

And I wouldn't discount the other work done by your friend. Either way, the work done by him you would be doing anyway within 1 year max. You will have a great baseline to start with now that everything is complete vs. piece meal it over the course of several years. You will feel much more confident taking it out on the water, especially on longer trips if you decide to. The other advantage of your friend doing that work is that you probably saved significantly on the labor side. Yes, you lost some time on the water.... Long term I think you're in a better position.
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Agree, as i said up thread, its a whole new cooling system, soup to nuts. I good for a long time.
 
So, not to derail the cooling aspects of your thread, any update on the housing/slip situation?
 
Pirate Lady said:
They are replacing …
Gimbal bearing, all bellows, shift cable, trim gauge sender, trim limit sender, clogged tube, impeller. Change outdrive oil.
Said I be good for at least 5 - 6 years. Using all Mercruiser parts, no aftermarket.
Total bill $1400. Not bad. I paid more than that to replace my front part of the canvas top.
I cant say enough how I wish I had taken to these guys when it first happened. I might have missed a week, not 3 months.
Click to expand...

I love the smell of new parts. :D

I'm thinking if I get to my boat this next weekend just to cover it up and call it a year since I haven't had the time to enjoy it.
 
Don’t forget last season when your winterizing crew abandon ship. They left you out in the cold till you found someone. I’d hate to see all those new parts go to hell over a good three day freeze come mid December…. Just saying
 
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