Bravo III outdrive noise

[av8ingtom]

Need help. Last summer I noticed a vibration at cruising speed. You could feel the vibration thru steering wheel and also the seat. Had dealer check it out and they could not find a problem. Vibration increaded as we used the boat during the summer. In October I spoke to service department and ask them to please fix the problem. I would not be using the boat again until April so they had 6 months to diagnose and repair. I also had them replace all filters, impellers, and fluids in main engine, generator, and outdrive. Service department called me and advised me that the vibration was caused by a bad coupler and they needed to remove engine to replace coupler. Ok, good. Still have factory warranty and I will be ready to go for the 2014 boating season. Service department calls me in mid April and tells me I am ready to go. Went down to marina and paid my $1800.00 bill for all the maintenance. Had them put the boat on a work rack. Hooked up water hose to outdrive and started engine. I noticed a loud clanking noise that sounded like to much back lash in a pinion gear. Noise gets much worse when you turn outdrive to left or right. Walked over to service department and ask lead technician to please walk down and listen to the noise. I was a little shocked when he told me all Bravo III outdrives make that noise. I told him that I have never heard that noise, and I flush the engine after every use. Outdrive has always been quiet and now it sounds like it is going to come apart. I ask tech if everything was aligned properly, and he acted like I insulted him. I sent Mercruiser technical assistance an email about the problem and Mercruiser's reply was BS at best. I ask to meet with area service rep, and they said I had to take boat to an authorized Mercruiser service department. If Mercruiser would have read my email they would have noticed that a Authorized Mercruiser Service Department had my boat for 6 months and I get it back with bigger problems, and B S answers from a Mercruiser Certified Technician. I have listened to 6 or 7 Bravo III outdrives and none of them make the noise my outdrive now makes. I do not have a trailer, so I am limited on repair shops. Any advise?

 

[Stray Cat]

I have two of em (they're 2006 vintage), neither one makes a clanking noise when out of the water on muffs. If you can hear it over the exhaust noise there is something wrong. Is there a service manager or someone other than a lead technician to discuss this with?

 

[jason78]

I agree with Stray Cat. A "clunking" noise was normal in the older 2003-down Bravo 3s but the drive was slightly changed for 2004 that got rid of the clunk. Any 2004 Sea Ray I have seen still had the older drives on it but with a 2010 you certainly have the newer style that should not clunk when shifting.

Did you purchase the boat new or used from a Sea Ray dealer?

 

[kevin27]

I had a 2002 B111 and never had noise. Is the drive under warranty? If so put it in the water and use hard till it goes boom. Then tell them "well you said it was ok". Then they have to replace it.

 

[src]

There is no such thing as a "normal" loud clanking noise in our B3 drives. Yes, you can get a bit of a clunk when you shift into gear, but a rotational (i.e. persistent) clank is totally out of the question.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Was the drive trimmed up excessively high and maybe turned hard over one way? That's about the only time you would hear a rotational noise. Other than that, there really shouldn't be anything - I suppose if you listened REALLY hard... maybe then -- but there shouldn't be anything obvious or excessive.

 

[Kendall]

If the noise gets worse when you turn the outdrive left or right then you may have a bad gimble bearing or U joint bearings...or both.

Did you ever have a large amount of salt water in the bilge? This will usually ruin your gimble bearing...

 

[jason78]

I had a 2002 B111 and never had noise. Is the drive under warranty? If so put it in the water and use hard till it goes boom. Then tell them "well you said it was ok". Then they have to replace it.

There is no such thing as a "normal" loud clanking noise in our B3 drives. Yes, you can get a bit of a clunk when you shift into gear, but a rotational (i.e. persistent) clank is totally out of the question.

"Clunk" may not be the best way to describe it, "thud" might be better. Either way it is not very noticeable unless you look for it and much less apparent than even an Alpha 1. So subtle in fact that many people probably don't even notice it. My 2003 B3 did it as do several friend's boats that have the older style drive. I could definitely notice the difference when I moved to the newer drives on my 05. I know it has been discussed here before as well along with the other design changes that were made at the time.

My only point in mentioning it to begin with was that this may be one reason his mechanic discounted it as "normal" when he was telling him he had a clunk. I have had this described to me as "normal" before too, one time being when a Mercury tech was doing a mechanical survey on my 2003 225WE. To be clear, what the OP is describing DOES NOT sound "normal" to me, regardless of drive vintage and he needs to have it addressed. Furthermore the noise I was talking is only heard when shifting in and out of Neutral and it does not persist in any way or get worse as the OP described.

 

[av8ingtom]

Thanks to everyone for their replies. The boat is still under factory warranty for 2 more years. I have the Seacore package which carries a 4 year warranty from Mercruiser plus an additional 2 year extended warranty thru Brunswick. The noise is not a clunking noise when shifted into gear. The noise is continuous when at idle in neutral or in gear, but it is very noticeable when turning left or right. So bad that the floor would vibrate. I never experienced this noise until after the engine was removed to replace the coupler. I did have a vibration last summer, but no noise. I must also add that all maintenance is performed by the dealer and I have been told by the techs that some of the stuff I request for maintenance is really not needed, but I would rather be safe than sorry.


Now for the good news ( I hope). I just returned from a 2 hour meeting with the service manager, service advisor, and the lead technician. I had the engine running when they arrived and let them listen to the noise. The service manager ask me to shut it down before anymore damage was done. They all feel that the issue is universal joints and a bad gimbal bearing. They promised me that they have the parts needed in stock and would start the repairs tomorrow morning, and have the boat back to me on Friday. They are also replacing the bellows for the shaft and shifter.

I will update when repairs are completed. Thanks again for all of the replies.

 

[Stray Cat]

UH-HUH...good job!

 

[Lazy Daze]

Good deal. That sounds logical and promising. If it's doing it in neutral (I missed that part if you mentioned it above), then the problem has (under normal circumstances) to be from the topmost part of the drive to something inside. With a Bravo drive, when in neutral, nothing from the top of the drive and down is spinning.

 

[av8ingtom]

Update. The dealer replaced the gimbal bearing, and u- joint. I took the boat out for a cruise. Pulled boat to flush engine and noise was still there. I spoke to the dealer and did not really think they knew what the problem was. I called Mercruiser and requested to meet with their factory service rep. Mercruiser responded in 2 days with a time and date to meet with rep. Had meeting with Mercruiser rep, and lead technician from dealer yesterday. I am sorry but I do not remember the Mercruiser reps name, but he is a very knowledgeable young man. I guess he is 25-28 years old and he knows Mercruiser. I would like to thank him for his time and knowledge. Best of all this young man knows about customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer retention. After the rep looked at the paperwork regarding the previous repair attempts he advised the lead tech to just order a new complete outdrive assembly. The rep noticed the noise was coming from the top of the outdrive, and feels the out of round coupler which has been replaced caused more issues down the drive train. New outdrive should be here next Tuesday or Wednesday. Many thanks to Mercruier and their factory rep. I will post again after repairs are completed.

 

[Nehalennia]

AV8INGTOM
Congrats. I'm glad your persistence is working and you didn't listen to some of the worst advice (below) I've heard on this forum.

I had a 2002 B111 and never had noise. Is the drive under warranty? If so put it in the water and use hard till it goes boom. Then tell them "well you said it was ok". Then they have to replace it.

Advice like this leaves you stranded, significant others worried and at minimum ruins a good day and at worse puts people and property at risk.

 

[small batch]

Update. The dealer replaced the gimbal bearing, and u- joint. I took the boat out for a cruise. Pulled boat to flush engine and noise was still there. I spoke to the dealer and did not really think they knew what the problem was. I called Mercruiser and requested to meet with their factory service rep. Mercruiser responded in 2 days with a time and date to meet with rep. Had meeting with Mercruiser rep, and lead technician from dealer yesterday. I am sorry but I do not remember the Mercruiser reps name, but he is a very knowledgeable young man. I guess he is 25-28 years old and he knows Mercruiser. I would like to thank him for his time and knowledge. Best of all this young man knows about customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer retention. After the rep looked at the paperwork regarding the previous repair attempts he advised the lead tech to just order a new complete outdrive assembly. The rep noticed the noise was coming from the top of the outdrive, and feels the out of round coupler which has been replaced caused more issues down the drive train. New outdrive should be here next Tuesday or Wednesday. Many thanks to Mercruier and their factory rep. I will post again after repairs are completed.

Did the new drive fix the issue? Having a noise with mine and I have just replaced the gimble bearing with no effect on it. I am leaning towards replacing the U-joints now. Mercruiser apparently does not just sell U-joints, you have to buy the complete shaft assembly, which is going to make that attempt to cure the noise costly, even more so if it doesn't fix it.

 

[wish2fish]

I just turn the radio volume knob up to 11 when I hear weird noises! :grin:

 

[small batch]

I just turn the radio volume knob up to 11 when I hear weird noises! :grin:

No head shaking smiley.... 4K plus post :smt021

 

[av8ingtom]

The new outdrive did not fix the issue I was having. The ended up replacing the complete transom plate. The gimbal bearing was just tearing up the transom plate.

 

[small batch]

The new outdrive did not fix the issue I was having. The ended up replacing the complete transom plate. The gimbal bearing was just tearing up the transom plate.

That sucks but I am glad to read you got yours fixed. I hope that is nit what mine needs. If so, I'll run it until I have to get towed. I am not even sure if I want to spend the money for the shaft and U-joints because Merc. does not just sell the U-joints separately anymore. Parts are 600+ and from my reading there is no telling if that will even fix it. The U-joints felt good. I greased them and the grease that started to come out was clean and showed no signs of rust or water in them.

I may wait until this gets worse. It only makes noise if it's trimmed to the high trim limit and the wheel is turned all the way left or right. I don't run that high unless I am idling in shallow water to tie-up with friends anyways.

Thanks for the update :smt001

 

[av8ingtom]

I would recommend that you do not trim the outdrive up very far with the engine running. It puts the u joints in one heck of a bind. Would not go past the trim ( not tilt) limit.

 

[small batch]

I would recommend that you do not trim the outdrive up very far with the engine running. It puts the u joints in one heck of a bind. Would not go past the trim ( not tilt) limit.

I am not going past the limit. That's were it's making noise.