Do you think the gears need to be changed? Bravo III

[Tomco]

Over the summer the starboard drive has been slow to drop into forward. The boat has about 320hrs on it. The marina have pulled the drive and inspected the clutch and gears - they provided the following comments:

1. We have taken your stbd drive upper apart. Your STBD gear set is a 32/27 (32 teeth on fwd & rev gears and 27 on pinion gear) Part number for gear set is accurate on quote 47765 that I sent you. I have the gear set and clutch on my desk. Here are the thoughts on what we see;

-The cone clutch has wear on it, shiny in spots.
-The fwd and reverse gear have wear in the clutch engagement face, nothing too outstanding/deep groves.
-The teeth of the gears are perfect, not that this is related. But there are no chips, blue scorch marks etc.
-The labour to take this all apart and replace the cone clutch is the same if you were to replace the gear seat at the same time.
-This will be a judgement call on your behalf. We would side on replacing the gear set to ensure no grief in operation and that we can rest assured you will not have shifting grief next season/going forward. If you opt to replace the cone clutch without gear set, there is a chance the shift will be the same, or good for a period of time. It is very hard to judge what will occur without a new gear set.

The gear set is not cheap (~ $900USD which is around $1050 Cdn) and I don't like changing parts just because. Hoping that those with more experience can provide guidance on:
1. under the circumstances, should I bite the bullet and change the gears at the same time? or is it likely low risk to just do the clutch?
2. they are quoting 12 hrs labor - does this sound right?

I am planning on having them change the lower shift cable at the same time.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[bbwhitejr]

Check out this thread. I started it earlier this fall. I was quoted 6 hrs of labor and you can also see some gear/clutch prices. I had a mechanic come out and adjust my shift cable and thus far it drops into gear perfect. For how long....

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/69517-Replacing-gears-and-clutch-in-Bravo-3

Bennett

 

[Tomco]

Thanks Bennett - I did see and followed the thread at the time. I did the same and the adjustment made a minor difference but it was still slow to drop into gear. It was from your thread that I saw the 6hr estimate and led me to ask what is reasonable.

 

[Madifonzo]

One of my drives was having the same issue. It would actually clunk when I gave the engine a little throttle. The other drive was smooth as butter. At some point last summer I performed an abrupt maneuver and brought the drive to neutral too fast. Anyways, I beleive, and so does my mechanic that lag and clunk into forward was an ongoing issue and then I helped it completely fail with my maneuver. My point is that I don't think any lag and clunk is normal, so I would get it fixed. It's not a good day when the drive fails. I paid $2600 for the rebuild, new gears and clutch. 12 hours seems high...I think I was charged for six or so.

 

[Tomco]

Spoke to the marina again today and he explained the 12 is likely high but depends on how shimming of the gear lash goes.

I'm leaning towards not replacing the gears since there doesn't appear to be any damage to them. The trade off is that, for $1000 in parts it might eliminate a potential problem down the road ... I guess as changing anything else does. Any strong opinions or experiences to provide?

 

[Fun Times]

I'm leaning towards not replacing the gears since there doesn't appear to be any damage to them. The trade off is that, for $1000 in parts it might eliminate a potential problem down the road ... I guess as changing anything else does. Any strong opinions or experiences to provide?

Buy a new cone clutch and ask them to try using lapping compound on the gears before putting the upper drive unit back together. You should be good to go then.) 12 hours is to high but a shift cable can be as high as 3 hours + other work being done?

http://www.marineengine.com/boat-fo...723-Bravo-3X-upper-slipping-(Look-at-pictures)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwaL7Pm-5Fg

http://www.bing.com/search?q=lappin...nversationid=EE785CE10B9741648E8AD1D5ABB2CEDB

 

[Fly4Kix]

Buy a new cone clutch and ask them to try using lapping compound on the gears before putting the upper drive unit back together. You should be good to go then.) 12 hours is to high but a shift cable can be as high as 3 hours + other work being done?

This.

I had exactly the same thing happen with almost the same time on the engine/drive. Had the drive pulled, new cone clutch installed, plus all the bellows changed for about $1900. Been smooth as butter ever since.