Is this true about Bravo III Drives?

J

jattea

New Member
Sep 5, 2008
102
Buffalo, NY
Boat Info
2003 260 Sundancer
Engines
350 Mag / Bravo III
I'm considering buying a particular boat (a 2003 Searay 260 Sundancer), and when I asked the broker if any major work had been done on the boat, he answered "Major IO"

When I asked him to elaborate, he answered: "To prevent problems, a major IO should be done every 2-3 yrs. The drive is removed
and the belows are checked for leaks, u-joints are greased, water pump impeller is
replaced, the lower unit oil is changed, gimbal bearing is greased,oil pressure
checked and unit is aliened."

Is this true? Should I be wary of this?

Thanks...
 
What he is talking about is normal, and most will probably do this on a yearly basis. All outdrives will require this as normal maintenance.


All of this is a DIY if your are handy with tools.
 
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I have the exact same boat and these are 50 hr, 100hr or yearly. I do the impeller myself. I have the shop check the alignment every other year and I need to have drive pressure tested currently after 300+ hours. As was mentioned Its better to do the service each year or at least as much as you can and take it the shop with things you are not comfortable with. For me the more time I put into learning how to service it the better I feel about it.:thumbsup:
 
I had a 2006 260 with a bravo 3 drive. I did the maintenance actions outlined by your salesman every year. I liked the piece of mind knowing that I was doing everthing possible to prevent an outdrive failure.
 
jattea said:
I'm considering buying a particular boat (a 2003 Searay 260 Sundancer), and when I asked the broker if any major work had been done on the boat, he answered "Major IO"

When I asked him to elaborate, he answered: "To prevent problems, a major IO should be done every 2-3 yrs. The drive is removed
and the belows are checked for leaks, u-joints are greased, water pump impeller is
replaced, the lower unit oil is changed, gimbal bearing is greased,oil pressure
checked and unit is aliened."

Is this true? Should I be wary of this?

Thanks...
Click to expand...


I call this normal scheduled maintenance. I performed this service annually when I had a Bravo III drive and perform at the same frequency with both my alpha drives. Open the owners manual and you will find that the broker is essentially reciting the printed maint schedule. This is the life for us I/O owners.
 
My 2007 just went in this week for said treatment. I even had to tell my wife, get used to it that is part of owning a boat. She replied "But it is a brand new boat" (we bought it new this year). I replied we put 50 hours on it this summer that is like driving a car 25k miles in 4 months.
 
Jattea,

I’d like to offer you some advice. I am trying to look out for your best interest.

Based on your question you are a novice about marine mechanicals. No big deal really, we were all there once, even Frank, our forum expert.

Boats are expensive and repairs are very expensive. It’s in your own financial best interest to avoid buying a boat that is in need of expensive repairs. Alternatively, if a boat is in need of expensive repairs you can use this to get the boat at a significantly reduced price or include that the items must be repaired in your negotiations.

For example, one of the people above that replied to your post is forum member Nehalennia (Todd) and he did this. Todd found a motivated seller and a boat that needed some repairs and tender loving care. As a forum we followed his progress as he found the boat, found issues with the boat and worked out a negotiation that was very attractive. It was great to see it progress and finally in the end he owns the boat in his signature. He did a great job.

My recommendation:

After you find a boat that you decide you want and are ready to make an offer please do this. Make your offer with a “contingency.” The contingency is that the boat will have a marine survey and that the survey will uncover no issues that you do not already know about.

Now about this survey. It’s going to cost you. For a boat like a 260 Sundancer with a single engine, the cost will be around $450 plus or minus about $100. Please don’t skip this. It’s the people that skip this that buy boats with expensive repairs that will make the cost of the marine survey look very small.

About the survey, you want to pick the person. Hopefully someone here can recommend someone in your area. Also, their is a list of them at the Boat US website (anyone have a link to this?)

You want the survey to be the last part of the deal. This helps you avoid having to pay for survey after survey. You don’t want to look at 10 boats, pay $450 x 10 = $4,500 plus still not have a boat.

The survey needs to include the boat and the mechanicals.

On the boat part the surveyor will check many things including a hull moisture check and all the buttons, and items on the boat.

On the mechanicals make sure they include a compression check on the engine and pulling the drive for inspection. When they pull the drive they will check things like the gimbal, check for corrosion, check U joints and other things.

In the manual for the boat is a lot of good information including the maintenance schedule. Pulling the outdirve and having it serviced as described in your original posts is one of the items on this list. I will assume you know you need to change the engine oil, however another item you may not be familiar with is changing the impeller, a part inside the water pump, part of the system that cools your engine.

Good luck on your search. It’s a buyers market. Any other questions, please ask away.
 
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jattea said:
..... he answered: "To prevent problems, a major IO should be done .........water pump impeller is replaced.......
Click to expand...

PS: The sales person is there to get you to buy the boat. The sales person is not an expert in boat maintenance. Do not take what they say verbally as fact. Check or have things checked.

For example, per your post, it sounds like the sales person is implying the impeller is inside the outdrive and is part of the maintenance of the drive. That is an easy mistake for a non-informed sales person to make since the impeller is inside the outdive on the Alpha I outdrive. The Apha I outdive is more ubiquitous then the Bravo III outdrive so if the sales person has only a small amount of mechanical knowledge he may think all outdives have the impellers inside them.

Service of the Bravo III outdrive is one thing. Changing the impeller on a boat with a Bravo III outdive is another thing. The impeller is not in the outdrive on a Bravo III.

Its possible that both have been done on this boat.

Hopefully they have kept records with detailed receipts. If they do not have this, I personally would assume the drive needs to be serviced and the impeller needs to be changed in addition to other standard maintenance items and my offer would reflect that these items need to be performed due to lack of records by the seller.
 
Good advice Presentation. Jattea has gotten good advice from all 5 boating boards he has asked questions on. I wonder if his research is now complete? 260DA owner or still looking ? I never did hear if you resolved the Land Rover being able to tow the 260 DA safely question. Just curious.
 
I saw where he asked if a land Rover LR3 would pull the 260DA. I think it was BABC. Knowone there thought it was a good idea, and that was the last he has been heard from. Hopefully he will update us on his plans.
 
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