Ready to put on my props,grease question? Bravo 3

[ProfitOfDoom]

lol,Yes yet another question from me "sorry for all the questions,but im almost done "
OK,my question is about where and what to grease,I bought the merc spline grease and know you grease the splines,but what about those brass cone like washer spacer things,should I grease the shaft where they sit and the spacer its self where it sits in the prop?
Next I see in there where the shafts come out,it looks like a spring coil that goes around in the inside,Im guessing this is the seal,Should I smear some grease in those two areas?
Lastly the big outside area where the bottom of the outdrive goes into the inside prop thats where it looked corroded before,but I cleaned it up the best I can and painted it,Should I smear some of this grease around that area to help protect the paint and maybe hold off the corrosion?
Maybe a tiny bit where the nuts meet the prop itself?

 

[Dave S]

lol,Yes yet another question from me "sorry for all the questions,but im almost done "
OK,my question is about where and what to grease,I bought the merc spline grease and know you grease the splines,but what about those brass cone like washer spacer things,should I grease the shaft where they sit and the spacer its self where it sits in the prop?

It is only necessary to grease the splines. The purpose of the grease is to keep the props from sticking to the splines so they come off easily the next time you remove them. If you want you can lightly smear the cone spacers as well but that is not really necessary.

Next I see in there where the shafts come out,it looks like a spring coil that goes around in the inside,Im guessing this is the seal,Should I smear some grease in those two areas?

I am not sure I follow you on this one. The seal itself should not look like a spring coil. Here is an older picture of mine just before I cleaned and painted the drive. The seal for the large spline is right behind the brass cone spacer and the seal for the smaller spline is right where the nut is on the large spline. Can you tell me what you are referring to?

Lastly the big outside area where the bottom of the outdrive goes into the inside prop thats where it looked corroded before,but I cleaned it up the best I can and painted it,Should I smear some of this grease around that area to help protect the paint and maybe hold off the corrosion?
Maybe a tiny bit where the nuts meet the prop itself?

The area you are speaking of is the bearing carrier. If it was corroded and you painted it that is all you need to do. Do not put grease on it as the corrosion is caused by electrolysis and the grease may actually be counter productive in that regard. Also, it is not necessary to grease the prop nuts either but it won't hurt anything.

Dave

 

[ProfitOfDoom]

Yes that is the area that im talking about,it is right behind the brass cone spacer on each shaft. If you look close you can see in the pic that it has a tight coil pattern,I guess it just remided me of a spring type thing.

But yea should I go ahead and smear grease in there,or just leave it be? It doesnt appear to ever had grease on it,so maybe I should leave it?
But other then greasing the splines,maybe a little on the spacers,Just tighten,,,100 ft/lbs on the large nut and 60ft/lbs on the smaller nut and call it a day? No loctite or anyting?
BTW,,What are the larger slots along the back of the bearing carrier,those just like drain holes?

 

[my3sons]

The spring you refer to is indeed a spring, it's called a garter spring and is part of the seal, I used to put a covering of grease over that and then slip something over the shafts (like an old sock) when painting the bottom of the drives each year, as stated above, paint the bearing carrier, don't grease it. The grease on the seal keeps paint off it. Then just take the tip of your finger and wipe out the grease and any overspay from the paint job goes with it. (Obviously, nothing aft of the carrier gets painted).
I put a thin film of grease on the shafts where the thrust washers set (the cone washers), and then on the outside of them also. Grease the splines good and then a thin film on the prop nuts, both the threads and the surface where the nuts contact the props. (note the nuts go on one way) I don't know the torque specs, I just put them on tight, the wrenches I used were not anything that a torque wrench would work with.
The slots in the carrier are for part of the exhaust and water to exit through, you will notice that your props are "spoked" to allow for passage of that.
As a side note, I used to keep a seperate grease gun with the spline grease in it for a mid season grease job on the engine couplers. I used 2-4-C on the prop shafts and gimble bearings. Although they do sell a gimble bearing and u-joint grease now. See the thread below on timing
Take care
http://www.clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4141
No loctite....the nuts are self locking, nyloc type nuts

 

[ProfitOfDoom]

Ok,Everthing sounds good. I think I got it
You mentioned engine coupler,where are those located? Anything else that can be greased without taking off the drive,,or musy you remove drive to grease these things?

 

[Dave S]

Not to start a controversy, but the seal for the large shaft on your drive looks strange to me. The garter spring should be on the inside of the seal as far as I know and will not show. It almost appears to me that your seal is installed backwards. If it is installed correctly you should see the metal lip from the face of the seal itself. On yours I don't see one. Look at the smaller seal for comparison which appears to be installed OK. And zoom in on my picture for comparison as well. Has the seal ever been changed?


Dave

 

[my3sons]

Ok,Everthing sounds good. I think I got it
You mentioned engine coupler,where are those located? Anything else that can be greased without taking off the drive,,or musy you remove drive to grease these things?

Engine couplers bolt to the flywheel on the rear of the motor. the input yoke shaft of the drive engages the coupler when the drive is installed on the back of the boat.
It is my opinion that the drive should be pulled every year in the fall when you come out of the water. At that time you should have the mechanic check the alignment. He uses a tool that fits snugly in the gimble bearing and slides into the coupler (hopefuly). if this dosen't happen, they adjust the engine mounts to align things up. Anyway, before the drive goes back on the boat is when I greased the u-joints (drive must be off to do this, some u-joints are not greaseable, but you won't know what you have until you pull the drive once to check it out), and cleaned off the old spline grease from the drive couplers and input shafts and recoated the splines with new grease. I would wrap a rag around a large screw driver and reach in through the drive opening to swab out the grease from the couplers. Then I would grease the gimble bearings. The zerk for those are on the outside of the transom assembly, and the drive does not need to be off to grease them, but I liked to actually see clean grease coming out of the bearings while doing it, and reaching in and turning the bearings while greasing. That can't be done with the drive on. Then I would wipe out the excess grease before installing the drive, that keeps the grease from slinging all around the inside of the bellows. (read I may be a little anal here).
I would usually grease the couplers again mid season by the method I mentioned in the other post. Most couplers have grease fittings on them, mine had 2 on each coupler (twin engines)
Good luck

 

[skibum]

Not to start a controversy, but the seal for the large shaft on your drive looks strange to me. The garter spring should be on the inside of the seal as far as I know and will not show. It almost appears to me that your seal is installed backwards. If it is installed correctly you should see the metal lip from the face of the seal itself. On yours I don't see one. Look at the smaller seal for comparison which appears to be installed OK. And zoom in on my picture for comparison as well. Has the seal ever been changed? Dave

If 2 people thing something is amiss here, would it be a "conspiracy"?

Something definitely does not look right here. I was thinking that it looked like the rubber seal tore out and left the coil spring that is supposed to hold it in behind. Now that Dave mentions it, it does look like it is in backwards. :huh:

Looking at the closeup picture, I don't see anything at all making a seal between the area where the spring is, and the outside of the shaft. The smaller seal on the rear prop shaft looks normal, though.

 

[my3sons]

Not to start a controversy, but the seal for the large shaft on your drive looks strange to me. The garter spring should be on the inside of the seal as far as I know and will not show. It almost appears to me that your seal is installed backwards. If it is installed correctly you should see the metal lip from the face of the seal itself. On yours I don't see one. Look at the smaller seal for comparison which appears to be installed OK. And zoom in on my picture for comparison as well. Has the seal ever been changed?


Dave

Hi Dave,
Seal construction can vary, but you are correct when you say that the garter sping should be on the side of the seal that contains the fluid. In a normal application like a transmissision shaft or something, the spring is usually on the side the the seal that we do not see because it is helping to hold the seal lips from letting the tranny fluid out, we just see the metal cover from the outside.
However in this case the fluid that the seal is holding out is Lake Erie, so we do see the spring. There is another seal of the exact same construction behind that seal which is installed in reverse, with the spring (seal lips) facing in. That keeps the drive oil from leaking out.
Take care.

 

[my3sons]

If 2 people thing something is amiss here, would it be a "conspiracy"?

Something definitely does not look right here. I was thinking that it looked like the rubber seal tore out and left the coil spring that is supposed to hold it in behind. Now that Dave mentions it, it does look like it is in backwards. :huh:

Looking at the closeup picture, I don't see anything at all making a seal between the area where the spring is, and the outside of the shaft. The smaller seal on the rear prop shaft looks normal, though.

It's hard to tell from pictures, but just looking at these, I can't say as I see anything amiss here, but as you mentioned, now it's two against one, and I have been wrong before. Just as long as we eventually get it straightened out, that is what this forum is all about. Maybe the original poster can let us know if it looks like his seal is damaged

 

[Dave S]

The thing that makes me think it is in backward is it has none of the outer mounting lip showing. Although I was unable to find a picture of a new seal, this parts explosion would tend to confirm that the girdle spring does not show. http://www.mercstuff.com/fichen.htm (Part number 42 shows the two seals) More over it would make no sense to me to subject the girdle spring to sea water. The inner seal keeps the oil in and the outer one (which is the one in question) is designed to keep the water out. I suppose that seal could even be bad or fail and you may not get water intrusion in the oil but why chance it. I think you need to take the drive to a qualified Mercury Technician and let him look at the seal and replace it if necessary.

Dave

 

[Lazy Daze]

I was just taking a break from greasing my prop shaft and saw this thread... I took some close-ups pics... Hope this helps...

 

[Dave S]

As good as your pictures are Denns, I still can't tell whether the garter spring shows on your seal but I don't think it does.

Dave

 

[Lazy Daze]

Ah, I see what you mean... or don't see, as the case may be. :smt001

Both springs are there and showing - it's just tough to see in the picture. What looks like a thin, silver stripe (just barely outboard of the inner lip of the seal) is the spring. I should of took it from more of a side angle.

 

[ProfitOfDoom]

lol,you guys are scaring me... But mine looks just like lazy daze,just not as pretty. But all props are on and greased. I read threads here and there and it seems everyone has a opinion of how to place the props. Some people say line them up,,and some say stager them. A lot of them that lined then up said they had vibration,some say worked great didnt notice a thing.
But I placed mine staggered,so when the back one in center is pointing up,the front one in center is pointing down,Good to go?

Also what should I expect when running this bravo 3 as far as using drive lube? I see the reservoir container in the engine will it use some up and feed from that being normal,,,or if it is being used up would that indicate something is leaking?

 

[Lazy Daze]

To the best of my knowledge, the only drive that needs it's props "clocked" or "timed" is the Blackhawk. That is the only time I've ever seen it in writing from Merc. Although, I have read (on CSR) that some people have experienced a vibration with them "untimed", yet others say they notice nothing. Does it make a difference in some cases and not in others? Or, are some people just not "in tune" with their boat as much as others? I honestly don't know. The way I look at it is that clocking/staggering them can't hurt so I do it, too.

Like any other drive with a remote bottle, there may be some air in the system after a drain and fill. To some extent, it depends on how you refill. But, yes, it is normal to lose some due to "burping" - it should settle down after a few hours of use, though. There's a bunch of info on this site, if you felt like reading more - just try a search.