thru-hull or Water Intake Hose Kit Design II

[SeaJay62]

I have a Bravo 3 starting to get the inlet hose restricted thru the transom, its down to 7/16ths where as new its 3/4. Should I put in a 1 1/2 inch thru-hull and strainer with some sort of flushing fitting, or just replace the old style water hose with the new type? the motor (383) is in the boat (240Sundancer)

 

[Espos4]

Where is the restriction?
Did you measure that at the bell housing end with the outdrive removed, or is that measured at the other end, inside the boat after removing the plastic water neck and the large hose that connects to the raw water pump?

 

[SeaJay62]

inside the boat after the water neck was removed off the inner transom, a piece of 7/16ths dowel will just fit in the hole. I am leaning towards replacing it with the newer type which has the 3/4 plastic pipe that goes right thru the transom

 

[Espos4]

Do you plan on keeping the boat for a few more years?
Yes? Then I'd replace it. Its a bit of a hassle to remove the old one, bell housing might need to come off. If so, might as well replace the U-joint and shift cable bellows if they are more than a few years old.

 

[SeaJay62]

I have just about completed the job of replacing gimbal bearing, u-joints, bellows and raw water pump impeller, I will have to remove the outdrive and bell housing again to do this job, but it shouldn't take long. I had left checking the internal transom fitting until I had the raw water pump off as the big hose was hard to remove, the other end of the outside hose in the bell housing was ok so I didn't think the transom end would be that bad... we live and learn

 

[Korkie]

I had same decision to make last year. Went with the thru hulls. Now have strainers and fresh water flushes. Put Ts into the raw water intake hoses so that when I pull drives next time I can upgrade to the improved bravo water neck. Also added drive showers to assist drives to stay cooler while on plain. Made winterizing much easier. No regrets.