View Full Version : Spring maintenence
jddancer
04-21-2003, 04:54 PM
Recently bought my first stern drive(94 mercruiser). I have changed the spark plugs,air filter and belts and hoses look fine. The boat did not see water last year and the oil filter and seperator looks new. It was winterized in the fall. What type of other maintence should I have completed prior to my maiden voyage? It also has shore power. I also has outboards in the past....thanks for the help!
I'm assuming you've got an alpha 1 outdrive. Get yourself some Mercury Spline grease, gimble bearing grease, and 24C grease (not to mention a grease gun). Hit the fitting on the coupler with about 8 grease gun pumps of spline grease. Your in luck cause starting in '94, Mercruiser went to perma lube u-joints and put a grease fitting on the coupler (otherwise you'd have to pull the outdrive to lube both). Hit the gimble bearing fitting with about 12 pumps of gimble bearing grease. Lube the other fittings with 24C grease. Lube the prop shaft with spline grease. If you don't know the last time the impeller, gearcase oil, engine oil/filter or fuel water sepater were changed, then change 'em now. Check the bellows (i.e. the accordian boots on the underside of the outdrive). If the bellows show cracking, have them changed or risk sinking. While your having the bellows changed, have the cooling hose changed (i.e. the hose that runs outboard to inboard) and coupler alignment checked. Remove the flame arrester, hit it with a few blasts of contact cleaner, followed by a few blasts of compressed air. Make sure your anodes are in good shape.
I think that about covers it.
180FH
04-22-2003, 06:37 PM
put your old plugs back in for your "maiden voyage"....burn all the oil out of your cylinders first (wait till they stop smoking)...then put your new plugs in later or otherwise they will foul.
jddancer
04-22-2003, 07:46 PM
Brad,
Its a bravo does that make any difference?
I've never owned or worked on a MerCruiser Bravo outdrive. Only Alpha's. Just the same, check for that grease fitting on the coupler. It's hard to get to, but you need to grease it every 100 hours. I've never had a coupler failure, but I know folks that did. It can leave you stranded on the water and it's costly to fix (both the motor and the outdrive have to be yanked to replace the coupler). Since you have a Bravo outdrive, the coupler is probably beefier that what's on an Alpha outdrive. If you've got a Bravo III, there's probably some additional maintenance that I don't have experience with regarding the counter rotating props.
Here's a link that might help: http://www.outdrives.com/merc/mdtips01.html