Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

[abrx7]

Took the boat out a quick ride yesterday and ended up being a lot shorter then I had hoped for. About 3 miles south of the marina, my buddy mowed over a 12" tree that was buried about 2 feet under water. You can just about imagine that would do to an out drive while traveling at about 22 mph. He killed the power to the motor right away. I looked down into the water to see if anything was obvious. Know and behold, gear case oil was surfacing up into the river; at that point we pretty much figured we were done. Here are a few images of the damage.

I am not sure if I should get the insurance company involved or not. I am just hopping that all that?s busted is the transom mount, upper and lower billows, shift cable, and maybe a water line and oil line. The actual outdrive looks to be in tact with only a few minor scratches from the log. I will upload some more photos later tonight. What is your take on this? Does it look like something I can tackle? I am familiar with removing outdrives, billows, etc. The only thing I am worried about is the drive link from the motor to the out drive. I know the motor has to be removed for this. I don?t have the machinery for an engine removal of a boat this big.

 

[slasmith1]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

I would say call your insurance company because once you start taking it apart yourself it will be nothing but headaches getting them to do anything for you. You also will most certainly have more damage than what is visible now. I just had a simmilar incident this year hear is the link to that thread and my drives didn't look near that bad.http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=294872

 

[abrx7]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

Wow! So they raplaced both of your drive units. I have Seashore Underwriters Insurance. I am going to have to call them to verify i have underwater coverage. I am guessing that "boat and boating equipment" means under water coverage. The guy at the maraina was guestimating that it was going to run around $9,000.00 to get me back up and running. Guess i should start looking for a new ins company after they drop me....

How long were you down for?

 

[slasmith1]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

no they just repaired and repainted everything I was down for about 3 weeks but expect longer as baoting season is under way and shops are getting busy.

 

[abrx7]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

My marina said they can get to it next week. Everything is dependant on the insurance company. Hopefully they dont drag their feet. Lucky for me, there's a Merc dealer in the next town over. He said that parts are only 1 day away. That made me feel kind of better.

 

[slasmith1]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

I think the longest part for me was waiting for the props to get back from being rebuilt.

 

[Don S]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

I've seen several wrecks like that, Usually they break the gimbal ring to, at which point Mercruiser recommends you replace the transom shield as well. Insurance wasn't a problem on any of them (Merc or Volvo).
One guy broke his starboard drive (and gimbal ring) about like yours. A week after he got it back he took out the port side. Lost the drive completely in about 1000 ft of water.

 

[meesh]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

I work with insurance companies every day in the automotive industry. The minute you touch that they are going to try and deny your claim. you can do it yourself, and they will pay you, but they will give you a real hard time about it. And once they cut you a check, that's it. its real hard to go back and add on to a repair later if you find something else. Call and verify your coverage and then take it to a dealer to have repaired. They will disassemble it and then an adjuster will come out to verify the damage. If you have the correct coverage they will cover it minus your deductible if you have one. Sorry that happened to you, good luck and I hope your up and running soon.

 

[abrx7]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

My Ins company's deductable is $420 and they say that theres a 5% charge for depreciation. This boat is a 2006. Im probably going to end up paying around 800 or so. Don, is this something I can take care of or should I just hand it over to the shop? Of course more pictures would probably do more justice....

Oh... Will the motor have to be pulled for the transom shield? Sorry I havent gotten a repair manual on this boat yet. Wasn't planning on crashing any time soon.

Also the guy at the shop was saying that there's a rubber boot on the link that's attached to the motor. He said with such force (such as the one i've given this boat) they have a tendencey to break... What he means, I have no idea.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

My Ins company's deductable is $420 and they say that theres a 5% charge for depreciation. This boat is a 2006. Im probably going to end up paying around 800 or so. Don, is this something I can take care of or should I just hand it over to the shop? Of course more pictures would probably do more justice....

Oh... Will the motor have to be pulled for the transom shield? Sorry I havent gotten a repair manual on this boat yet. Wasn't planning on crashing any time soon.

Also the guy at the shop was saying that there's a rubber boot on the link that's attached to the motor. He said with such force (such as the one i've given this boat) they have a tendencey to break... What he means, I have no idea.

Howdy,

He's talking about the coupler. you can get a feel for what's going on by downloading a manual from the "Adults Only" sticky above in this forum list.

The engine must come out to replace the transom shield and the coupler. Couplers can fail anytime there's a prop strike that causes sudden stoppage.

your best bet since you have insurance would be to take it to a Mercury dealer equipped to remove/replace whole engines/drives and tell your insurance adjuster work with them.


Regards,


Rick

 

[Don S]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

your best bet since you have insurance would be to take it to a Mercury dealer equipped to remove/replace whole engines/drives and tell your insurance adjuster work with them.

Make sure it's a REAL Mercruiser dealer. Your deductible is minuscule compared to what can go wrong with this. I would even suggest you contact Mercruiser directly (BY Phone) and discuss your problem.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

I am a pretty mechanically inclined guy, but this is NOT a job for an amateur. Take it to a certified Mercruiser dealer. Look up on Mercury Marine's website for a list of "real" Mercruiser service centers.
Meesh's comments on how insurance companies work is not my experience at all. And I have 10 years claims experience with a mid sized insurance company and as an independent. He's doing something wrong if insurance companies are trying to deny claims. Or he's working on mechanical failures in cars that aren't covered by insurance policies. As long as they inspect it before anyone goes removing parts, (or after they request a tear down by the shop) hidden and additional damage is not an issue. I dealt with it everyday. And on damage like yours, it would not be surprising at all to find additional damage.
Like Don says, one boat I looked at like yours... the outdrive came off completely, and is on the bottom of the Illinois River. The owner had to tie up to a Barge piling (steel sided) to allow him to stop the water rushing in the back of the boat. He scratched up the port side in a 2'x2' area pretty bad. Of course I paid for that damage too, since he was "mitigating his damage". If the boat had sunk, I would have paid him $35000, not the $9500 I paid to fix the boat!
$9000 is a little high sounding for all the more the shop mentioned, but it could be justified.

 

[abrx7]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

Update:

I made it back down to the marina to give it a good look-over with a mechanic. He said it could have been a lot worse. Looks like the only thing that needs to be replaced is the bell housing the gear case oil line, and the nipple that attaches the line to the transom mount. The starboard side of the upper drive unit, in the back where the trim guide is supposed to be was ripped off. I could easily have a new one welded on. Both prop's were untouched!!! Thank god because I think this saved any damage to the gimble bearing and the actual drive link. I've looked up the price of the bell housing and was quite shocked on the price...$500.00
Here are some more pics.

 

[Don S]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

Thank god because I think this saved any damage to the gimble bearing and the actual drive link.

You don't have a clue about this do you.
The coupler is the LEAST of your worry. the bellhousing, probably the gimbal ring, and from the pictures I see the upper gear housing is broken.
Let the pro's figure it out. And obviously your shop of choice isn't the place to visit.
Follow the insurance peoples instructions and get some real estimates by some seriously qualified people, or you will be paying the price in the long run.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

As I am an insurance adjuster, I know you will find this hard to believe, but I agree holeheartly with DonS. I'll explain further. This is one of those instances where if the shop didn't suggest doing a hole bunch of diagnostics, I would. I would be requesting a look at the gimbal housing and all the stuff Don mentioned before. This type of damage is not the type to try to be totally cheap about, or just assume that it's all okay.

On a personal note, Don, I think you and I would get along well on a claim like this. We both think the possibility of hidden damage should be explored right now, not later, after the boat is back together.

 

[abrx7]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

Well I am back up and running . The job really wasn't that hard to do. It probably took me about 13 hours from start to finish to complete the project. After removing the outdrive, I was able to inspect everything. Gimbal Ring was fine, gimbal bearing was fine, transom mount was fine, hydrolics were good, and lucky for me so was the drive (minus one of the guides but I had that fixed).

Replaced: Bell Housing, Universal Joint Bellows, oil fitting through the transom, shift cable, oil line, and the wear pad.

Bell housing removed, Universal Joint Bellow removed, Leftover grease cleaned from gimbal bearing, gear case oil line removed.

Broken oil line fitting vs. good fitting. Both shops said they wanted to pull the motor out to get to this. All I had to do was remove the power steering and the water line.

New bell housing installed. Replaced the oil fitting on both the transom end and the bell housing end as well as the oil line itself. New U-Joint Bellows. Shift cable was fine but I changed it anyways.

Drive oil changed and ready to go.

Heres my parts list:

Parts Included:

Gimbal Ring and Steering
? 41721 Washer (2)

Bell Housing
? 41646A 9 Bell Housing Assembly With Trim Senders (1)
? 806241 Washer (Use with trim senders) (2)
? 86840A05 Bellows Assembly (1)
? 18654A 1 Bellows Assembly (1)
? 78458A 1 Tube (1)
? 815504348 Clamp, Worm Gear (1)
? 41674 Insert (1)
? 18920A 1 Valve Assembly (Use with Oil Reservoir) (1)
? 859116 Nut (.4375-20) (6)

Gimbal Housing
? 74639A 2 Bellows, Shift Cable (1)
? 388663 Clamp (1)
? 815504320 Clam, Worm Gear (1)
? 44108 1 Gasket (1)

Driveshaft Housing and Drive Gears
? 16709A 2 Seal Kit (1)

Universal Joint / Shifter Components
? 805261A 1 Wear Pad Kit (2)

Tim Cylinders and Hydraulic Hoses
? 34933 Nut, (.437-20) Stainless Steel (2)

Transom Plate and Shift Cable
? 865437A02 Cable Assembly

Oil Reservoir Components
? 861150A 2 Fitting, Bulk Head (1)
? 200195 1 O-Ring (.487 x .103) (2)
? 62702 1 O-Ring (.301 x .070) (1)
? 87843 E Ring (1)
? 41582 5 Clamp, Nylon (5)
? 19409 71 Hose, (54 Inches Bulk) (2)
? 17639 Connector (1)

Miscellaneous
? 3 Quarts Gear Case Oil
? Water resistant grease
? Tool for gimbal ring mount
? Parts Cleaner
? Beer
? Lock Tight (blue and red)
? Anti-Seize
? Merc Paint
? Adhesive for Bellows

 

[blouderback]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

So why'd you bother asking for advice if you were set on doing this yourself anyway?

I hope, for your sake, that Don and everyone else was wrong, but I doubt it.

 

[abrx7]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

The probability of internal damage was pretty slim. A good friend of mine is a Merc mechanic and said that no internal damage was done (he had checked before I reinstalled). He said luck was on my side where the tree struck and how it struck. Any different and the result could have been MUCH worse he said.

I took the boat for a ride and everything felt normal. Ran it up to 35 MPH without a problem. There is no vibrating felt in the steering wheel, it shifts into forward and reverse with ease.

The reason I had asked was becauseI wanted to get opinions on what everyone here thought.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

So why'd you bother asking for advice if you were set on doing this yourself anyway?

I hope, for your sake, that Don and everyone else was wrong, but I doubt it.

I sure don't blame him for asking. I would have done the same. Nobody here knows what the ability of the poster was. Sure seems to me like he knew what he was doing.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Bravo outdrive vs. 12" sunk tree

Glad it worked out for you. Glad you had someone look at it a little more closely, too.