'03 496 w/Bravo 3 gimble replacement tools & expertise needed

[captain Gary]

I'm mechanically inclined, I do all the repairs on my cars. I talked to a boat mech about replacing a gimble bearing on my boat and he gave me the impression I would need special tools to replace the gimble bearing. I have a slide hammer for pulling the bearing if needed. I checked out Mercstuff on their replacement and it looked straight forward, but it appears that their demo is an Alpha drive. Is the Bravo much different? I had a leak coming in about a 1/2" below the O/P shaft, shortly thereafter while running at 25MPH, I suddenly felt heavy vibration, I shut down immediately assuming it was my Gimble, I restarted in neutral and the vibration was still there. I checked all the fluids, they looked good. We were towed home. On the trailer I checked the props, OK. Spun the props by hand, no growling. I intend to pull the outdrive off next. Any advice? Thank you.

 

[45Auto]

Re: '03 496 w/Bravo 3 gimble replacement tools & expertise needed

I have an '03 496 with a Bravo 3. Did my gimbal bearing last year. It's basically the same as an Alpha, except that the B3 is a heavy beast to move around! I made an outdrive stand to hold mine at the correct height to remove and replace it.

Download Manual #28 (factory Mercruiser 2001-2005 bravo manual) from the "Adults Only" section at the top of this forum and follow the directions in there.

A slide hammer (BIG slide hammer at that!!) wouldn't get my gimbal bearing out. Made a threaded pulling tool using 3/4" threaded rod similar to the Merc factory tool and it came right out.

You'll want a seal driver if you're replacing the seal behind the gimbal bearing. You'll also want a bearing driver that drives the gimbal bearing in on the housing around the bearing, NOT the bearing itself. You'll also need an alignment tool (should check alignment annually anyway) to align the new bearing.

You should replace all the bellows since they're 6 years old (probably where your leak is) if you haven't already. You'll need a couple more tools to do that, a pivot pin removal tool and a water hose removal tool so you can remove the drive bellhousing.