Bravo III outdrive pickup not picking up water.

[Lucrative]

I'm not getting any water picked up through my outdrive. I've tried many things, but my main question at this point is: If I stick a garden hose into the hose that comes from the outdrive and runs to the impeller, (thereby pushing water towards the outdrive) should water flow from the outdrive?

I ran through some sand last time out. Not sure how prone these are to getting completely closed off like that. I mean, I didn't overheat coming in, although it was only about a half mile back.

Is there a way to clear a possible blockage?

 

[Bondo]

Is there a way to clear a possible blockage?

Ayuh,..... Sure,.... Back-flush it as you describe with yer garden hose,....

 

[Lucrative]

So, I'm doing that and nothing is coming out the outdrive. Pressure jsut builds up and it comes back at me. It seems I have a total blockage somewhere in there. I guess I'm gonna try clamping the garden hose onto it when I backflush and force it out??

 

[alldodge]

So, I'm doing that and nothing is coming out the outdrive. Pressure jsut builds up and it comes back at me. It seems I have a total blockage somewhere in there. I guess I'm gonna try clamping the garden hose onto it when I backflush and force it out??

You could try that or separate the two halves if that doesn't work. Will just need a quad ring and two o rings to go back together

 

[Lucrative]

K, so I clamped the hose to it and got water to flow back out of the outdrive. It was definitely not the full volume of the hose, but it was making it out. I then reassembled everything and got water to flow all the way to the tstat, where I had the hose disconnected. Hooked it all up, got the muffs on, and ran it. I was getting water out the exhaust now when it was running (This was the first symptom I noticed that made me realize it wasn't picking up water).

I let it run for a while, let it reach temp, let it sit there for a few minutes, checking the exhaust from time to time to make sure water was flowing through the system. After a while, the water just stopped coming out of the exhaust, and my temp climbed to 180, at which point I turned it off. Flushed it out with the superflush to cool it down, then tried again to get it to pick up water. Wouldn't do it. This stupid thing is driving me nuts. It must be some kind of blockage I guess, but it doesnt come out when I backflush, maybe just dislodges and re-lodges into place after a bit of running the engine? Ugh.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... You've probably burnt up the impeller, runnin' it dry,....

 

[alldodge]

After a while, the water just stopped coming out of the exhaust, and my temp climbed to 180

Takes less then a minute to start burning the impeller

Ayuh,.... You've probably burnt up the impeller, runnin' it dry,....

Agree.. Time to replace the impeller again

got water to flow back out of the outdrive. It was definitely not the full volume of the hose

Make sure there is no restriction which can reduce the water flow going to the engine. While even if it does have water coming out while at idle and a bit more, when the engine is on plane any restriction can cause the impeller to fail again. Don't expect the engine to be able to suck all the crud out of the drive, and even if it does, that curd can damage the impeller on the way thru, not to mention clog something else in the motor.

 

[Lucrative]

Impeller was ok, a little wear, but intact. Am i gonna have to take off the outdrive to see if there's a blockage?

 

[Bondo]

Impeller was ok, a little wear, but intact.

Ayuh,..... So Replace it,....

If there's Any wear in the housing, Replace it too,....

 

[rick3452]

Please post results.... Thanks!

 

[Lucrative]

Ayuh,..... So Replace it,....

If there's Any wear in the housing, Replace it too,....

Isn't that one going to get ruined as well? I'm not getting any water to the impeller. I believe there is a clog somewhere in between where the water picks up from the outdrive and before it gets to the impeller. Shouldn't I figure that out before I do a new impeller kit?

Here is what I'm trying to figure out at this point: If I have the ear muffs hooked up and the 'water in' hose disconnected before it gets to the impeller housing, should water flow freely through there?

Also, in the reverse: If I disconnect the 'water in' hose from the impeller housing and back flush the water towards the outdrive, should the water flow freely through there if there are no obstructions?

 

[Mischief Managed]

Isn't that one going to get ruined as well? I'm not getting any water to the impeller. I believe there is a clog somewhere in between where the water picks up from the outdrive and before it gets to the impeller. Shouldn't I figure that out before I do a new impeller kit?

Here is what I'm trying to figure out at this point: If I have the ear muffs hooked up and the 'water in' hose disconnected before it gets to the impeller housing, should water flow freely through there?

Also, in the reverse: If I disconnect the 'water in' hose from the impeller housing and back flush the water towards the outdrive, should the water flow freely through there if there are no obstructions?

Yes water should flow freely in both directions if the pump is not connected to the water inlet hose. If it's not, don't run the engine until you unblock the hose.. Even if you are able to break the blockage free by running the engine, the blocakge is now going go toward the pump and the PS cooler, fuel cooler and oil cooler before it hits the engine. That's a mess you don;t want to deal with. I'd take the drive off and rig up a way to pressureize the water inlet hose from the pump end so that you can back flush it. If that does not work, you'll need to remove and perhaps replace the hose with the clog. My guess is that it's the one on the outside of the boat.

 

[Bondo]

Yes water should flow freely in both directions if the pump is not connected to the water inlet hose. If it's not, don't run the engine until you unblock the hose.. Even if you are able to break the blockage free by running the engine, the blocakge is now going go toward the pump and the PS cooler, fuel cooler and oil cooler before it hits the engine. That's a mess you don;t want to deal with. I'd take the drive off and rig up a way to pressureize the water inlet hose from the pump end so that you can back flush it. If that does not work, you'll need to remove and perhaps replace the hose with the clog. My guess is that it's the one on the outside of the boat.

Ayuh,..... All Great info here,........ 'n yer still at the point you can rebuild the raw water pump,.....

Don't run it, til it's got water,....

 

[Lucrative]

Ok, so I have removed the outdrive. The outdrive itself is clear of any blockage. I tried again to backflush the system starting from the water inlet hose. When I backflush it just sticking the garden hose in the inlet hose and running it, almost no water comes out the hose in remaining part of the outdrive (not sure what this part is called....maybe the gimble bearing housing or something?)

The only time water will flow from there is if I clamp the garden hose into the inlet hose and run it under pressure. At that point, I will get flow out of that hose. It seems that I may have a case of bravoitis. I wish I could get some more info on how to go about getting to the fitting that is effected, but there don't seem to be any instructive videos online that I have come across. Does anyone have a good resource for this??

Also, I found 1/2 of one of my flappers from the exhaust system (I think that's meant to prevent water flowing back into the exhaust system) sitting in at the bottom of the outdrive when I pulled it, so It's probably a good thing that I pulled it. I guess they don't even recommend installing these any more, is that true?

 

[alldodge]

Exhaust flappers are a good thing and to protect your engine they should be replaced.

As for fixing the hose issue, if you are unable to get the water to flow freely then the engine will most likely have to come out to replace the hose. If you can get at the fitting it can be done without pulling, but this is a very tight fit

 

[Lucrative]

Thanks for all that info and the pics AllDodge. I have a question though. Where is the fitting that causes "bravoitis"? It seems like it should be in one of those diagrams, but I don't see it.

What is the best approach at this point for me? I have a pretty good sized engine compartment, and I'm fairly small....I took a peek behind the engine and saw a through transom fitting for the inlet hose. Is this the suspect fitting for "bravoitis"? It would be pretty difficult to get to, although maybe not impossible......If I can get to that fitting, should I try that first? I'm still somewhat unsure of the whole "bravoitis" issue, and what part/fitting causes it. Could you inform me a little bit better about this?

 

[Fun Times]

Thanks for all that info and the pics AllDodge. I have a question though. Where is the fitting that causes "bravoitis"? It seems like it should be in one of those diagrams, but I don't see it.

What is the best approach at this point for me? I have a pretty good sized engine compartment, and I'm fairly small....I took a peek behind the engine and saw a through transom fitting for the inlet hose. Is this the suspect fitting for "bravoitis"? It would be pretty difficult to get to, although maybe not impossible......If I can get to that fitting, should I try that first? I'm still somewhat unsure of the whole "bravoitis" issue, and what part/fitting causes it. Could you inform me a little bit better about this?

Yes you're in the right area for inspection. You'll need to remove the hose from the black transom fitting with 2 bolts. Try turning the steering wheel one way so the steering ram will move a little bit out of the way to gain more working room.

To gain access to use the "tool" that's shown in AD's images, you'll need to remove item numbers 20 - 23, http://www.mercruiserparts.com/Show...8.png&inbr=1943&bnbr=160&bdesc=GIMBAL+HOUSING

Here's some info about what to look for,
http://www.amarket.com/BRAVOblock.htm

^ But bear in mind that you believe you sucked up a good amount of sand so it could be sand in that area vs corrosion like seen in the link above.

So if you disconnect the inlet hose at the impeller housing (inside the boat) and connect a garden hose to back flush, do you get a good amount of water coming out of the bell housing water hose that is shown at the bottom of AD's image 'location A & C shown in red. < Yes the wording is backwards. :facepalm: B is bell housing, A is water hose and C is hole.

Having an inspection camera say from Harbor Freight Tools might be helpful to you.

If you're small, flexible and not :very_drunk: than there should be just enough room for you to get down in that general area to be able to work on the water intake fitting. Make sure the kids aren't around though.

Good luck.

 

[Lucrative]

No Title

A little bravoitis, huh? So I added a pic of what's left of my outdrive on the transom. I don't need to take off any more of the housing, right? Also, do you guys recommend going back with original stuff or do you like the amarket.com solution?

Lastly, any other maintenance that I should be doing before I get the outdrive back on?

 

[alldodge]

A little bravoitis, huh? So I added a pic of what's left of my outdrive on the transom. I don't need to take off any more of the housing, right? Also, do you guys recommend going back with original stuff or do you like the amarket.com solution?

Lastly, any other maintenance that I should be doing before I get the outdrive back on?

IMO go back with OEM stuff, and replace all the boots (could replace exhaust boot with exhaust tube, more noise on plane). Inspect your upper and lower gimbal ring pins, the upper I'm seeing some rust. Replace shift cable and maybe trim limit and gauge sender.

 

[Lucrative]

Does Mercruiser sell a kit for this or do I have to order parts individually?

Also, some diagrams show the tapered insert on both sides of the hose and some only show on the side on the exterior of the transom. Is it on both sides and is it the same part? The part of the hose on the interior of the transom is so fubar I can't tell what parts I see there.