Mercruiser 7.4 and Bravo 2 grease glad

[TRA]

Looking for a little adivce from those who hopefully know more than me, I have a 27' Chaparral in St Kats, and back in the summer had raised the leg to give it a clean, after about 4 hours, noticed that there was a lot more water in the bilge, so I dropped the leg and pumped it out, nothing more has come in since, but I suspect the bellows maybe past their best. Anyway planning on getting these replaced shortly, but in the meantime , someone mentioned that there is a grease gland on the sterndrive bell housing which should be regularly filled, both for bearing lubrication and also to help water ingress. Anyway as I am finally planning on moving the boat for its service I've been trying to find this gland, but cannot locate it at all. Looking for either advice as to how / where to find this, or a marine engineer in the St Kats area that wouldnt charge the earth to take a look at this. All advice received with great thanks...

 

[lovezoo]

You need the handbook that comes with the drive. That shows where the grease nipples are on the leg (and inside on the drive coupler). These only require greasing annually and need specialist Mercruiser greases. You also need a proper grease gun (Mercruiser sell the right gun/grease). The grease nipples should have caps on them, which could be why you haven't noticed them before.

If you suspect your bellows need replacing I would get the boat out of the water now and get it done as there is a risk of sinking. Can't help as to a mechanic in St Kats, perhaps you could try posting on the Thames forum?

Edit: here is a picture showing where the grease nipple is on the outdrive:

 

[AndieMac]

Maybe MustangTom could advise on and engineer in the St. Kats area?