Sterndrive question

Elessar

Elessar

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 Jul 2003
Messages
10,242
Location
Antibes, South of France
Visit site
Hello - I'm new here but have been reading your helpful advice (peppered with occasional insanity) for a while.

Next winter I intend to repower to diesel. Current setup is V8 Mercruiser Alpha 1.
So the drive and the engine have to go.

I was thinking of a Bravo 2 plus a 4.2L 220hp diesel. (second hand)

My Alpha clunks in and out of gear due to the dog clutch. A relative bought a boat with Volvo 290 drives recently. It clicks in and out of gear, and now I HATE the Alpha clunk.

I thought the Bravo drives had cone clutches like Volvos, but a colleague told me this week that his Bravo 3 clunked badly.

So the question is, which drives clunk and which ones click!

If I go the Volvo route, will I have to make the transom hole bigger (no problem) or smaller (hmmmm.....)

Any suggestions or advice?

Many thanks.

<hr width=100% size=1>
 
Having just replaced clutch cones in my volvo 290 DP drives. I can speak of experience. With a clutch in a good condition a volvo drive DOES clunck when engaging gear. This effect lessens as the cones wear up to the point where the drive sometimes fails to engage. My went after 1000 hrs. According to the tech the fact that is was a duopropdrive does make them wear faster.

Comparing the clunck in forward & reverse gives you an idea as the reverse side of the cone is usually a lot less worn. My drives used to feel like they clicked in gear when I bought the boat. 2 years later however they started to occasionally fail when engaging. (only engaged when revs were increased) This usually is a sign of the cones needing replacement.

Hope this helps

Rob

<hr width=100% size=1>
 
My new Alpha drive set up currently engages gear with minumum fuss and noise.

The old BM drives (750 hrs) clunked badly, and they have wet multi-plate motorbike type clutches, theoretically as smooth as it gets.

Don't forget, the slower you engage gear on an Alpha, the more noise you get and damage you do.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue> Real boaters do it on the Humber </font color=blue>
 
I have Bravo 3 drives and 4.2L 250hp diesels with 1000hrs on them and I can't say I notice a clunk when engaging gear.

A week ago I would have said that I like the Mercruiser drives but one of my drive legs has just broken so I will reserve judgement.


<hr width=100% size=1>
 
Rob
Did you replace the cone clutces yourself? Is it a simple job?
I lost forward drive on the port leg so VP are currently replacing the cone clutch costing £500.
Guess with 1360 hours the starboard one is not far behind.

Eddie

<hr width=100% size=1>
 
you have a fair size of boat there and whilst the engine will do the job I would recommend at least the BIII diesel drive, if not the full BIII X.
Another alternative would be the Yanmar 240 with a BIII diesel drive
Either of the above is, however, going to set you back 13 - 15k for a new package excluding any fitting costs! I can point you in the direction of a Yanmar dealer that will do a deal if you are interested.

<hr width=100% size=1>
 
The cone & seals are about £200-£250 and about an hour or so to fit.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.arweb.co.uk/argallery/colspics> Cols Picture Album</A>
 
Nope, not a wind up. Wondered why it took a while to get any replies - thought I had bad breath or something.

Thanks to all that replied for the informative comments. So some Volvos clunk when they're new it seems, but whether they clunk or click does not seem to be split volvo/merc. Confusing. There's no point buying a whole brand new engine package for a boat of my age, so I'll see what becomes available and go for it whichever make I find, I think. Take the point about twin props, lets hope finance allows.

Daresay ther'll be plenty more questions when there's a huge hole in the back of my boat. Thanks again.



<hr width=100% size=1>
 
I have Bravo two legs, I read and hear that drive legs are second best over shafts, (touch wood) they go in and oiut of gear with no problem and are as good as gold, 20" props.

<hr width=100% size=1>
 
I had a Sealine S37 with Mercruiser D4.2L (220 hp) engines and Bravo 2 outdrives. They moved in and out of gear, forward or reverse with no audible thump, grind or groan of any kind. If they had I would not have left it in reverse gear and allowed it to wallop into the lock gates and cause £600 of damage to the transom!! My previous boat (Sealine F33) had Volvo duoprops, and they gave a hollow sounding "bump" each time they went into gear, but no grinding.

<hr width=100% size=1>
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top