Bravo III problem?

Marcdohc

Looking for some advise, My 05 300 FV with twin 5.0's and Bravo III's was sitting at my dock early in the season at low tide. Thats pretty much in the mud, as we headed out at 5 mph I lost power on one engine. I put it in nuetral and it started right up, but when I put in gear it died instantly. Being somewhat mechanical I figured there must be a short within the shifter. After messing with that for a half hour I decided I wasn't getting anywhere and decided to just buzz around at low speed and have it looked at later. Two minutes later I heard a loud metal bang and heavy vibration and sure enough I lost the other engine. I put it in nuetral and sure enough started right up but when I put it in gear it died. Just like the other one. We anchored and figured out we have propped fouled ourselves, twice! It took about an hour to untangle the 1" 25' line that I picked up. We brought up the anchor and headed out and everything was great again. The boat worked as it should all season. Well I took her out of the water saturday and after inspecting the drives the starboard which was the second drive to get fouled has a ton of side to side play. Like something is definitely wrong. Does anybody know what will need to be replaced. And for everyone else, when you start right up but every time you put her in gear she dies, guess what it is?

rasbury

I'm not sure that the engine dying would be related but it certainly could. I'm told these drives are pretty tuff and hard to kill- it does not sound like you struck anything or was that line tied to something that you hit and thus the hard bang? I'm sure others that no more will chime in....please let us know what the outcome is as this is not uncommon to have happen- just how much damage is done is the variable.....good luck.

Cableguy Greg

The side to side play more than likely is the gimbal ring.

rasbury

would striking something do damage to that bearing/ring or just a coincidence?  I hit something in the water this weekend, I think it was a clump of weeds but nothing was visible above the water- something was wrapped around the prop as it was cavitating so I put it in reverse and then went forward and it seemed to be ok and went about my way but never saw what I hit....sure was not a good feeling!

Handymans342

Was it a Manatee Ras?

LaRea

Sometimes a hairline fracture will grow over time because of stress, vibration and salt water.  You might not notice it until weeks or months later when it breaks.  Any chance that happened here?

I once grounded and (as I later found out) put a tiny crack in a gimbal ring.  Never knew until a month later when the ring broke and my drive almost went to Davy Jones' locker.

Black_Diamond

IAC valve for the engine dying I bet. 

rasbury

that would be a simple fix Black.....so you don't think the two are related?

rasbury

how much play when you grab that bravo and move side to side should there be? So that gimbal bearing is what holds all that together? I need to look at the manual and understand that better....

LaRea

From my experience (the actual spec might be different) ...

Healthy drive: less than 1"
Worn but still probably safe to drive: 3"

Any more than that and it's a serious problem that should be fixed right away.

rasbury

and that typically then is the gimbal?

JC290

Yes Ras 

rasbury

got ya...thx

summerx

was it the same line fouled on both props, effectively tieing the outdrives together?  If so, I wonder once the second one wrapped, did it yank the outdrives together (tightening the line), and cause some internal gimbal damage (and the loud noise) on that one?  just a thought.

Michael T

@ summerx - I'm with you summerx. I have lived on water for 30 years, the last 8 at a marina. I have seen many ropes foul propellers. When the end of the rope is reached (pun intended) the props stop with a loud bang that you can hear from a distance and the engine - in gear - is abruptly stopped. The loads on the engine and drives are huge. I think you have a very good point. If the rope fouled both drives the side to side stress as each set of propellers tried to reel-in the rope must have been enormous.