Drive service cost.

Liberty44140

My drives have not been serviced in at least 5 years so I am having it all done now. My mechanic says here in fresh i should be good for 6-8 years before having to do it all again. The price tag for both drives is coming in at $2900 total with tax so $1450 per drive. Includes: bellows, shift cable, all 4 trim senders, all 4 trim solenoids (I need them), changing drive lubes, and a hinge pin for one of the drives that needed replaced. 14 hours labor (boat is 30 min away from these guys so that includes back and forth driving twice) and it includes the 2 hours they spent yesterday to remove the drives and see exactly where things stand which I wanted rather than have surprises while they are working. The price seems fair to me, 6-7 hours per side plus $1000 in oem parts. I got another quote and it was $2k but did not include trim senders, solenoids or the hinge pin. I like these guys as they are the "do it right" guys and are based at my marina. Wanted to run it by the group here? Does not include water intake hose or gimbal bearing, said they are absolutely fine and I don't need to spend my money on them. Thanks 

reneechris14

I'm doing the same thing on my new to me 2005 342
trim senders       gimbal bearing       Bellows
rebuilt drives      trim hoses              shift cables
oil reservoir line(start of problem)
I agree 5 years worry free is what i'm looking for.
yes $1000 in parts and $1300 for drives 

pault1216

I was about to buy a 342 BIII a few months ago and got estimates btwn $1100-$1500 per side in northern TN and southern KY area. Should have included gimbal bearing but no hoses and definitely no hinge pin service. Not sure if trim swithes were included but I doubt it. Sounds like a sweet deal to me. Used to run me about $1000 a few years back for service on my trailered 270 with 5.7 BIII.  -Paul

raybo3

@Liberty when you say you have not done service in 5 years are you saying that you have not changed your gear lube in 5 years? Mine gets done every year........

Cableguy Greg

I agree with @raybo3, my gear lube gets changed every spring. I also check it in the fall before the winter layup. Cheap insurance if you ask me.

Michael T

Gear lube and engine alignment check EVERY year as well as checking pins, boots, shims bellows.....  real cheap  insurance for the cost. 

Liberty44140

Ahh, I can always rely on you guys to catch my errors the major drive service like bellows, hoses, cable, etc has been at least 5 years. Gear lube has been changed annually. It was changed for summer 2016 and will be changed as a part of this service for 2017. 
Thanks for the comments on the price, seemed fair to me so I'm glad to know that it's in line. These guys are employed by our marina so I like using them as they are 7 days a week during the summer so if I call them sat or sun they come to the boat. Best to have them know the boat and of course that means they have use of the travel lift and everything right at the marina should it be needed. 

craigswardmtb

Sounds good to me, especially if they are doing the hinge pin. 
By hinge pin, are they talking about the upper swivel shaft?  If so it is not a fun job.  It took me a good part of a day to do mine.  Plus you are sawing into your gimbal housing (unless you remove engines) which is an eerie feeling.  I took extra time there...  There is a lower hinge pin which is typically not as problematic, so i would be surprised if thats what they are replacing.

Liberty44140

The hinge pin they mentioned is a part of the trim system, I think it's the pin that holds the two trim rams on. They said it's ss and was probably cross threaded when last installed. $100 part and no labor to install as they have to put it back in anyway. 

Ian

craigswardmtb said:

Sounds good to me, especially if they are doing the hinge pin. 
By hinge pin, are they talking about the upper swivel shaft?  If so it is not a fun job.  It took me a good part of a day to do mine.  Plus you are sawing into your gimbal housing (unless you remove engines) which is an eerie feeling.  I took extra time there...  There is a lower hinge pin which is typically not as problematic, so i would be surprised if thats what they are replacing.

Which method did you use - the Mercrusier 1" hole in each side or the other facing cutout? I am having to do the port side shortly and will be using the Mercruiser method and was interested in your experience.

craigswardmtb

Ah yes that's right. I forgot those things were called hinge pins. They are mothers and are known for stripping out upon removal. They are installed with red loctite. Mine fortunately came out easy. 

craigswardmtb

I did the cut out method after lots of research. The Merc method is much more difficult from most all accounts. I did a write up on here after I did mine. Do a quick search as maybe it will help. 

rasbury

So, what is maintenance and what is service? My bravo lll not having any issues and was recently pulled for a coupler repair. Bellows and hoses were ik, shift cable and trim hoses etc. all ok. Trailer kept 270. I was going to chance the fluid, but other than that had nor planned on anything else as far as annual maintenance. Hours now are around 250, had changed the fluid last season and that was the plan for tho year...fresh water

reneechris14

ras I look at it as,Maintenance is change fluid every fall (before the freeze) this will show you water intrusion or brunt smell to alert you of a problem.
Service I'm having done is strip drive down reseal and inspect parts.The service I think is booked at 7 hours for each drive.I probably could have just done the port side as that was the problem.But the boat is new to me so i'm going to replace everything out back.She has 300 hours 12 years old and don't think any thing was ever changed.Trim senders wires are broke,oil reservoir tube leaking,one shift cable kinda stiff,bellows look kinda shabby and have to come off for other repair.I think if you had a issue your fluid will tell you,my 270 had a Bering go and the reservoir was going to explode and stunk bad.   

rasbury

10 4

bigal6030

Might want to check the cone clutches while you're at it. They go out around 450-500 hours