Drive Showers

[Capt Ron]

I questioned a Mercury Guru at the Toronto boat show about the overheating problem. He told me if you go on an extended trip you could only go for 3 hrs at cruise and then to have to go off plane for half an hour to cool the drive down. So in other words, they do have a problem with cooling for extended timeframes. I personally don't do that many long runs so I've never had any problems. However, if you frequently go on long hauls, better get a drive shower.

[frodo13056]

Maybe the difference between Dream Inn and Bat32's drives are how high (or low) the different boat drives sit in the water while on plane...? Or maybe Dream Inn's 310 has a different flow pattern around the top part of the drive - more water or less exposed area on the upper portion of the drive should equal better cooling. Does make me wonder if all stern drives sit the same while on plane. My guess is that they do not - some may ride deeper in the water and some may ride more shallow.
I added the drive showers 2 seasons ago and there is a noticable difference in the gear lube color / smell after the shower install than before. Before I installed the showers, after putting on several 2-3 hour runs on the boat, the gear lube was pretty discolored at the end of the season change out. Now, the lube does get "dirty" but nothing like before.

[Black_Diamond]

MGM - or AL:

I put in the drive showers last spring, fully rebuilt and repainted drives and you can see every joint in the cases with corossion now.  All the zincs were brand new and added on the one for the props too.

What's the solution here?  I hear you can 'stack' the Mercathodes to get better protection?

[alswagg]

Are you using Magnesuim anodes???  Are they severly corroded or not.  They should be, if not, an improperbonding has resulted.  If you are seeing severe corrosoin on the anodes, Check the water, dock area for stray current.  What type of paint did you use??  Al