I pulled my 2006 2765 in July prior to going on vacation and noticed bubbling paint in many places on the outdrive. I contacted the dealer and they suggested I send them pictures and they would contact Regal. Long story short, I returned from vacation put boat in the water, pictures didn't turn out, left boat in water to use. Now I have pulled the boat because the water level in our lake is too low to continue use and the outdrive has lots of bubbling paint and the cover on the top of the outdrive is warped. I will be taking the boat to the dealer this weekend for an exam. Any ideas on what they might say? Ideas on what caused the problem? Ideas on on how I should approach the dealer to get this resolved?
Outdrive has lots of bubblling paint
- Thread starter sw2765
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2001
- RO Number
- 3854
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- 1,372
My OD's did not come with Mercathodes back when new. I had dealer install one on each OD. All was fine until last fall when I pulled boat. Corrosion! Discovered that both Mercathode's inline fuses had blown (the ones right near the battery). Never found the cause, but after replacing fuses, all's been well.
I had the same issue after my first year in a slip in 2006. I had new freshwater anodes on too. I added a pair of transom mounted mercathodes last winter and re-sprayed the drives. I had to use the transom mounted version because I have Volvo drives. Volvo does make an equivalent system but Mercathodes are easier to find and cheaper to replace.
So far this season the outdrives look much better.
Cause is often difficult to find. In a marina it could be a neighboring boat or the dock electrical circuits leaking current into your water. If you have stainless props on your aluminum outdrive that can cause it too. This has become really evident on the Bravo III with it's dual stainless props. All newer Bravo III systems should come from the factory with a working mercathode system. If that's the drive you have, your dealer should fix it since it's a well known problem with the Bravo III and a well known fix.
Regal 2660/2765
Twin Volvo 4.3 GL
So far this season the outdrives look much better.
Cause is often difficult to find. In a marina it could be a neighboring boat or the dock electrical circuits leaking current into your water. If you have stainless props on your aluminum outdrive that can cause it too. This has become really evident on the Bravo III with it's dual stainless props. All newer Bravo III systems should come from the factory with a working mercathode system. If that's the drive you have, your dealer should fix it since it's a well known problem with the Bravo III and a well known fix.
Regal 2660/2765
Twin Volvo 4.3 GL
Thanks for the input. Advice was right on target. Finally got the boat to the dealer and they are going to repaint the drive and replace the anodes with magnesium ones which should be better than the aluminum ons that that were on the boat when delivered. They have been very reponsive to the few issues I have had with the boat. Now if only we had some water!
Just an update. I pulled my boat yesterday for winter storage. Last year I had a lot of bubbling paint due to corrosion. This year none. Same slip, same dock neighbors, same freshwater anodes. Only significant difference I'm aware of was the addition of the mercathode system. I wish I had done this before I put the boat in a slip for the first time.