What does a drive shower do?
Drive showers distribute a continuous supply of cool water to the top portion of the stern drive. Tests have shown that cooling like this can double the bearing life and service life of the drive oil by lowering an operating temperature of 220 to 350+ degrees Fahrenheit a minimum of 30%. It prevents oil foaming, the primary cause of oil break-down which can lead to drive failure. It also dramatically reduces the thermal shock that occurs when the hot drive is plunged into cool water every time the boat comes off plane. These conditions exist on nearly every boat, but is especially prevalent in a high performance application where demands on the drive are pushed to the limit. Under normal operating temperatures, most manufactures recommend that the oil in their drives be changed every 50 hours. For some, 50 hours can be a few week’s worth of use.
