Cobalt 343 transoms shield replacement

[Jeffrey262]

Any 343 out there that has had their transom shields replaced? I heard that they have to be replaced every 10 years. Is this fact or fiction? Is it based upon hours or age of boat. Any help would be greatly appreciate.
Jeff

[Krob1114]

No idea, but if this were a question on the Game Show Network, I'd go with fiction.

[Whippled263]

What the heck is a transom shield?

[kbloom72]

I've never heard of a transom shield before... Looking it up on google, it seems to reference volvo outdrives more, but the mercury examples shown were basically the transom assembly. I replaced that on my 2001 206 only because the kit was cheaper than buying all the cables needed. Otherwise I would not understand why the assembly would need to be replaced.

[billk2632]

I think they mean transom assembly - and no they don't need to be replaced at any interval. On most boats never. If they do need replacing it is usually due to corrosion on boats that sit in the water. The Merc Bravo III is particularly hard on the steering pin mechanism and many times the fix is to replace the whole transom assembly. Never hears of any inherent problems with a VP. My old SeaRay was a 1999, still had the original outdrive and transom assembly in a serviceable like new condition.