BW Velvet 5000 Drive Stuck

[mrmoeller]

I have a 1998 370 Sundancer. Last season, my starboard shifter was a little tough to move on startup, but seemed to shift more freely as the transmission warmed up. This year on my first trip of the year, it required significant force to get into gear. After a few difficult moves from forward to reverse as I exited the dock, it really got stuck in forward. I broke the shifter cable trying to pull it out of forward. When I was able to get into the engine room (after my tow!!), I found that I could not move the move the shift lever on top of the transmission at all. Both reverse and forward worked fine with no grinding when they were engaged. The transmission fluid is in good shape and at the right level. Is this just a control valve problem that can be replaced in situ, or does the whole transmission need to come out?

 

[mrmoeller]

Update on the transmission: It turns out that the detent ball on the transmission selector switch was jammed. The detent ball is a small ball bearing type that helps lock the FNR switch lock into place while you shift, it wasn't allowing the switch to travel smoothly. Luckily, I didn't snap the cable but rather a linkage at the shifter. Easy fix.

 

[Ezsteps]

Glad for the easy fix.
Thanks for coming back and explaining the fix.