V-Drive Issue?

[HUMPH]

Ken,

What Frank said. I've built a few of these, and it's not for the timid. The mechanic needs to have familiarity with precision measuring equipment, dial indicators, etc. And when building one of these, cleanliness is the word of the day. You can't do one of these on a wooden workbench in the back of an open shop. At least, you shouldn't. I have a 16 foot long stainless steel topped bench for jobs like this, and I clean it with solvents, followed by Windex and paper towels, before I lay down the first part. Every part has to go through a wash tank, followed by cleaning and drying with compressed air.

I have found that it's often just not worth it, depending on the level of damage. By the time you pay for parts, labor, etc. you're better off just buying a new one. Most of the time, you get trapped in the "well, while we're here" syndrome, and you're replacing ALL the bearings, races, clutch packs, seals, etc. Price it both ways, and make your decision, but the peace of mind from a new one is hard to beat. This isn't a job you want to do twice!

Frank - question. I was speaking to a friend of mine, who owns a Sportfish with a pair of 3116 Cats. He had both engines out last year, and was told he needed to replace the damper plates. So, he found an online supplier, and the plates he received were for 3116 Cats, but they were not like the originals - thinner metal, and made with springs, not vulcanized rubber. They did appear to fit. But, the CAT mechanic saw them, and recommended not using them, due to the prodigious torque output of the 3116 Cats. So, he wound up buying the Cat plates, at twice the price. Have you ever had experience with the aftermarket plates?

Dale

So you are say that it would be cheaper to fly you out for a vacation?

 

[HUMPH]

The problem with letting this go is that if you do have a bearing failure going on, then the bearing is sluffing off metal particles and they are being circulated through out the transmission. It is very difficult to get the particles out of all the valve bodies, passages, etc. and that could lead to another issue requiring another transmission removal later. Sooner is better than later in this case.

Also this repair isn't one for your typical dealer mechanic.......oh wait, do you have a dealer yet?. If it is the usual ZF bearing failure, somebody who has experience in setting up the clearances in ZF gears needs to do the work.

Good luck with it...........

Frank, we have a dealer finally! They have been working on opening and are planning their Grand Opening within a few weeks. They are not a full service dealer but will have mobile mechanics. We do have a few very good shops in the area that I will be talking to regarding my issue.
http://www.suncountrymarine.com/oakland-yacht-center/

 

[barlow]

Did you read post #15 closely....? Its never just a bearing....!

 

[ttmott]

Ken
The gear sets are always fully engages with the prop shaft (both forward and reversing). The engine input shaft has the clutches on it and one clutch set when engaged drives through the main gear and the other drives through the counter gear. The issue (as we have discussed in past threads) is the port transmission which in forward runs against the counter gear which is a known issue with the Hurth 800 and ZF80 transmissions. If you need to replace, why rebuild something that will again have a known issue? If you are faced with this decision you should step up to the ZF85 IV which corrected the issue.

As a test put a socket and breaker bar on the coupler nut and rapidly rotate the shaft back and forward. First, normally it should be smooth and effortless; actually one hand on the coupler should rotate the shaft. The idea behind the breaker bar and rapid back and forward is to listen to the gear clusters for excessive lash (clunking) or gear cluster play which would indicate bearing issues. Clutch problems really won't manifest into clunking noises but rather sloppy, slow or sticky shifting or worse shaft rotation when in neutral or even worse stalling the engine when put in gear.
If when the boat picked up the comforter did the boat take a sharp left turn and the engine keep the RPM's you were running? If so this would lend to the clutches slipping, however, I would doubt if caught right away any significant clutch damage but rather some loss in service life. If the engine stalled then the clutches obviously held but there was significant stress on the gear set; in fact both cases would have a lot of stress on the gear set. If this happened in forward on the port gear then guess what, all of that load was against that known issue with the reversing gear cluster on the Hurth 800 or ZF 80 gears.....

Yes, my boat has a ZF85 on the port side for the very same reasons.
Tom

 

[fwebster]

As does mine........and I did't need a comforter to confuse my diagnosis. There was no doubt something bad was going on.......in forward it sounded like a bucket with rocks in it. Since the Hurth 800 HSW had the known failure problem, I opted to just replace it. Thru my Sea Ray dealer and his usual sources, we bought the new gear for $4700. The best remanned transmission quote was $3850 so it was an easy decision for me.

One other point worth making here is that a warranty on a remanned transmission is useless because you still have to pay the labor cost to replace it a second time if you can get the reman company to stand behind their work. Good luck with that because the cause of the failure becomes a finger pointing exercise....you point at the reman guy; he points at the installer as the cause and they both point at you, the boat driver. I might add that our dealer has significant big boat experience and they will not install a rebuilt transmission unless they do the rebuild. At $100/hour, that is cost prohibitive on a ZF gear. The other factor is that most reman shops tear down a transmission and only replace the failed parts and the clutch pack...you usually get some old bearings, old gears, old pump, etc when you the reman transmission.

But this is jumping the gun......get a transmission mechanic on the boat and let him diagnose the problem.

 

[HUMPH]

The tranny mechanic is my next course of action, thanks all!

 

[Sprint7TW]

Ken,
Whatever happened with regard to the results of this issue.?
BobI believe I lost a cutlass bearing this weekend but after reading this thread I am concerned with transmission problems.

 

[HUMPH]

I just got my boat back I the water with fresh props and cutlass bearings along with bottom paint and engine alignment. The clunk seems to have been a loose prop but I still have some whine from the port tranny. I still feel some low speed vibration so I need to look I to that.