Damper Plate Failure

Deja vu... wasn't there a thread here about this just a few weeks ago?

Just goes to show that the damper plate is a maintenance item.

Welcome to the forums David. Lets see some pics and details about your boat.

And I thought the one I pulled out of my '87 was bad! You win.

ny_nautique wrote: Deja vu... wasn't there a thread here about this just a few weeks ago?

Damper Plate!

jblocal wrote: This damper is only 1 1/2 old has about 300h on it. What could have caused this to fail? There are some cracks and 1 spring completely broke thru.

Metal fatigue caused it to fail. The corrosion built up on yours probably had a hand in it's demise too... constant torque loads from the engine to the tranny thru the damper plate is gonna stress out the springs/metal eventually. When it goes....it goes.... Here's mine....

boardersdad wrote: Where'd you guys learn how to replace this plate? I'd be afraid to pull the trans apart. Should the plate be replaced occasionally... and how often? Thanks.

The plate is actually not within the transmission but part of the interface between the motor and transmission so the transmission itself does not have to come apart, but the transmission does have to be separated from the motor.

As the names implies it "dampens" the torque delivered from the engine to the transmission so there is a little give when you put the boat in gear or firewall the throttle. The damper plate is bolted to the flywheel. Into this clutch-like plate slides the splined input shaft, so the damper plate acts as coupler between the engine and the transmission and all torque is transmitted through it.

There is a list of steps here that was helpful to me getting mine out.

I don't think the damper plate needs to be replaced unless it fails or begins to rattle, possibly indicating loose or missing springs or bolts. If the transmission is pulled for some other reason, inspect the plate for cracks and for broken or missing springs, if it looks OK you can leave it, or just go ahead and replace it if you want to spend the money to do it now instead of later, but that could be a lot later because the plates can last a long time.

SNobsessed wrote: dwouncmd wrote: I don't think the damper plate needs to be replaced unless it fails or begins to rattle, possibly indicating loose or missing springs or bolts. If the transmission is pulled for some other reason, inspect the plate for cracks and for broken or missing springs, if it looks OK you can leave it I think this is false economy - the part is not expensive & has a finite life. I changed mine at 800 hours just cause it had 800 hours on it.

I gotta agree with Chris on this one. Mine had about 800 hrs on it when she blew apart.

It all depends on how you drive the boat. Allot of slamming the throttle and transitioning from forward to reverse without pausing first will wear out a damper faster. Planes are retired from service after so many cycles because of metal fatigue from pressurizing them over and over again. They do have a limited lifespan.

10-4

jblocal wrote: I installed that Sachs plate which seems like a way better plate then the one from ski dim.

It's been mentioned several times that the Sachs is the best plate and I agree. They use a square bottom seat (top and bottom) for the springs. From a mechanical standpoint, it doesn't put extra stress on the first coil of the springs like the cheap stamped spring pockets do. For springs to work properly, they need to have ground ends and sit on flat basses top and bottom. The only problem is Sachs doesn't make a plate for the PCM trans!!     BTW Skidim does NOT have good pricing on their plates.

8122pbrainard wrote: jblocal wrote: I installed that Sachs plate which seems like a way better plate then the one from ski dim. It's been mentioned several times that the Sachs is the best plate and I agree. They use a square bottom seat (top and bottom) for the springs. From a mechanical standpoint, it doesn't put extra stress on the first coil of the springs like the cheap stamped spring pockets do. For springs to work properly, they need to have ground ends and sit on flat basses top and bottom. The only problem is Sachs doesn't make a plate for the PCM trans!!     BTW Skidim does NOT have good pricing on their plates.

Suspense is killing me...who sells them cheaper?

Just got the new plate from Sachs. Looks great. Installed the plate and re-installed the transmission this evening. Can't wait for a test run this weekend. I included an awesome link.

http://www.planetnautique.com/CorrectCraftManuals/PCMEngineOwnersManual.pdf

I found it on ebay. This is the parts number on the listing 1004-650-006. New in Sachs box, just over 100 dollars.