Transmission problem?

first you need to check and make sure the cable is adjusted right so that the tranny is actually in gear fully and that has to be check at the tranny not by the throttle location. See if you can move the shift lever on the tranny forward more and see if the tranny engages better.

eric lavine wrote: we also need to know what year boat, and what trans you have also, did any water get into the trans?

Sorry, Eric, I should have included that. Its an 83' ski nautique. Has the Ford 351 (Commander)RH motor. 1;1 tranny.
Also (just in case it helps) has a repitched ACME 208 to 13 X 11.5. Just had dripless packing and a new strut bushing added the end of 2007 right before I bought it. And I was running about 1700 lbs of ballast. Here is the boat http://www.the2001.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=911

I dont know yet if any water got into the tranny. But honestly would not surprise me as the bilge quit working and the exhaust hose was spraying into the compartment. But never got more than a couple of inches deep in the hull.

Welcome aboard David, my trans had similar symptoms for a couple of years before it went to Eric's gear spa. It was always low on fluid because of a bad seal and would act just as you described when I forgot to check and add fluid....had a heck of a time keeping the bilge clean?!? LOL

its pretty close to impossible unless submerged to get water in the trans from spray, the breather should have a check valve that pops off at 10psi to let pressure out of the trans and wont let anything back in,
unfortuanately these trannies do wear out from time, sometimes they dont need a reason to fail, they really are pretty much bulletproof but again they do wear out and there is no real way to determine what condition they are in when you sell a boat

you may be sensing transmission slip, not a power loss, did the trans turn at all in forward? did you smell the oil? really also the best way to troubleshoot these without someone being there is ti put a pressure guage in the correct port and get pressure readinds...is there any way you can come up with a more detail on what exactly happened?
Eric

You guys are great! I appreciate everyone jumping in, talking me through this.
I am going to get into it more this weekend. So hopefully monday I will have more info to post.

Eric, yes I did get the boat pretty hot on the ramp. Was running the boat (on the trailer on the ramp) to charge the battery. Noticed that the water was not pumping. It was too late, burned the impeller (not badly but still). Replaced the impeller, also noticed I had burned a hole in the exhaust hose. Bilge was also not working, but thats a side note. So yeah it got hot enough to roast the impeller a little and burn a hole in the exhaust hose. I noticed the hole after we left the ramp and the boat started making the noise. I opened the cover to see what it was. Then I saw the hole spraying water. At this point I also noticed that the noise was not coming from the engine. It is something behind the engine. I cant say for sure if it was the transmission or maybe just the prop shaft making the noise?? Maybe the strut bushing or something could also make this noise? I dont know. But it was not coming from the motor.
The transmission is still turning to answer your question. It spins. And at very low speed, it is fine. The boat drives as if there was no problem....no noise, all is well.
But as soon as you try to give it much throttle, the noise starts and the prop spin does not keep up with the engine.
Yes is does (in my amateur opinion) seem like something is slipping. Because the motor still revs up like it should, its just not making it to the prop. The prop isnt spinning as fast as it should be with the motor rev'd that high. I mean I could have the throttle wide open and the boat is moving as if I was barely into fwd. gear. I did notice at first that when I tried to get into the throttle, the boat did lerch fwd. like it wanted to take off, but then just backed off. Almost like the trans. wanted to grab at first, but then slipped. Hope that makes sense.
Oh, by the way, the oil smells fine too.

exactly, check the linkage first because what your describing shouldnt be happening, if you had a snapped damper the trans would not turn at all because from your first post you said it goes into reverse fine, oil level??? if anything when powering up and the trans slipped it would warp the plates and the trans would be stuck in forward which would mean no nuetral and the engine would stall when put into reverse, because of the noise i keep thinking a bad damper and im still having a hard time trying to troubleshoot your trans because of your description of what is happening...it truly could be the linkage as 79 is describing because it will turn when reving in nuetral from oil between the plates, so we will use the process of elimination. 1- check that the trans is shifting at the trans 2-check oil level 3-look at color and smell oil and advise 4- start engine and put in gear and rev up and notice if noise dis-appears 5- idle boat in nuetral and see if you can hold the prop shaft...dont wear a scarf while doing this. something is amiss and i need more detail if everything checks out. the trans shouldnt have gotten that hot when the impeller failed so i dont think this was part of the problem, i run them on a test stand in gear at 1800 rpms for a half hour and they barely hit 150 degrees (without a cooling system)

Right on. So I have some stuff to check this weekend. I will look at the linkage and see what I can tell. I did move the little lever the other day just to make sure it moved freely and it did. But I need to move the throttle control and see if it is moving the lever on the tranny all the way to the "F"
Eric I will go through that list, thanks again for the advice! You mentioned checking the oil. I have done that, it is full, clean, no noticeable smell.
And yes, reverse is fine, no noise and the prop spins. And like I said, if I put it in fwd JUST out of nuetral, it is fine. Prop spins and no noise. But as soon as you try to give it more throttle, then the noise starts in and the prop just seems like it never spins any faster than just a crawl.
Brad, you mentioned the dripless packing could have been starved for water and that was creating the noise. Is that still a possibility, i didnt hear anyone say anything else about that.

If you think you can unbolt the tranny and get it out of the boat, then I would suggest that you do that and then ship the ttranny to eric to rebuild it for you. It sounds like it needs rebuilt anyway but it also might be the rear main seal leaking. If what you are seeing is oil and not tranny fluid then it's engine related and not the tranny causing the leak.

24 years is a good service life, chances are no one has been inside, these trannys typically will see 20 to 25 years if cared for, but...they do wear out eventually, if you band-aid such as popping a new seal in it you may regret it in the long run....remember: if they are leaking on the outside, they are leaking on the inside, which also means the lip seals are hard also and not sealing the clutch packs

Nevermind, just checked out your site. I will be giving you a call.

Im in Tx...dallas

eric lavine wrote: it is easier to diagnose and get a better picture of what is going on if i talk to over the phone..877-369-6693   eric

While this is certainly true dont let the oil red herring get in the way, the diagnosis is that there is a transmission problem. You had it in gear and the revs would increase but the boat doesnt go as it should, if there is still a prop on the boat then your transmission is slipping. Might not be your only problem but its a problem for sure. If it has the proper amount of fluid in it and it is slipping then it needs to come out and come apart.

Eric did you have a chance to pull that pcm apart and see what shape it is in for me?

Joe, the drum is cracked but the rest of the trans is in beautifal shape, it is an earlier one, which the early ones did have drum problems,and would bre replaced with a late style, if you buy the parts and thrown in that 10-17, the tranny is yours,
of course i will rebuild the pcm,