Poor shifting Volvo Sail Drive

[Sunspot Baby]

Sunspot Baby is a 1994 Prout Manta 38’ catamaran with two Volvo 2003B engines and sail drives. One sail drive (port side) sometimes does not want to shift into forward gear. Two years ago the sail drive was disassembled and $800 in parts were installed to fix the problem. Something about a “cone clutch”. At that time the old parts were not visibly bad but, of course, they could have worn well outside of tolerance and not look bad to the naked eye.

The problem never went completely away but occurred much less frequently. Now it is occurring more often. The gears eventually engage, sometimes with a bit of a clunk. Revving the engine up a little helps, thus the clunk. This happens more often when the engine is warm, like when maneuvering to get back into the slip, but may happen when cold.

Drives are serviced annually; oil is full, clean, and clear.

Does anyone have knowledge of a specific fault that would give these symptoms?

The starboard engine, same age and hours, does not exhibit the same problem.

Sunspot Baby
www.stateham.com/sunspotbaby

[Alan Wheeler]

Just before well all go off on tangents, Was the saildrive repaired by an expert, or just a mechanic???
And,
Do you have a good quality and manufacturers specified viscosity rating, oil installed.

[Sunspot Baby]

The mechanic has done other work for me, always with good results. He seemed knowledgeable but I cannot attest to his status as an “expert”.

The oil in the sail drive is 40w heavy duty oil. Someone I believe is an expert told me that was the proper lubricant for the sail drive.

I do have a shop manual on board and will look to see that that is what the manufacturer specified. It would be great if it was as simple as changing the lubricant.

Sunspot Baby

[Alan Wheeler]

I don't know if 40W is correct or not. It may well be correct. But yes, it sometimes can be as simple as the wrong grade oil. I have seen it manytimes. IF the oil IS to thick, you could possibly notice a difference in shifting either side drives, between cold and hot. If it is sticky and clunky when cold, and then smoother and easier when hot form working, it could well be an oil problem. Maybe even the right grade oil, but a cheap oil. Make sure you get a good oil, even fully synthetic. I am very pro synthetics for marine use. These oils will offer greater protection for longer and especially if/when water enters the workings. They can be the difference between fixing just a seal or a complete rebuild. But the greatest benifit is maintaining a constant viscosity through a greater temperature change. Especially if you live in those cold climates.

[Sunspot Baby]

Thanks again. It may be a a while before I can check the manual on the boat. We have friends visiting for a couple of days and then have about a one week road trip planned so I will get back into this in August.

I plan to haul the boat, paint the bottom and service the sail drives. By then, I will have checked the proper oil and will certainly research the top synthetics available.

Sunspot Baby

When I shift from neutral to forward there is a delay in engagement. Is this normal?

[GordMay]

No - slow engagement usually indicates wear in the thrust washers. Don't let it go too long before you get it serviced.
First check and adjust your linkage. Linkage problems are very common on marine gears.
If the delay is still there, see if there is a difference in the difficulty in engaging forward versus reverse.
If it is significantly more difficult to engage the marine gear in forward as opposed to reverse, this suggests that the thrust washers are worn.