Removing + Servicing a ZF25M Transmission

[chris95040]

Hi folks,

I think my transmission leaked over the winter. I was greeted with a pink puddle in my drip pan with no other clear explanation. I painstakingly collected the leak, about 1.5 fl oz, and sent it off to Blackstone Labs, they said the viscosity matched ATF but the additives were unusual and ambiguous. Shrug.

Anyways, its 12 years old but not a lot of hours, less than 1000. But I'm thinking of pulling it off the engine and sending it out to have some professionals take a look.

Question 1: Beyond replacing the seals, can a marine transmission shop check bearings/clutches/gears/etc for tolerances, pressure test the oil cooler, etc, to give me an idea if it's a healthy tranny or not? Is that a common thing for them to do?

Question 2: Anyone have any tips for removing the tranmission? The engine is a Westerbeke 55B4, I've never removed a transmission before, and the engine's service manual, operators manual, and installation manual seem to leave out any discussion of transmission removal.

Question 3: Anything else I should do while I've got it off? Theres some sort of damper plate involved, right, and I believe that's commonly replaced when a tranny is removed? My understanding is the damper plate is bolted to the flywheel and has a splined receiver for the input shaft of the transmission, does that sound right?

Thanks for any advice!!