Velvet Drive replace rebuild?

[Flyboy]

There is always some drag on the plates so it is normal for the shaft to spin some in neutral, in most cases you can stop it with your hand.

[aaronbocknek]

now this is a wicked cool thread. i'm looking forward to seeing more of the progress. something for me to do while on my layover in denver on saturday night..........sigh.

[Jimmy]

Lol, thanks, and will post results. There are some tricky points during the process, and being the first time on one of these, taking special care. But not nearly as bad as some engines/ Tranny's I have done prior. Already thinking about how to put in a float level type sensor...... Or.... Just take a peek a lot more often at fluid levels (the correct solution).

Total cost to fix: -$200.00, and a sore back to pluck it out. Cheap considering......

Stay tuned.

[mikeandanne]

Good job....what did the clutch plates and steels look like , were they warped or did the tranny lock up because of the melted part.....Mike

[Jimmy]

Clutches were not warped as badly as I would have expected, and a few hugging each other tight. They did show more than normal wear due to slipping. She is back in, and initial dock test is success. First few minutes in neutral she spun the prop slightly, but after a few fax/rev changes, oil is bubble free and held clutches well. She does have a slight clickers clack, and read this is not Un-common . We will take her out tomorrow for a trial. While I had the covers off, decided to change oil in Onan. Sucked out black goo and filled her back up. Figured I'd fire it up to make sure all is well. Well..... Not. Noticed right away no water flow. I ALWAYS church for spray at gen exhaust. Dry..... Pulled off impeller housing. Yep. 2 flaps left, the rest were staged in flow channel. Another one (actually 2 as a spare is always a good idea). Then back in business. Not irritated in the least and glad I found it now rather than when on the hook and momma wants a hot cup of coffee in the morning.

[Jimmy]

Back in action! Complete success. Ran her out on the big lake at 3k rpms to make sure there was no slippage, fwd/rev nice and smooth. Now just need to keep tabs on fluid...
In case anyone else needs to remove theirs, some tips:

--Need two screw jacks to support rear of engine since drive is rear support that needs to be removed one each side. Bottle jacks not reccomended as they tend to drift and can let the motor drop.
--a crow bar is helpfull moving the rear supports away from the drive to remove and inst all, just loosen the clamp bolt and rotate them back and forth while pushing/ pulling from drive for more clearnce
--wet dry vac to suck any spilled oil ( and you will spill fluid) so it does not get to bilge.
-- plenty of rags to step on so you dont slip and slide lifting it out
-- a few strong boys to lift it out.....ours was 160 lbs with reducer.
-- feeler gages to assure the shafts line up and are parralell
-- i ran the unit for just a bit to allow the motor mounts to find the happy spot before torquing tight. Alignment is crucial.

Then go fishing.....

[Jimmy]

Mike, yes, melted baffle prevented the shaft from moving and in reverse actually had enough resistance to kill the motor in low idle.

[bjanakos]

Thats fantastic! Where did you find the rebuild kit and the manual?

[Jimmy]

Ebay is full of rebuild kits. Just make sure of the model of drive you have. I'll post link to the two downloads, but also easy to find on a google search. My wife is yelling at me,,,, she wants to go boating. Off the the marina!

[yorklyn]

glad to hear you made out good. Congrats!
if you keep hearing something that sounds like extra loose parts rattling around in the trans at idle make sure your engine idle is at least 700 rpm. made a big difference on my boat.

[Jimmy]

Rattle noise is no longer present as I believe we are good with RPMs.

Velvet drive rebuild kit came from: USA Industries off ebay. $129.00. Seemed to be good quality as im pretty sure any parts you buy come from overseas anyway, so quality is always questionable, but not many choices.

We will see long term. I dont really push the boat much as 95% of the time fishing, or just slow cruising. But good to know you can move fast when needed.