Volvo Penta SX, delayed forward shift

[NYG367]

New to the forum, Hello!

This year has been tough with mechanical issues, I usually manage to fix these things myself, but this issue has me stumped..... The issue is that when in water the boat will not shift into forward drive. Reverse is no problem, but forward is hit or miss, and it seems to only shift when increasing the rpms.....

Out of the water the drive shifts forward/reverse without issue, but I realize that is not a good indicator since there's no resistants on the drive. I did notice that when shifted in reverse (engine off) the prop will not turn forward, however in forward gear (engine off) the prop will turn in reverse, not sure what this means......

The shift cable is ok. Tested with someone shifting, while I had the drive cover off watching the shift lever change from forward, neutral, reverse, no issue there. However, I will likely change the cable anyway as it's a little stiff.

After researching the forums, I'm starting to fear it's the cone clutch....=(

In addition to the shifting issue: I have noticed sever loss of bottom end power. The boat takes forever to plane. This year I have changed: spark plugs, distributor cap, rotor, and drained the fuel tanks replacing with fresh fuel. Still not solved.....

BOAT INFORMATION:
1998 Wellcraft Coastal 210
Volvo Penta SX-M Drive


Any idea?

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome aboard

stop using your boat until you fix it.

you are either low on fluid or mis-adjusted on your shift linkage and are burning up your cone clutch

pull your fuel filter and empty the contents of the filter into a clear plastic bag. inspect the contencts, should be pure fuel, and no water/crud

most likely your carb has crud in it.

 

[NYG367]

welcome aboard

stop using your boat until you fix it.

you are either low on fluid or mis-adjusted on your shift linkage and are burning up your cone clutch

pull your fuel filter and empty the contents of the filter into a clear plastic bag. inspect the contencts, should be pure fuel, and no water/crud

most likely your carb has crud in it.

Hi Scott,

The boat is out and I'm definitely not planning on using it until it's fixed. The fluid level is good (checked), and the cable is shifting so I'm not sure if it would be "mis-adjusted". Is there an adjustment I'm missing on the cable or if it shifts the drive lever it's ok?

Pulled the fuel filter when draining the tank, no crud. However, the carb could be the culprit. The fuel was 2 years old before draining this year......

 

[Scott Danforth]

you verify at the drive.

if the fuel was 2 years old, it was no longer fuel. the gunk it had become is now thru-out your fuel system

 

[JoLin]

I have read (but can't verify) that the V-P cone clutch drives are sensitive to the fluid run in them. I would try the using the genuine V-P brand fluid before tearing the drive apart.

My .02

 

[billbayliner]

"I have read (but can't verify) that the V-P cone clutch drives are sensitive to the fluid run in them. I would try the using the genuine V-P brand fluid before tearing the drive apart."

ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE... I rebuild these with my eyes closed.... All you need is AS STATED in the manual... FULLY SYNTHETIC 75W90 gear oil.... No and I mean NO traditional (DINO) oil. Believe it or not, I can smell right away when I crack the uppers open and regular gear oil is used. Can also tell by the color of the "sliding sleeve". (Cone portion of the clutch)

You let me know a very important clue in your description... You say it shifts fine in driveway.... NO LOAD on props / out-drive... educated guess.... but I am guessing your idle RPM is not set to spec... On the cone clutches it is imperative that RPM is to spec.....

Through experience it is not a Carburetor adjustment... Most of the time the engine is not efficient because it had not had maintenance in years..... Plugs, plug wire, rotor, Dis cap, etc, etc,etc

 

[harojs]

billbayliner - In you opinion, what is spec rpm for idle on VP 5.0L 302 SX ?