Tranny Problem? - from long distance...

[MikeP]

I just got a call from a friend who is entrusted to watch over our boat in our absence. He has been on the boat a lot and was one of the crew when we bought it and brought it to LI. He told me that yesterday he ran the engines and, after they were running for 5-10 minutes, engaged the trannies at the dock (boat well-secured).

He said that the port tranny engaged normally when he moved the lever forward. He cycled it forward - left it there for about a minute, then reverse then back to neutral. All OK. But the starboard didn't engage when he moved the lever forward.

After a couple seconds he moved the lever back to neutral, then forward again for a couple seconds - nothing. Back to neutral. He then moved it to forward again and left it there. After around 6-7 seconds (he thinks) the tranny engaged. From that point it acted completely normal when shifted forward/reverse/neutral, whatever. They then went out for a short run and again - he said it was perfectly normal. He has operated the boat with me aboard a good bit so he is familiar with how the boat acts.

He's not a mechanical guy at all so I didn't ask him much about it because I was afraid I might insult him with a bunch or "are you sure you...?" questions. Though frankly I'm not sure what you can do wrong.

Anyway, although I'll be back to the boat in a couple days, I wanted to post this description of what he said happened to see if it sounds familiar to anyone out there in Hatt land.

The last time I ran the boat - about a month ago, it was "normal." Normal for this boat - up to now - is that if it hasn't been run in several few days, the first engagement of the trannies (at idle) takes maybe 2-3 seconds. From that point on, I don't notice any delay.

Of course I'm wondering if he maybe didn't put the lever fully forward or something like that but, again, I didn't want to ask and he HAS operated the boat a fair bit. I don't know if he checked the fluid levels OR the engine-room tranny pressure gauges before he engaged.

With the trip to the Chesapeake coming up in about a week, I wouldn't like to think about tranny issues but as I often say to myself, things are what they are...

Any thoughts?

[thoward]

I would look at the Hynautic shifting system. When my trans slave seal went bad that is what it did. It progressively got to where it would not shift. So to start with, I would check the fluid level and the pressure on the Hynautic System. If the pressure and/or fluid is low I would refill and air up, then check for leaks.

[Jaxfishgyd]

The Hatt I captained back in 2003 (53' with a 7' extension) had the same problem once....
I had reverse and neutrals on both, but no foward. The bad thing was, I didn't know I had no forward till after I was backing out of the slip.
We found the problem, the mechanics had just changed fluids in both motors and transmissions but didn't put the correct amount back in the tranny's (left it LOW)

[MikeP]

Thanks for the suggestion T! But, unfortunately, it can't be that...

I should have mentioned that the boat does not have a hynautic system for throttles/trannys - just old fashioned cables!

[Will]

Could there be problem with the cables, control heads or linkage? Make sure when the shift lever is moved that the transmission lever moves properly as well. If the oil level is normal, try to hook up a gauge to check transmission oil pressure. I don't know what kind of transmissions you have but my Capitol Gears need about 125 psi. If pressure is low, maybe you have a pump problem. I've also heard of problems with dirt in the control valves causing similar problems.

Will

[Pascal]

most likely it's just low on oil. happened to me in the past, it takes very little missing oil (at least on mine) for an increasingly low delay when shifting into Fwd. Reverse is alwasy instantaneous.

it's even worst if you first shift in reverse, since pressure drops a little and it takes more time for pressure to build back up and the gear to engage in fwd.

in my case pressure is normal when warmed up, so i don't think it's a pump or filter issue.

[SKYCHENEY]

I would agree that you have either a linkage or an oil level issue. Don't worry too much about that. You can check those easily when you get to the boat. I'd be surprised if you have a major problem.

[Nick]

Mike,

Last year the fitting that I put on my tranny to tap a pressure guage cracked and I lost some oil in the bowels of the bilge. Couldn't tell where the oil went because it didn't leak continuously until I pushed on it. I caught it just before the summer vacation. Sooooo check the simple stuff.

If you need a hand give me shout ; my office is in Kings Park about 10 minutes from your marina.

Nick

[MikeP]

Thanks all! I'm confident (well...maybe that's a bit too strong) that it's likely oil level related but I'll let you know on Sunday when I'm on the boat.

Bill, called me here to say he checked the tranny oil level today (cold) and the star tranny level was lower than the port. Oil in both looked like fresh and clean.

After thinking about it, I have to admit I haven't checked the level (hot idling in neutral) in a while.

Hey - there's no leaks, where's it gonna go?

Yes, I know better.

[mike]

Check oil first, then look at the pump by-pass check valve. Sometimes the will get some particles between the ball and seat and stick open, resulting in no pressure.