Hurth 800 IV 1.6 Gearbox Issues

Hi,

I have a 1998 Searay 400 EC with 3116 Cats and Hurth 800 IV gearbox (1.6) - in short one clutch pack shattered and went through the box resulting in one idler shaft and output shaft loosing bits off the gears. From what we can tell the rest of the gearbox is all good to go.

I'm still working the problem but as far as I see it I can either (in order of preference):

• Source the parts
• Get a used gearbox
• Get a new transmission (either new old stock or a ZF 85)

I'd like to source the parts if possible - can someone point me in the direction of someone that may have good used parts that may solve my little problem...?

Looking forward to getting some help on this one.

Cheers, Pete

We had a port gear fail and I was where you are. In looking around, nobody recommended a remanned transmission because most prople who rebuild them just replace the damaged parts and reassemble what is left. In looking inside a ZF V-Drive, it was clear to me that a failure involving shearing teeth off gears would leave all sorts of debris inside the transmission case, and mine did, a superficial rebuild wouldn't get rid of that exposure.

If you consider haul out cost X2, yard cost for 2 men x2 to in/out the transmission twice, this isn't a repir I'd want a false start on.

I was able to find a new ZF on the shelf at the ZF repair facility in Florida and opted for a new transmission.

A used Hurth HSW 800-IV has weak mid shaft support and are known to grenade on the reverse side, so a used Hurth is likely just going to kick the can down the road a ways and you will likely have to come back and repair it again in the future. After ZF bought Hurth, the problem was partially addressed on the ZF 80-iv transmissions but the later ZF 85-iv seems to have completely solved the problem.

I have had a similar situation. I found a small part of a gear in my port transmission last winter and planned to replace. I thought I was going to have to replace sooner than later, but it keeps chugging along. I asked around a lot and most transmission guys told me to run it till it dies. Some seem to think it can go a long time in this condition. I’ll know more when I sample and change the Fluid in a couple weeks.

However, I'm with Frank on this one. Get it done right the first time and just replace with new. Rebuilding is about 1/2 the cost of new , but the only way to find out if its really rebuildable is to open it up, so your in for the removal and the labor to diagnose, with no guarantee.

The 85-IV is a much better transmission.

I found the best price from Transmission Marine http://www.marinegears.com/. Give them a shout.

Pete - how can you have an 800IV in a 400EC?
I believe all EC's are straight drive.... not V drive.
Tom