V drive blows oil from vent and shifter very hard

[Caveman22]

1999 310 Sundancer. Vdrive oil was just changed. Only got two quarts back in as the vacuum sucker couldn't get it all out. It looks like the transmission fluid is up about one inch on the stick cold. Now after even 5 minutes or so of running boat on plane, trans fluid blows out the vent. I'm thinking it may be over full, but could leaking coolers do this also? In the last week or so the port shifter has become very difficult , like binding into forward and reverse since the oil was changed. I have disconnected the shift cable and it definitely seems like the linkage inside the transmission. Anyone have anything like this happened to them?

 

[BillK2632]

Leaking cooler could do this - possible it is filling the transmission with seawater, basically overfilling it and that is why fluid (probably mixed with water) is blowing out of the vent.

 

[Caveman22]

Leaking cooler could do this - possible it is filling the transmission with seawater, basically overfilling it and that is why fluid (probably mixed with water) is blowing out of the vent.

The fluid doesn't seem to have water mixed in. Guess I'll try draining at the drainplug instead of sucking it out of the dipstick tube. Difficult to access though.

 

[Caveman22]

Would this also affect the shifting into forward and reverse ?

 

[Creekwood]

The fluid doesn't seem to have water mixed in. Guess I'll try draining at the drainplug instead of sucking it out of the dipstick tube. Difficult to access though.

Maybe you know this already, but in case not.....
The v-Drive is a pressurized drive. When you put the dip stick back in you need to twist it to expand the rubber seal on the top of the stick to seal it and hold the pressure in. And unscrew it to remove it. If you don't the oil will come out of the dip tube and perhaps run dry and damage the transmission. Since they use ATF as oil, it is a very light oil and running dry would not be good.

 

[Caveman22]

I did tighten the dipstick, but the fluid blows out the vent after running for a few minutes. Would this also affect the hard engagement into gear?

This boat has less than 300 hours on her also. Previous owner never mentioned a hard shift lever problem, ran smooth on sea trial also. Just started acting up after the fluid was changed. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[kap2]

What type of v-drive do you have - Velvet, Hurth, Walter?

 

[becnme]

You are probably overfilled or possibly the wrong fluid. Do you check the fluid after running the engine? Run the engine, shut it off and check it shortly after.

 

[Caveman22]

What type of v-drive do you have - Velvet, Hurth, Walter?

Velvet drive

 

[Caveman22]

You are probably overfilled or possibly the wrong fluid. Do you check the fluid after running the engine? Run the engine, shut it off and check it shortly after.

Used dexron3 synthetic. Checked after startup, 1500 RPM 5 minutes. Thought level was ok after shutdown check warm.
Looked like about 1 inch on dipstick when cold.

 

[kap2]

Not sure if synthetic is the right choice. Here is the data and instructions for checking the level from the manufacturer.

 

[jakevader95]

I bought a 2000 310 SDA with 350/300's and Velvet Drive model 20 v-drives last August. It has about 740 hours on it.
The engine oil and the v-drive oil all needed to be changed.
This is my first boat with twin v-drives, previously I had sterndrives.
I had a marine mechanic change the oils. I assisted him. We used a pump to remove the oils through the dipstick tubes.
I had noticed that the port transmission was slightly harder to shift than the SB one, and going to reverse was slightly harder than going to forward.
Changing the oil had no effect on the shifting, so I thought i might be cable wear.
We added 2 quarts of Dextron 2, nonsynthetic oil to both transmissions. The mechanic told me not to use synthetic oil (Dextron 3). I believe that I also read that the synthetic oil is not good for the clutches, but I don't see how that would affect the shifting. We were careful not to overfill the transmissions and double checked the level after running the engines to warm.
Later, I disconnected the shift cable on the port transmission and found that it was not a cable problem. Shifting was effortless when disconnected.
I removed the shift lever from the transmission and polished the backside where the spring loaded ball detent rides. I also greased the ball detent. Becareful removing the shift lever as it retains the spring loaded ball.
This made negligible improvement.
I then removed the shift spool from the port transmission. There is no linkage inside the transmission. The external lever rotates a hydraulic control vlave that operated the clutches. The shift spool is the heart of the control valve.
I cleaned and lubricated the spool and reassembled it.
Note that the Neutral Start switch must also be removed to remove the spool. It drops into a detent in the spool when it is in the Neutral position. The ball detent on the switch rides in a rough groove in the spool. I thought that the switch was causing undue friction in operating the shifter and so I swapped switches from the other transmission.
All of this had very little effect on the shift quality. The difficulty in shifting was inherent to the spool vlave and the transmission housing near a I could tell.
When I reassembled everything, I re-routed the port shift cable over the top of the SB engine instead of in front of it. This reduced the bending in the shift cable and made a small improvement.
If you are blowing oil out the vent, I think your transmission is overfilled.
My port trans is still slightly harder to shift than the SB, and it is still slighly harder to shift to reverse than forward, but it is a little better, and hardly noticeable.
My experience, for what it's worth.

 

[Caveman22]

Not sure if synthetic is the right choice. Here is the data and instructions for checking the level from the manufacturer.
View attachment 85861 View attachment 85862

Thanks for all this info. The synthetic is also in the starboard trans and shifts perfectly. Not sure it's type of fluid related.

 

[Caveman22]

I bought a 2000 310 SDA with 350/300's and Velvet Drive model 20 v-drives last August. It has about 740 hours on it.
The engine oil and the v-drive oil all needed to be changed.
This is my first boat with twin v-drives, previously I had sterndrives.
I had a marine mechanic change the oils. I assisted him. We used a pump to remove the oils through the dipstick tubes.
I had noticed that the port transmission was slightly harder to shift than the SB one, and going to reverse was slightly harder than going to forward.
Changing the oil had no effect on the shifting, so I thought i might be cable wear.
We added 2 quarts of Dextron 2, nonsynthetic oil to both transmissions. The mechanic told me not to use synthetic oil (Dextron 3). I believe that I also read that the synthetic oil is not good for the clutches, but I don't see how that would affect the shifting. We were careful not to overfill the transmissions and double checked the level after running the engines to warm.
Later, I disconnected the shift cable on the port transmission and found that it was not a cable problem. Shifting was effortless when disconnected.
I removed the shift lever from the transmission and polished the backside where the spring loaded ball detent rides. I also greased the ball detent. Becareful removing the shift lever as it retains the spring loaded ball.
This made negligible improvement.
I then removed the shift spool from the port transmission. There is no linkage inside the transmission. The external lever rotates a hydraulic control vlave that operated the clutches. The shift spool is the heart of the control valve.
I cleaned and lubricated the spool and reassembled it.
Note that the Neutral Start switch must also be removed to remove the spool. It drops into a detent in the spool when it is in the Neutral position. The ball detent on the switch rides in a rough groove in the spool. I thought that the switch was causing undue friction in operating the shifter and so I swapped switches from the other transmission.
All of this had very little effect on the shift quality. The difficulty in shifting was inherent to the spool vlave and the transmission housing near a I could tell.
When I reassembled everything, I re-routed the port shift cable over the top of the SB engine instead of in front of it. This reduced the bending in the shift cable and made a small improvement.
If you are blowing oil out the vent, I think your transmission is overfilled.
My port trans is still slightly harder to shift than the SB, and it is still slighly harder to shift to reverse than forward, but it is a little better, and hardly noticeable.
My experience, for what it's worth.

I disconnected the shift lever and the shift lever on the trans and it still seemed tight when moving by hand. I'll try removing the valve and taking a look see. Any new parts required? Does it come out the shift lever side or the rear cover plate end?

 

[jakevader95]

I disconnected the shift lever and the shift lever on the trans and it still seemed tight when moving by hand. I'll try removing the valve and taking a look see. Any new parts required? Does it come out the shift lever side or the rear cover plate end?

I don't think it is the oil. Dextron 3 should be fine. I can't find any reason on-line to not use D3. I'm using D2E on my mechanics recommendation.

I removed the shift valve on dry land during winter storage, so the engines had not been run for several weeks.
I used a very strong magnet on the outside of the shift lever so that the detent ball stayed witth the lever when removed.
I removed the neutral safety switch.
I removed the inboard oil cooler line. Very little oil came out, but be prepared to catch it.
I used a quality snap ring pliers to remove the retaining ring. Do not use the cheap-ass universal pliers.
I simply pulled the valve straight out.
There is an o-ring on the valve. This should be checked. Mine was fine, so I did not replace it.
After removing the o-ring, I cleaned the valve housing with a lint free rag, and cleaned the spool with brake cleaner.

Hopefully, everything is clean internally. If not, that could be your shift problem.

I lubed the spool and o-ring with trans oil and inserted it back in with finger pressure. I added a little more lube through the NS switch hole on top.
I installed the retaining ring with same pliers.
Connect oil cooler hose. I used synthetic grease for the shift lever ball detent and reassembled it with the magnet.

Before installing the NS switch check the shifter for feel. See if it makes a difference.
The part of the spool valve that the switch rides on is very rough. I don't know why this isn't a precision ground surface. It seems like this adds a lot of friction.

Make sure that the valve is in neutral and install the NS switch. Check the shifter feel again.

When we changed the oil in both transmissions, we estimated the removal of just under 2 quarts. To refill, we added slightly less than 2 quarts. The oil level will rise during warm-up, so if you are blowing oil out the vent, I'm pretty sure that you added too much oil.

 

[Caveman22]

I don't think it is the oil. Dextron 3 should be fine. I can't find any reason on-line to not use D3. I'm using D2E on my mechanics recommendation.

I removed the shift valve on dry land during winter storage, so the engines had not been run for several weeks.
I used a very strong magnet on the outside of the shift lever so that the detent ball stayed witth the lever when removed.
I removed the neutral safety switch.
I removed the inboard oil cooler line. Very little oil came out, but be prepared to catch it.
I used a quality snap ring pliers to remove the retaining ring. Do not use the cheap-ass universal pliers.
I simply pulled the valve straight out.
There is an o-ring on the valve. This should be checked. Mine was fine, so I did not replace it.
After removing the o-ring, I cleaned the valve housing with a lint free rag, and cleaned the spool with brake cleaner.

Hopefully, everything is clean internally. If not, that could be your shift problem.

I lubed the spool and o-ring with trans oil and inserted it back in with finger pressure. I added a little more lube through the NS switch hole on top.
I installed the retaining ring with same pliers.
Connect oil cooler hose. I used synthetic grease for the shift lever ball detent and reassembled it with the magnet.

Before installing the NS switch check the shifter for feel. See if it makes a difference.
The part of the spool valve that the switch rides on is very rough. I don't know why this isn't a precision ground surface. It seems like this adds a lot of friction.

Make sure that the valve is in neutral and install the NS switch. Check the shifter feel again.

When we changed the oil in both transmissions, we estimated the removal of just under 2 quarts. To refill, we added slightly less than 2 quarts. The oil level will rise during warm-up, so if you are blowing oil out the vent, I'm pretty sure that you added too much oil.

Thanks for the details! I'm going to work on it this weekend again and I'll let you know what I find, if anything.

 

[Caveman22]

I was able to fix the hard shift by greasing the shift lever on the side of the trans that attaches to the valve. Nice and smooth now!! Still blowing fluid from port v drive. Fluid level is less than stbd side, about 1/4" to 1/2"on the dipstick when cold? Any more ideas anyone?

 

[jakevader95]

The fluid is transparent, clean, and red, correct?

 

[Caveman22]

Yes

 

[jakevader95]

I thought that maybe your oil cooler was leaking, but it doesn’t sound like it if it is clear. The oil should be checked hot, engines off.
Mine are actually both a little over Full, but they are not leaking.

My port transmission shifts a bit harder than the starboard, and harder in reverse than forward, but it is internal to the transmission. I can feel the difference with the cable disconnected. I greased the detents at the shifter, the transmission lever, and removed the neutral switch as well. No real difference.