A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Marina

[Dock Walker]

I am new to Ranger Tugs. Started in July of this year. There is a lot to learn for sure.
Here is one I am very concerned about. Please forgive me is this is addressed elsewhere.
After motoring over 50 miles, we made it into our marina for the night. As I started to shift from forward to reverse to maneuver into our slip it made the most horrendous noise in the engine compartment. A very loud clank that sounded like the engine to propeller gears was not engaging properly. We were then dead in the water. The engine continued to run but would not engage in forward or reverse. We are now drifting into a moored boat and my wife has to fend it off with a pole. Finally, I thought to shut the engine off and restart and fortunately that did the trick.
Tested it the next day with a short trip inside the marina. No problems
Part 2 Leaving: Feeling somewhat confident after the test run yesterday, I fire her up cast off and it would not shift. No forward no reverse. After a short interval when my brain unsiezed, I shut everything off, killed the house, engine and thruster switches, waited and then powered all up again. Success! Now just a short 50 mile trip up river to get home.
We made it without incident. However my wife has no desire to get on the boat to go anywhere and I have minimal confidence in its reliability.
I know some of you out there know exactly what the problem and what the solution is and would appreciate your sage advice. I want my wife and I to continue to enjoy or tug with confidence.
It is a 2016, 25SC with an inboard Volvo D3 150.

 

[Andrew Custis]

Hello,

Thank you for posting. This could be related to several things the first thing I would check is your propeller. These sit on a tapered shaft and if you had broken a keyway, had the prop nut loosen or come off the prop would slide back off the taper and provide no thrust. When engaged in forward, the thrust of the prop would slide forward and sit back on the tapered shaft. If this happened, you got really lucky.

The other thing I would have inspected is the gear. This is supposed to be serviced yearly including filter changes. I would remove the oil from the transmission and change the filter to see if you are witnessing any shavings coming out once drained.

My other question would be to ask if you experienced any engine alarms. If you had a problem with shift solenoids, you would have an alarm. If the prop came loose or the gear was going, I dont think you would get any alarms.

I would also recommend getting a Volvo dealer out to hook the computer up to see if he saw any codes stored that might give you an idea.

Hope it is something simple!

 

[Dock Walker]

Thank you Andrew for the quick reply. Would you have a Volvo mechanic in Portland that you could recommend?

 

[Salish Serenity]

Hi Dock

We had something similar happen to us leaving Olympia Harbor in our 2015 C30 CB, D6. However, we got the dreaded Volvo/Penta alarm and fault message "Check Shift Actuator". We were about 3 miles away from the marina in the middle of the channel when suddenly no forward or reverse. Engine ran smooth, and we didn't hear any loud noise from the engine compartment, but I could not get it to rev much over idle rpm or so. Fortunately there was no wind and the current was headed back to the marina. My wife called a tow boat and I managed to keep her in the channel using the bow and stern thrusters for 2 miles. The tow boat finally arrived and got us safely back to the marina.

This happened on a Friday and Volvo Penta came out on Monday and replaced both transmission solenoids which solved the problem. I can appreciate your anxiety as we felt the same. Evidently, fine mist from the prop shaft can throw sea water upwards toward the solenoids and eventually degrade the rubber collars around the solenoid connectors and cause water intrusion which eventually kills the solenoid. The fix took all of one hour and $2200 (ouch). Vovo Penta claims they have "sealed" the newer solenoids so this doesn't happen. Our boat had the new style and still failed.

With each "hiccup" I learn valuable lessons and what to watch out for in the future. Someone on Tugnuts suggested placing a shield above the prop shaft to deflect the spray back downwards in the bilge. So I added the shield and now that I check the solenoids' condition each trip I feel more confident that will never happen again. And yes, like many other parts in this harsh boating environment, eventually they will need to be replaced.

The solenoids are on either side of the transmission and I can send you pictures if you PM me with your email address. I have pictures of what the bad ones looked like. Hope this helps in your troubleshooting.

 

[Gin]

Cook Engine, on Hayden Island, is the only authorized Volvo Penta diesel sales and service business in the area to my knowledge. Their website is: http://www.cookengine.com/

 

[aculverwell]

I don't think that this is the cause of the problem noted in this thread, but I have accidentally pressed the "Throttle Only" button on my throttle lever in the past--which has the same net effect: you can not engage into forward or reverse.

 

[Dock Walker]

When I managed to get to the dock and let the adreneline dissipate I went to TugNuts of course to see what might be the issue. Solenoids was the first thing that came up and I was able to check them. They looked great. There were no alarms which leads me to Andrew’s explanation. Because there was a very loud metallic sound from the back. I did mess with the throttle, going from forward to reverse but it was not that I was in neutral.
Fortunately I am close enough to Cooks to just about throw donuts at them so I will make an appointment.