Transmission

[Dbrumwell]

I had a very interesting situation on my C 28 today as I was pulling up to the dock and went to neutral the boat kept going forward in haste I tried reverse and killed the engine after further looking over the situation i put the shifter in neutral engine starts immediately goes forward I know there’s two solenoids on that transmission for forward and reverse I’m just trying to get understanding of it has anybody else had an issue like this I have a mechanic look at it and he’s afraid that I could have issues finding parts with everything going on right now . Any input would be greatly appreciated on the upside I did manage to get into the dock and not tear anything up .

 

[Spinner]

Hi, there is a neutral safety switch which prevents the boat from starting up in gear. From your description, that’s not working ..... can you get it into reverse at all?

 

[Dbrumwell]

the neutral safety switch thought it was in neutral you pull the handle to neutral and the green light came on but in reality it was still in gear. I think that neutral safety switch is not supposed to allow you to start it in gear either but the switch thought we were out of gear. the mechanic that was looking at it it Has never worked on this type of transmission but he seem to think the Electronic actuator had failed on the transmission and the safety switch works off of the shift handle

 

[ALICE J]

On my Yanmar the shifter cable is adjustable. If I slowly shift into forward the handle passes the throttle detent, but the transmission has not shifted into forward. I nudge the handle forward and the forward gear kicks in. Just a thought to check the transmission detent and linkage.

 

[Wee Venture]

If you search on Tugnuts for “check shift actuator fault” you will find quite a bit written on what sounds like basically the same (or very similar) issue.

 

[Dbrumwell]

I did the search for the shift actuator fault and none of them really address what mine did . Mine throws no fault code whatsoever but it’s just stuck in forward the mechanic that looked at it although he’s never worked on one seems to think the actual actuator failed while I was in forward and I can’t get it out of forward. He was going to contact a shop in Everett that it works on these transmissions and see if they thought problem was . I thought I would throw it out because yall got much more experience at this than I do this is my first complex boat I’ve had runabouts just not A boat with all these systems and so much electronics . I’m pretty mechanicall but when it comes to electronics I do the headache real fast

 

[knotflying]

You can manually engage and disengage the solenoids. It sounds like yours may be stuck. Try taking it out and see if you can see if it is stuck and perhaps you can free it up. Also check the electrical connections for corrosion.

 

[BB marine]

It may not be the electric side of shift control valve. The transmission (reverse gear) is hydraulic. The shift control valve is hydraulic valve assembly that directs the flow and pressure of hydraulic oil to either fwd clutch pack or Reverse clutch pack or neither which would be neutral. The "normal" solenoid failure would cause the reverse gear to fail in neutral. This is not to say it is not a solenoid issue just unusual. The fact that there are no codes suggest the electrical side is not sending a failure.

It could be a mechanical issue, stuck valve, broken spring, or debris in the control valve. It could be clutch pack failure do to excessive heat which may have warped the clutch plate and the fwd clutch are staying compressed or engaged. A simple test is see if you can turn the shaft with the engine off. You will need a fabric strap wrench to do this. With the engine off there is no hydraulic pressure in the transmission so the the clutches should be relaxed and the shaft should turn.

Things to look for if a mechanical failure, burnt oil, filter with excessive wear particles, small particles visible to the eye. Using a 1/8" or 1/4" stainless or copper tube with a oil pump and a clean container. Put the tube in the fill/dip stick opening and work the tube to the bottom of the transmission suck a small amount of oil off the bottom of the transmission. Inspect this oil for excessive metallic and visual metal particles. ( there will always be some metallic and small metal fragments even in a serviceable transmission) You are looking for excessive. Your Mechanic should be able to distinguish between normal and excessive.

If the control valve or components of the valve have failed. I would recommend an oil change and filter. I would then send an oil sample to get an oil report as to the viscosity, water contamination, and levels of contamination of metal particles. If there is a failure to the reverse gear the rebuilder will be able to diagnose the failure and determine a cause of failure.

Hopefully it is a simple fix and you will be back on the water soon. I would recommend asking as many questions as possible to understand what the failure is to confirm the root cause is determined and the gear is fixed properly. Good luck.