Carver Owners Forum

Greetings All,
Any suggestions as to why I can't find neural on a B/W Velvet drive ?
thanks,
tony

If you would have listened to your wife and put it where it belongs you would be able to find it when you need it
LOL

tonym; Could you be a little more specific? When in the neutral position its still in forward or reverse, meaning the transmission is not disengaging? Or is it a cable issue? My guess is the clutches are not disengaging all the way. A transmission flush may solve the problem, or a total rebuild may have o be done, after all it's 36 years old and may have had a rough life?
Mike

tonym wrote:Source of the post Greetings All,
Any suggestions as to why I can't find neural on a B/W Velvet drive ?
thanks,
tony

It won't come out of gear or nothing happens when you try to start the engine?

Motor starts and runs well ( 1,100 hours ) but the prop is turning about 30 rpm's. I have since found a PCM manual and have learned that Velvets are a hydraulicly operated planetary gear box. SWEET !! I know what that is and why they shift like butter. Just no prior experience

Just a little history. I purchased the boat July of '15 from a dealer but I am the second owner. The last registration was 2010 so it sat for a while. The previous owner seems to have taken very good care of her and it was in the water when I seen her for the first time. Love at first sight so all the TLC she has gotten is truly labor of love. It's the largest boat I have owned and the first with twins.

Ensure the shifter is in neutral, then carefully disconnect the shift cable from the tranny shift lever without changing its position and move the lever manually to see if it is actually in the neutral detent all the way or not. If it moves into the neutral detent and the shaft stops spinning, ensure the shifter at the helm is still in the neutral position then adjust the cable end trunnion so it slides into the tranny shift lever in the neutral position without moving it.

If you manually move the lever into the neutral detent and the shaft continues to spin, you likely have stuck clutch plates. Check the oil to ensure it's clean and at the right level. Short of that, it's likely a teardown to fix the problem. Could be warped plates, or a control valve problem.

thanks Viper, the boat is still on the hard but i will check the cable to see if it is physicaly in neutral. the manual offered the same two suggestions clutch plate and control valve.
will start with the easy one the control valve maybe its gunked up, fluid seems to be clear.
do you know what kind of life i should expect from the ford 302's ?

tonym wrote:Source of the post ....do you know what kind of life i should expect from the ford 302's ?

Really depends on maintenance history, how the boat was used over the years, etc. more than anything. If they were always well maintained, they should last a long time, poorly maintained; not so much. While I don't stress too much about the number of hours on an engine, it's a good gauge on whether that time is soon approaching.

Why are you asking? Do you have a runability issue? How many hours on her? If you're wondering about her condition, a compression test, vacuum test, etc. will tell you a lot.