Carver Owners Forum

Sea trial on our soon to be ours 2003 356 has a little chatter on the starboard side transmission from about 1000-1400 RPM. Goes away after 1500. Port side has no issues. Less then 250 hours on each 8.1 and almost identical hours on each. Boat ran perfectly otherwise. Thank you for any input.

Sorry for got to ad...if anybody has any ideas or had this issue? Owner says he has know about it since new but is totally willing to split the cost to have the marina look at it for an opinion.

I had the same issue but only in neutral. I was the damper plate. About a $1000.00 repair parts and labor. But verify first, it could be something more expensive.
Good luck.

Get someone to look at it and IMO the owner should cover the whole bill for repairs, it's still his boat and it'll still be a red flag to anyone else that's interested in the boat if you walk away because of it.

The chatter could be a number of things from the tranny to the engine. Tom is correct re the damper plate, could also be an engine runnability issue causing the tranny to react that way. Are you sure it's coming from the tranny? A broken off damper in a muffler can cause a chatter as well but because everything is in the same area, it may sound like it's coming from somewhere else unless it's obvious or you get up close and listen through a devise like a screw driver.

Keep us posted.

The surveyor was fairly confident it was the tranny. The boat is brokered by Skipper Bud's in Winthrop Harbor IL so we are having one of their mechanics do a diagnostic check on the noise. I agree it's the owners responsibility to a point however it is a used boat. There are going to be some issues so I'm going to wait and see what else pops up and what the pros say about this issue before we proceed with the final purchase.

Thank you all again for the info!!

For what it's worth, I'd get a third party to do the assessment so you don't have to worry about a hidden agenda on their findings. The people trying to sell her are not the ones I would have give me a report on its condition IMO, heard too many horror stories.

Hope it all works out. Keep us posted.

Which transmission are they; Borg Warner 72, 5000, Hurth 630/800?

Not sure which ones. How would I tell from the info sheet. They are V-drive Velvet Drive 20-04005. Does that help? I’m currently not on the boat.

V-drives in a 356? I thought they were all straight shafts?

Maybe they meant V as in Velvet. They are straight shafts.