Carver Owners Forum

I read through the 89 post regarding velvet drives and gained enough insight to simply ask a few questions before proceeding.
So I have the 20-01-005 Velvet Drive as shown. I have put about 75 hours on the boat since I purchased it last summer mainly driving it almost home. Total hours currently are 444 and 435.

Dipstick is showing add at the bottom line which I would call a quart low after sitting a few days. Half way on the stick after it is warmed up.

Is it due for a transmission fluid change?
Some older vehicles never have the fluid changed because they slip after changing the old fluid.
With only 365 hours on a 20 year old boat I have no idea when it was changed last. Since the bottom and top risers were replaced last year, boat was on a monthly maintenance program. I would like to think the fluid was maintained but I really dont know.

It doesnt look burnt, actually pretty clear considering what I would expect it to look like.

So would ya change the fluid? If so I saw Dextron II and straight hydraulic fluid in the post but I wasnt clear on what this unit takes.

If you would change it? How often? Months? Hours?

What should I expect from this unit in the future? I mean known problems and issues that ya may have seen?

I am on a land locked 330,000 acre lake that is 7 by 16 miles so the boat doesnt go far on each of my trips out.

Thanks to everyone for your knowledge and support

It does not look bad, but if you have no data on if or when it was ever changed, then I would change it at a convenient time. Auto transmissions are completely different. They have problems after you disturb the system because very tiny dirt gets lodged in places that it shouldn't. The hydraulics in a Velvet Drive are much simpler and more tolerant (and you don't normally have as much dirt hanging around to get into the system).


Also, see if there is a screen that needs to be serviced (cleaned) when you're doing the fluid change.

Here is an idea.You could suck out maybe 1/2 quart and replace that with fresh ( the same ) and so on if you are concerned with changing all and having all that new fluid clean things, over time you will get it all......I know exactly what you are concerned about.

What should I expect from these units in the future? Known issues or problems if ya know of any or own a boat with these trans units?

Thanks in advance

I would bet a couple bucks that there are more of the Velvet Drive transmissions out there than any other make in the 80's and 90's.
They are pretty stout. You have a damper plate that connects the drive to the engine that can fail and the clutch pack in the trans that can fail. Other than that not a lot of things to go wrong.

A new damper plate is about $150 and a complete rebuild kit with new clutches is about $250. This of course does not include required labor to remove repair and reinstall the trans, which can be significant.

Thanks Tom for the update on the transmissions.
I really appreciate your insight.

Those are pretty robust units that aren't really prone to failure unless there has been a poor maintenance history or an impact earlier where the unit wasn't dismantled for inspection.

Change the oil. This will give you a reference date for the last time it was done. You can use Dextron III. Velvet Drive will tell you to replace the oil every 500 hours or yearly which ever comes first unless it' a new transmission which requires shorter oil change intervals at the beginning.

Thanks Viper and appreciate your insight and knowledge

Well I could hear some abnormal chatter from the starboard side engine/drive at 3000 rpms or at least that is where it sounded like it was coming from 3 trips ago.
I topped off the trans fluid with a half a quart in each unit. Took the boat back out last Sunday and I hear nothing.
Took the boat out weds from noon to 6 pm cruising mainly but I did hit 5000 rpms once or twice with 64 degree water and I have found cooler water makes it runs stronger rpms.
I mainly cruise between 1400 to 2500 rpms. Checked for noise at all rpms on last two trips and heard nothing.
Thankful I dont need to to anything to the velvet drives at this point and I really appreciate everyone's insight and knowledge. May have been the lack of use over the wintertime as I only took it out 6 or 8 times? Time will tell and thanks Gentlemen

Keep in mind that there are a few things that will cause a transmission chatter such as a poorly tuned engine. And a chatter that may seem to be coming from the transmission could in fact be a damper plate on the engine. Because of it's proximity to the transmission, it's an easy misdiagnosis.