Velvet Drive - Help!

forever draggin · 11-05-2009, 08:28

hi, guys...im brand new to the forum and im desperatly looking for a velvet drive guru. first of all let me just say that i wasnt sure where to put this thread, so i hope its in the correct place and apoligize if it isnt. I live in south louisiana and have a 16ft fiberglass mudboat with a 80hp subaru EA82 and a 72 series velvet drive cluth with a 1:1 ratio. I have been fighting this velvet drive for a year now and cant figure out what the deal is. i bought this boat used and everything was fine. ran her a few times with no problems and one day i noticed a small leak behind the shift linkage. i was told it was just the oring that was prob bad and i decided to just keep an eye on it. well i was hunting one weekend and noticed that i had a boat full of atf, didnt have any extra in the boat and by the time i made it back to the landing the clutch was slipping real bad. the transmission fluid was comming not from the selector valve but from the vent that was on top of the clutch. note: it wasnt comming from the top of the vent but from the bottom where the vent actually meets the clutch housing. i got her home and filled her back up with atf and took her back out the next day for a lil while just to make sure i didnt mess anything up. well apprently i did. when the shifter was in neutral it was actually still in forward. talked to a guy that owns an automotive transmission shop and he said it seems that i may have spun a bushing and that the oil was still getting past the bushing while the clutch was in neutral. so i bought the parts and he rebuilt the clutch. once he took the clutch down he showed me the disc and i ended up having to replace all the forward disc and the reverse disc as well as a rebuild kit with all the orings and etc. also he seen that the vent that the oil was comming out of was clogged really bad so he gave me a plastic one with a lil cap that just kinda floats on top. he uses them on auto trans. so i got the boat back took it out and still it leaks oil out of the vent. of course now that the vent is clogged it comes out through the top of the vent. so i decided to extend the line, added a 12" piece of hose on top the vent and put another vent on top of that hose...figureing that the oil wouldnt rise that high. well it did. so after talking to a few people i hear that the only reason this will happen if the clutch is overfull. so i filled the clutch up while the boat is on the trailer to the full mark and when run her all day. it leaked out here and there untill eventually it started slipping. as soon as it started to slip i stopped her and checked the fluid and it had leaked all the fluid out. so i put some more and i came back in and called a few people and no one knows why the clutch would leak all the fluid out. everyone said it should have stopped when it got the the correct fluid level. so i tried some 5w20 motor oil because its a lil thicker and it still does the same thing. please help me guys, what do u think is wrong with her? i have been battling this for a year now and i love the boat, but this makes me want to sell her cause im sick of dumping money into this clutch.

GordMay · 12-05-2009, 04:39

For Velvet Drive Transmission factory assistance, goto:
Email: marinesupport@velvetdrive.com
or
Velvet Drive Transmissions/Marine
Liberty, SC
Phone: 864-843-9234
Fax: 864-843-1276

Joli · 12-05-2009, 04:45

Maybe try here. Hale Marine.com, Your marine parts supplier since 1953

11-05-2009, 08:28	#1
forever draggin Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 1	Velvet Drive - Help! hi, guys...im brand new to the forum and im desperatly looking for a velvet drive guru. first of all let me just say that i wasnt sure where to put this thread, so i hope its in the correct place and apoligize if it isnt. I live in south louisiana and have a 16ft fiberglass mudboat with a 80hp subaru EA82 and a 72 series velvet drive cluth with a 1:1 ratio. I have been fighting this velvet drive for a year now and cant figure out what the deal is. i bought this boat used and everything was fine. ran her a few times with no problems and one day i noticed a small leak behind the shift linkage. i was told it was just the oring that was prob bad and i decided to just keep an eye on it. well i was hunting one weekend and noticed that i had a boat full of atf, didnt have any extra in the boat and by the time i made it back to the landing the clutch was slipping real bad. the transmission fluid was comming not from the selector valve but from the vent that was on top of the clutch. note: it wasnt comming from the top of the vent but from the bottom where the vent actually meets the clutch housing. i got her home and filled her back up with atf and took her back out the next day for a lil while just to make sure i didnt mess anything up. well apprently i did. when the shifter was in neutral it was actually still in forward. talked to a guy that owns an automotive transmission shop and he said it seems that i may have spun a bushing and that the oil was still getting past the bushing while the clutch was in neutral. so i bought the parts and he rebuilt the clutch. once he took the clutch down he showed me the disc and i ended up having to replace all the forward disc and the reverse disc as well as a rebuild kit with all the orings and etc. also he seen that the vent that the oil was comming out of was clogged really bad so he gave me a plastic one with a lil cap that just kinda floats on top. he uses them on auto trans. so i got the boat back took it out and still it leaks oil out of the vent. of course now that the vent is clogged it comes out through the top of the vent. so i decided to extend the line, added a 12" piece of hose on top the vent and put another vent on top of that hose...figureing that the oil wouldnt rise that high. well it did. so after talking to a few people i hear that the only reason this will happen if the clutch is overfull. so i filled the clutch up while the boat is on the trailer to the full mark and when run her all day. it leaked out here and there untill eventually it started slipping. as soon as it started to slip i stopped her and checked the fluid and it had leaked all the fluid out. so i put some more and i came back in and called a few people and no one knows why the clutch would leak all the fluid out. everyone said it should have stopped when it got the the correct fluid level. so i tried some 5w20 motor oil because its a lil thicker and it still does the same thing. please help me guys, what do u think is wrong with her? i have been battling this for a year now and i love the boat, but this makes me want to sell her cause im sick of dumping money into this clutch.

12-05-2009, 04:39	#2
GordMay Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W Boat: C.L.O.D. (Cruiser Living On Dirt) Posts: 12,576	For Velvet Drive Transmission factory assistance, goto: Email: marinesupport@velvetdrive.com or Velvet Drive Transmissions/Marine Liberty, SC Phone: 864-843-9234 Fax: 864-843-1276 __________________ Gord May ~~_/)_~~ (Gord & Maggie - "Southbound") "If you didn't have time/$ to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"

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12-05-2009, 04:45	#3
Joli Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,588	Maybe try here. Hale Marine.com, Your marine parts supplier since 1953