Will not go into gear

[Popeye46]

I have a sailing cat with two volvo D2-55 coupled to130SB saildrives and folding props. Port engine will not go into gear forward or astern. Went underwater, spun prop manually unfolded OK and would only spin one way, not sure if it was in gear. Checked oil port saildrive took half litre starboard saildrive OK, checked selector travel OK.
I removed both saildrives about 10 engine hours ago to replace the diaphrams, the saildrives were given to a mechanic to remove the props and replace seals. When i reinstalled the drives I filled both drives with 5- 40w oil so the port drive used half a litre over 10 hours.
I have read the posts on this forum regarding the same problem but they were for 110 saildrives, I thought mine may be different.
Any advice would be more than welcome.
Thank you

[AllenRbrts]

When you say it doesn't go into gear, do you mean the shifter doesn't move or when the shifter is not in neutral the prop doesn't spin? Sail drives should not lose oil. If they do, one of the seals is bad. If you have oil leaking in the engine compartment, the front seal is bad. Usually you will gain oil if the rear seal is bad because water will come in. Is your oil milky?

[stormalong]

Have you checked the gear shift linkage?

[Popeye46]

Originally Posted by AllenRbrts

When you say it doesn't go into gear, do you mean the shifter doesn't move or when the shifter is not in neutral the prop doesn't spin? Sail drives should not lose oil. If they do, one of the seals is bad. If you have oil leaking in the engine compartment, the front seal is bad. Usually you will gain oil if the rear seal is bad because water will come in. Is your oil milky?

Oil not milky, slight rattle in engine (not a diesel knock). When in forward or reverse the shifter lever on top of gearbox is at the full extent of it’s travel and the engine can be revved to 2000 rpm with no propulsion evident from the folding prop. Dived under and i could unfold and spin the prop one way but not the other. Got a mate to start the engine and engage astern, prop started to spin but had no thrust, engaged in forward prop did not unfold and shaft did not spin. That’s all I’ve got, but stay tuned
I ‘ll take the top off the gearbox and see if the shifter is shifting.
Thank you for your response

[AllenRbrts]

Originally Posted by Popeye46

Oil not milky, slight rattle in engine (not a diesel knock). When in forward or reverse the shifter lever on top of gearbox is at the full extent of it’s travel and the engine can be revved to 2000 rpm with no propulsion evident from the folding prop. Dived under and i could unfold and spin the prop one way but not the other. Got a mate to start the engine and engage astern, prop started to spin but had no thrust, engaged in forward prop did not unfold and shaft did not spin. That’s all I’ve got, but stay tuned
I ‘ll take the top off the gearbox and see if the shifter is shifting.
Thank you for your response

I'm not an expert on the 130, but I have had a couple of clutches go bad. In my experience, usually only one direction fails and it usually doesn't completely fail, just slips a lot. However I'm convinced the clutches are very delicate and easily wrecked. Perhaps the low oil did them in, but that doesn't seem like low enough to cause a catastrophic failure. Be interesting to know what the problem turns out to be.

[jen1722terry]

I know nothing of cats and saildrives. I did, however have a problem with a transmission slipping then finally failing to move the prop shaft.

What make/model of trannys do you have in the boat. Our problem was with the ZF-10. It failed, was replaced, then failed again after only 90 hours. I got another installed by the factory under warranty. Rapid wear of clutch bearings seemed to be the problem.

Good luck!

[Kerry1]

I have a D2-55 with sail drive on our Bavaria 38, which I recently had problems with getting into and out of gear. The following post may be of use:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...le-213631.html

[Kerry1]

Looking down on the shifter lever on top of the saildrive gearbox, the gear is in neutral when the lever is at right angles to the engine crankshaft. When the lever is fully forward, towards the bow, the drive is in reverse, when towards the stern, the drive should be engaged in forward gear. Have you had someone observe the gear lever while another is operating the gear lever topside? This will eliminate the problem I had with the linkage system. The gear lever may be manually shifted from the engine compartment if the cable/linkage system has an issue. Just make sure you are well co-ordinated with the skipper topsides!

[Popeye46]

The vessel has electronic morse controls, an actuater moves the shifter a preset distance to engage forward or reverse. I have checked the operation of the shift lever and when activated it moves the full extent of it’s travel in both forward and reverse. I will be going into to the gearbox, however before I do I need to study the workshop manual for the 130S-B saildrive. I have tried to download the workshop manual on line, however there are a lot of dodgy sites offering free downloads and still want credit card details. Volvo will not give or sell the workshop manual to anyone but a dealer. Nonetheless I managed to find a dealer who will provide the workshop manual providing I buy the parts off him. I will have the manual in a couple of days and the first thing is to ascertain how far I can go into the gearbox without hauling out.

[AllenRbrts]

You can do a full clutch rebuild without a haulout. If I remember correctly you can remove the shift cover and move the shift collar. I think you are looking right down on the clutches. Maybe you can see what is going on and why it is slipping.

Removing the upper unit is not too hard, but dissembling the clutch/gear needs a hydraulic press and good understanding of how to put it back together. I have watched it being done a couple of times. Perhaps you could get your mechanic to help you with that part. Be sure you replace the seals when you reassemble.

[Henryh]

Popeye
It sounds like you may have a broken damper plate.
To inspect it you need to move the engine away from the saildrive.

Henry