Update on this thread:
When we were in the yard in
San Diego, I was referred to a diesel
mechanic (Vince Balch) who estimated $5000 for a new
transmission plys labor, and
sold me a "sweet little Volvo" he had in his shop, a 2003T. It failed by Ensenada; I went on craigslist and found a tired 2003 (30hp) to drop in. Nothing but trouble since.
A
mechanic in
La Paz later informed me that while he hated Volvo's for their parts cost, the ZF/Hurth transmissions used by Pisces were notoriously weak and troublesome, and now that I am preparing to install a
Perkins 4-108 he suggests I use the transmission from my
Volvo. He prefers their 'cone'
clutch mechanism, and the overall quality.
The other issue is that my problems started when previous owner replaced the 7-degree angled transmission with a straight (off-center) unit, and failed to mount it correctly; the
Volvo also required some cutting/shaping of the mounting frames to make it
work. Apparently down-angle transmissions are rare, and most installations accept an amount of tilt; this seems wrong, in terms of
oil starvation in large seas. I guess you just keep it topped off.
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