Hello,

Have a 2002 B1 behind a 25 Baja Outlaw with a 496mag ho (499hrs). All original, all maintenance performed earlier than normally required maintenance intervals. Have a slight delay in shifting into forward or reverse for some reason (I know forward-have to dbl check reverse). Drained fluid, no metal at all in gear oil or magnetic tip of drain plug (looked a little dark after just this one season with very low hours-using Merc Gear Lube Plus). Took off top cap, pulled out gears, gears all look fine, looked like a couple of wear type rings on the inside of a ring-not sure of that part name or number-lightly cleaned out-slight small groves). Put it all back together with new fluid, cranked on hose and seems to go into gear just fine with no delays. Have not water tested as of yet.

Just to complicate matters, put all back together with new seals top cap is leaking gear lube. Drained fluid, took off top cap again, put a straight edge at angles on top of drive and all seems just fine, thinking maybe the cap is warped? Have a Rex its cool dual drive shower, drive is spotless, no signs at all of any heat.

Possibly delayed shifting given poor viscosity of the gear lube for some reason? Possibly shift cable? Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

p.s. going to put on a new cap and new seals this weekend and pressure test before adding more fluid.

Delay could also be caused by worn cone clutch. Clutch wearing can be indicated by dark/burnt drive oil.

If the top cap was not leaking oil prior to its removal, chances are it is not warped.

Yep, I had the same problem once, and it was the cone clutch.

Thank You for your return response. Good point! It was not leaking prior to removal. I had a mechanic look at the clutch cone and it all looked perfect! No visible signs of wear or metal shavings or anything. How else can you know if something else is wrong with it other than replacing (looks like you have to buy the entire assembly now from Merc for like 1200.00 plus?).

For the most part, the clutches generally do not look "worn". If you feel the riased ridges on the cone, if they are not sharp, it is worn, possibly to the point of your problem.

Delay/Slipping for the most part, is either improper cable linkage adjustment, improper drive fluid level (to much oil in the cone can cause slipping), or worn clutch. If you are confident in the first 2, then it is likely #3.