Just Once....
 

Just once I'd like to go out boating and not have something breakdown... After spending a ton of money on motor and drive upgrades it seems the weakest link are the transmissions hands down...

This is the third time in a little over a year that I've had reverse fail on a transmission... And before anyone chimes in NO it wasn't subjected to anything other than idle rpm and nowhere near the so called 2,000 rpm limit....

They are so pathetically fragile there has to be a better solution... I'll surmise that these transmissions have oh maybe three hours on them total and probably not that much. The wife and I just got back from a nice little spin and one of them just quit going into reverse...

If anyone has any reasonably priced solution I'm open for suggestions... This is getting ridiculous and I need to find something that will last an entire season....

Sorry to hear this... it's always something! Aren't the Okie boys using something that's supposed to be bullet-proof?

I feel your pain , bought boat with bad drive but I knew that going in. Bought a rebuilt Plat. XR from Teague, life is good. Testing props at LOTO doing 68mph back off throttle boat takes a right turn on its own, boom gimbel ring worn out idle back to dock within 10 ft of dock you guessed it engine coupler lets go have maybe 4hrs of boating time this year. Got a hp coupler from my main man SDFever and gimbal repaired from JR Marine got the whole thing installed today. Good news is fired the boat in the drive way and it fired right up sounding good next step is put her in the lake and see what happens. Hopefully my only problem now is gas money

Fountain4play what kind of drives are you useing and how much power you running about 600hp on my Teague thats about the only thing that hasnt failed on me supposed to be rated for 900p

I have Arneson ASD-7's and new Eddie Young 925EFI's. Drives and Motors are holding up well it's the transmissions that haven't been able to hold up and its always the reverse gear... Two of them failed last year with my Merc 525 / Whipples and they put out around 735 hp...

Contact either Tyson (bigyellowcat) here or Jim Lee here on the board. They have built a trans that I believe is what youneed. Do a search here.

did you replace the cooler and lines after the first failer ?

Should have put that in my first post...Yes the cooler was replaced each and every time...it's not the problem the transmission is what the problem is...

Call Tyson, you will want the transmissions he builds!

417-437-0665

1.When the transmission went south the first time did the same company rebuild the transmissions again?
2.Was there a warr.with the rebuild???
3. Did you buy a new trans.? or just have it rebuilt again?
Thanks

Jim

1) Yes they did the rebuilt...
2) Not anything that they would stand behind
3) Yes I bought a third new trans. as a spare and it needs to be rebuilt...

Jim

Jim --- Call these people on monday :Kalamazoo Marine Gear 2706 Portage st. Kalamazoo Mich.49001
Phone :1-269-345-0629 Ask for Mark Gernsback-- not sure he is still there , he might have retired but they will help you with your problem. I think you never should have taken the tranny back to those guys , but I dont have to tell you that now.Good luck

Jim

Assuming the linkage is adjusted properly the only reasons for failure in reverse are either too much throttle, shift at too high RPM, or using reverse to go forward.

If they are ours they have an additional plate in reverse and special friciton material. There is not much more that can be done on that style transmission.

I'll have to check the linkage again but it appears to be working and going completely in reverse when the shifter is moved.

Yes they are your 1350's and they were not shifted at too high of RPM at anytime. They were only shifted and operated at idle and used for docking only.

I make it a point to do things at idle and not use the throttle because you have said in the past that this is a cause for their failure in reverse and slow is good when moving around boats and docks.

I haven't even come close to the 2,500 RPM limit you have on your warranty sheet, Eddie Young has the idle set at around 1,000 RPM.

I do not use them to back off of the lift the boat is walked back until we clear the slip and then the motors are started so that's not a cause.

I know you have stated that you've added an additional plate but they just don't seem to be able to hold up for more than a couple of weekends at best.

I'm just guessing but was the additional plate necessitated due to an inordinate amount of failures of the reverse in the transmissions or was there some other reason for this addition?

Either way this is very frustrating and has a way of putting you off to a certain product. Especially when it causes you to miss a boating weekend and cost several thousand with each incident.

Jim, I can clearly understand your frustration. What you describe is not normal. We have, without exaggeration, multiple thousands of our transmissions in use.

A number of years ago we did have more reverse failures than I like to see. And I like to see zero.

At that time we were using 2 reverse frictions. In fact the driveline style housing was only machined for 2 max. Conventional wisdom was that an additional friction would sacrifice horsepower when in forward.

We did extensive testing and figured out that with some additional mods we could add another friction and not lose any more power in forward. Since then all our units are machined as needed and have 3 reverse frictions which is the most that can be physically accommodated.

In addition we have our frictions made with better steel for the core of the plate. Since then we just don’t have that many reverse problems.

I need to see your dead trans to try and figure out what happened. Also I would like to see a photo of the linkage/cooler lines & vent hook up. There is something else going on here.

If you want call me when you get a chance, please have the serial numbers handy so I can look up the history.

call Hubber ask for Earl vary smart man did a complete rebuild for me and still going strong he might have some idea

Marc,

I'll see if I can get the information and some additional pictures, the only problem is the boats down at the lake which is 350 miles from my home but I might be able to have someone get the info..

I should have one of the linkage it's pretty straight forward but don't have many of the rear of the motors..Not sure if this one is the new one I bought last year or the one that was just rebuilt, but I'm sure you can tell by the Serial Number... I have a total of three of them but didn't get the last one that broke rebuilt yet and have it at my shop...

Once I get the information and I'll give you a shout. I'll also check with Eddie Young he built and rigged the new motors so he would be able to answer a couple of your questions on the coolers and such...

Jim

Jim, not that i think this is the cause of your problem but I don't like to see the cable anchor on the drive shaft tunnel. After watching a video of an engine compartmant I realized how much that stuff moves around at speed. This would not be an issue at idle, unless the cover was really loose or something.

I have only seen a couple bams with reverse burnt up and both times were when a guy was trying to get his boat off a trailer in too shallow of a ramp and was at 4-5k rpm and it was probably blowing out the prop and then biteing which is probably what burnt it up.. My transmission has 5 reverse clutches that are 7 1/2 inch in diameter with a big piston that pushes on them so they should handle in 1000-1200 hp range in reverse. Mine are alittle bit overkill for your application probably. I would say send your trans back to bam so he can take a look at it and not just replace parts like some places may do. he will probably dig till he finds a reason for the failure. maybe a reverse piston o-ring with a nick in it that lets the pressure off and has just enough pressure to make the prop spin backwords but be slipping the whole time and just wears out..

The trannys got new oil coolers when I installed the engines. In fact, they are much larger than the previous ones. I installed dual cooler Eickert bell housings since they come with my engine package. The trannys previously had 2" tubular bundle coolers. They now have 8 plate coolers with all new #8 plumbing, so there is no problem there.
The cable clamp is on the driveshaft guard, since that is where Nortech puts them. I have done numerous Nortechs in the past and they are all located on the driveshaft guard. Not saying it couldn't cause a problem, I just haven't seen it happen. I simply put it back where it has been.
I have seen them smoked in reverse, but it was strictly from to much throttle and driver error. I have had excellent luck with the 3 plate trannys.
I checked the linkage and can say with 100% certainty that it is engaging fully in forward and reverse.
By the way, the engines are my 925 EFI's that make just over 1000 hp and 1050 ft lbs of torque.
Sorry to hear about that Jim. Do not hesitate to call me if there is anything that I can do. I will do whatever is neccessary to get you back on the water. Talk to you soon.
Eddie

Jim,

I have a 2007 32 skater with Arnesons asd7's bam trans about 700hp. Never had any issue with the trans and have quite a bit a time on the trans.If you are running 4 blade props the boat my ran fast but way too much harmonics. The vibration and chatter was stupid. 5 Blades resolved all issues.

I think I warned you about this before... you need the super cyborg 1500 dry sumps... only thing that worked for me...

That isn't the brightest spot for them........ I understand that it is tricky to get them mounted, but Marc is right that things can and will move around, and that shifter cable could wiggle its way out of gear.

I'm sure BAM should be able to fix your problem. Tyson and I have Speed Shift Transmisions and as Tyson said its probably an over kill for your boat. I have 1375hp per side in a 46 Skater and couldn't get anything to stay alive going forward!! I run hard so we built some Two Speed transmisions that hold up in forward and revese. You can even back off a trailer or beach and they wont smoke and or burn up. We raced to Bimini and back and they held up great as well. We took first in piston class by the way:) If anybody wants some they are 12000.00 ea. Please call 316-648-2414 for info or to order a set. Thanks, Jim Lee

Although it isn't the best option, the driveshaft guard is attached to the trans, not the transom plate. If it moves it will move with the engine and trans. Therefore, it shouldn't come out of gear.
Eddie

gotcha

did you switch to the valvoline type F? We would blow at least one bam or huber dry-sump a year. Then when we switched to valvoline fluid, and we haven't blown one in 6 yrs.... maybe it's just dumb luck.

how's the alignment..

Jass, alignment is a frequent problem, but I don't think it will kill reverse. I'm waiting to see the dead units so we can figure out what happened.

We started making a linkage kit, solves a lot of problems. Accommodates top mount starters on either side, push or pull for forward.