bford1

I picked up my Formula 357 Friday from South Austin Marine for our first lake weekend. At least it waited until Sunday afternoon to do this:

I was running around 3200 rpm when I felt a loss of power and saw the starboard tach hit the ceiling. I shut it down and discovered I have no forward on the starboard engine. It still works in reverse. I limped back and put it on the trailer.

I'm running blown 454s and TRS drives with Merc trannys (I think they're the mercs). I spun the props by hand in neutral and the starboard prop was much harder to turn than the port.

So, is this my tranny for sure? Assuming it is should I try to replace both or rebuild the one? Any opinions?


Thanks in advance guys.


Brent

FWK

I doubt your 357 has the merc trans more than likely you have B/W trans. I would do both but it is not a cheap rebuild. Talk to BAM or HUBER they will rebuild and upgrade your transmissions. Huber is closer he is in TN.

marinetrans

We rebuild alot of MercTrans. Usually its the fwd. pack that needs to be replaced. It will work in rev. because it uses a band not clutch plates. You can usually rebuild them if the cooler hasn't broke open and pumped in saltwater. But a blower on these trans. is not good. Merc's rating is around 350hp. We have them out there w/ 600-650hp but in single engine 24-26ft boats. Also check drive damper on back of flywheel. Most parts are NLA for these. PM me if you want.

marinetrans

BTW, hopes its a Borg-waner like FWK said.

bford1

Thanks. How can I tell if it's a Merc tranny or BW?

Man this really sucks. I've only had this boat for a few months and spent about $2000 on service and rebuilding the port outdrive. Welcome to the world of high performance boating huh?

I'm sure there's no way to pull the transmissions without pulling the engines first is there? That's a job I can't take on myself. So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point.

marinetrans

Does the drive end yoke have a spring on the end or does it have splines like a Bravo/Alpha? A spring on the end would be a MercTrans, while the B/W set-up has splines.

FWK

The merc trans is a one piece unit bell housing and trans in one piece. the B/W has a bell housing and a seperate transmission. Good luck.

force 320

had the same problems with my b/w trannys, hard to turn by hand and the prop turned in neutral. The forward clutch pack had warped all the plates. I rebuilt them with the graphite clutches and no problem yet

bford1

Thanks guys. I'll check it out tomorrow and be back online. Thanks again for your support.

open87

iTrader: (2)

i have a spare b/w for a trs- pm me if interested..