Transmission maintenance curiosity

[AKDoug]

Hello all!

I was considering having routine maintenance done of my transmission, nothing wrong with it but about 4000 hours on it. It has only had oil changes, and in some reference material I once saw it called for a rebuild at some interval. Out of curiosity I inquired at a local service shop, they quoted me over $4000 in parts alone for the service, a new replacement transmission was $1500...

What do any of you do to service your transmission? I run a Yanmar 4jh, Kanzaki transmission...

Thanks for input

 

[Ken E.]

Doug, beyond routine maintenance as per the manufacturer, if it ain't broke...........

 

[Cigatoo]

I ran a Yanmar with Kanzaki for years. Mechanical gear. Just keep changing the oil. If things start to wear you will experience delayed engagement. I had mine rebuilt when that started to happen. Was about $1500 plus the damper plate. Plate was $900. Ouch!,

 

[Cigatoo]

I changed oil every 100 hours or yearly. Straight 30 weight.

 

[O C Diver]

Different transmission but same idea.
I have a ZF 280.1. Holds about a gallon of straight 30 weight oil. Change it every 500 hours or once a year. Nothing ever failed because the oil got changed too many times. Have the oil analyzed by Blackstone. I'm looking for wear metals and salt. If you have a transmission cooler going bad, you may get elevated sodium levels (this happened to me, caught it early). If you're transmission cooler doesn't have an anode (pencil zinc), you might think about replacing it before it fails. Other than that, just keep using it until it starts having problems.

Ted

 

[caltexflanc]

Routine oil and filter change maintenance and an oil analysis at every change.

 

[Comodave]

I change the oil every year or 250 hours. I am getting ready to change the damper plate in one since I have the engine out. And I am going to replace the oil coolers since I don’t know how old they are.

 

[Brooksie]

If a Velvet Drive, I have rebuilt a couple of them both for myself, son, friends. A kit with all seals, gaskets, springs, plates is available for under $200 you will seldom need any hard parts. You may go through 2-3 damper plates b/4 needing to look into your velvet drive.
I had 2 incidents which demonstrate how strong these transmissions are. One time while under full power, someone on the bridge knocked the shift into neutral with a knee, b/4 I could act she slammed it back into gear seconds later. No damage. Another time made a 40 mile trip in from fishing grounds and found transmission wouldn't go into reverse. After finally picking up mooring found there was nothing but salt water in the transmission due to cooler failure. Also no damage after changing oil several times.
I think your time would be better spent keeping an eye on your damper plate and making sure you have a new copper/nickel cooler in place and the old one aboard as a spare.

 

[SoWhat]

Doug, beyond routine maintenance as per the manufacturer, if it ain't broke...........

dittto. Keep the oil full, don't slam it into gear, don't run WOT in reverse, could last another 4000.

 

[AKDoug]

Much appreciate the responses, it was a curiosity question rather than "need". I can see where replacing the raw water cooling might be wise before it has a chance to fail. It is (so far) functioning as designed with no quirks!

 

[Nomad Willy]

WOT in reverse

dittto. Keep the oil full, don't slam it into gear, don't run WOT in reverse, could last another 4000.

Why not run full bore in reverse?
Obviously one wouldn’t do that for much more than a few seconds.

 

[Simi 60]

Change oil and filter every 1000 hours on mine
Every 10 hours give a shot of grease in the rear seal

Deep sump model holds 11 gallons of 30 weight oil

From the manual...

Lubrication
Grease the oil seals on the output end of the output shaft through the grease fitting with water pump (lithium soap-based NLGI No. 2) grease. Apply grease every 100 hours or when the boat is docked.
No other lubrication is required beyond the daily oil check.

Oil System
OilLevel
The oil level should be checked daily or every 10 hours. Check oil level before starting the engine to confirm that the transmission has oil in it. With the engine running at low idle and the transmission in Neutral, check the oil again. The oil level should be near the “low” oil level mark. Transmission oil temperature should be in the normal operating range prior to finalizing the oil level between the low and full marks on the oil level gauge.
Oil and Filter Change Interval
With a new transmission, change the oil and filter element within the first 50 hours of operation. Change oiland filter element aftereach 1000 hours thereafter or more often if conditions warrant.
For a rebuilt transmission, check the filter element after eight hours of operation. If the filter is clean, install a new filter element and then change the oil and filter element after 1000 hours of service. If the filter is dirty, change the element and operate for another eight hours. Check the filter again. Continue this cycle until the filter is clean and then change the oil and filter after 1000 hours of service or more often if conditions warrant.