Twin Disc Shifting Issue

I have twin discs mated to 3208 TA Cats and recently the port transmission is tough getting into reverse.
My first thought was a cable issue so I removed the cable and tried it and the cable moves it full stroke freely.
My next thought was that maybe it magically went out of adjustment. Adjusting the cable made no difference.
While in the engine room I can shift to reverse but again with excessive effort.
The unit has 300lbs of oil pressure and runs cool. 3400 hours

I call the local Twin Disc repair man and he said "It sounds like manifold wear. Bring it in and we can take care of it. $8000 max cost."

First of all we live aboard and bringing it in would be a disruption the Admiral would not be pleased with as it involves removing the galley floor and bringing a bunch of big heavy dirty things in and out of our home.
Secondly it seemed like a rather off the cuff diagnosis.
I thought i'd better check here for a second opinion.
Thirdly I really don't want to do that project if not necessary. It doesn't sound like fun anymore, just more work.
Anyone familiar with these units? I don't know the model since some past owner painted several coats of paint over the ID Plates. They are in a vintage 1987 Gulfstar.
I appreciated any input you may have.

Gear issues

#1----Let's ID the exact gear model.. Either reading the data tag & telling me all, or I would need very good pics from all angles and perspectives of the gear to ID it..

2) Actually, I prefer both.

3) You Twin "dick" connection is 100% trying to take advantage, MAJOR & very sad...

4) Most 3208TA CATS used a Twin Disc 507-1.. Super solid gear, but lets be sure..

Good pics , clear & in-focus.. You can post here, but also sending direct in high resolution is best for me..

tony@sbmar.com



Tony

You haven't mentioned the model # of the transmission, so no one is really going to be able to help you,
But... If, by what you have said, you mean the lever is stiffer to move than the lever on your other transmission, with the cables removed, and engine off; then it should be a simple matter to drain, remove the shaft, polish it, clean the bore, replace the orings, lubricate, and reassemble it with the transmission still in place. Many TD shift shafts can be removed from either side of the case.

A bit of acetone and fortunately the model number was stamped not printed.
Model No. MC 507-1.

In case you don't know, Tony Athens is the best expert around on this stuff.

The name sounded familiar. Does he hang around boatdiesel also.

Tony Athens said:

#1----Let's ID the exact gear model.. Either reading the data tag & telling me all, or I would need very good pics from all angles and perspectives of the gear to ID it..

2) Actually, I prefer both.

3) You Twin "dick" connection is 100% trying to take advantage, MAJOR & very sad...

4) Most 3208TA CATS used a Twin Disc 507-1.. Super solid gear, but lets be sure..

Good pics , clear & in-focus.. You can post here, but also sending direct in high resolution is best for me..

tony@sbmar.com



Tony

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Tony:

Welcome aboard.

16 years ago, I hung around on Boatdiesel.com as I was contemplating a repowering. There I came to know you as the expert with the best advice available on the net. It is good to see that you are now a part of this forum and not afraid to jump in. I know I speak for the majority of us in welcoming you to this site. We will all benefit from your involvement.

Deano said:

The name sounded familiar. Does he hang around boatdiesel also.

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That would be an understatement.

Just for reference, I had our Twin Disc rebuilt completely with new bearings etc by the TD shop in Fairhaven, MA for about $2.5K just a few years ago. I did remove and deliver the unit for repair.

Cool. Welcome Tony. I have the same setup.

Wow, checking threads today (this one because we have a Twindisc transmission), and see to great surprise that Tony Athens is now a commercial member! Welcome, Tony!

Welcome Tony Athens.

And I will also add he is an EXPERT so do as he asks and you will get help.


Deano, while the tag is readable get the serial and other numbers and noted for the future.

Welcome Tony! I just spent weeks trying to find out what oil my TD MG506-1 trannies take. TD wouldn't return calls, finally got someone on the phone who gave me the info. Great to have a pro to turn to. I've followed Tony's help on Cummins Marine Diesel Repower Specialists as we get to know our way around our new home.

507 shift issues

I had a quick chat on the phone with the poster and I think I got him sorted out.. I sent him the attached picture.................. Just water that has got down into the spool valve and has rusted it all--Gave him a few hints on how to work on it--His cost for this was cheap-----He promised he would follow up with his experience on how it all went as to the FIX and the results to help others on this forum..Hope he takes a few pics along the way.


In case any of you guys are wondering, the politics of posting help on boatdiesel over the past year went from providing help regardless if it came from another web site, to where Peter refused to let me offer other places to get the needed info.. In his mind he reasoned that I was taking away his membership dollars as all the stuff he had was 100% "free on my site", so why would someone pay?

Anyway, when I started this with Peter 18+ years ago, the intent was to provide all we could to help the boating community, and collecting $$ was not the #1 priority..................Well that lasted for about 17 yrs ( 8700+ postings later) , but membership fees became the overwhelming driving force for him, so we started boxing over this about a year ago. In the end, we just could not compromise.. So, boatdiesel now wants fees first before he offers anything but a glimpse what the site offers, or now, maybe now, Used to offer.....................................It was time to move on.....

BTW, glad to be welcomed here.. I'll do my best not to disappoint but need to balance my time too...........I also have a house payment...

Tony

I'm a supporter of Tony and sbmar, a wealth of information and a great source for quality parts that work. I'd kept subscribing to boatdiesel mostly to read Tony's posts. Glad to see him here.

I just renewed at Tony's site. I like the fact that forums are very specific (i.e. QSC) and lots of great comments.

Tony Athens said:

BTW, glad to be welcomed here.. I'll do my best not to disappoint but need to balance my time too...........I also have a house payment...

Tony

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Will continue to do my best on that count by purchasing Cummins parts and consumables from SBMAR.com

Are you no longer participating on Boat Diesel? I just renewed my membership. I have only posted a question there once, but have found answers to many questions in the archives. Of course, we also very much appreicate the articles on your website.

Moving Past Boatdiesel

Carolena,

The "politics" of sharing information, regardless of where it came from, went beyond what I thought was the purpose of what informational forums like this one were all about..

This is: To share all and learn from everyones experiences and hard work so all can benefit.. Then they hopefully will post their experiences and the system builds from there............. But somehow, Boatdiesel in the last year or so, started putting a "price tag" on what viewers could see by raising costs for the viewers on what you wanted to see.. ........ Not fair in my book nor should that be the intent in anytype on forum like this.................This started about a year ago.. I had a good run of 17+ yrs sharing all I could with no restraints.........

I decided it was time to move on when a compromise on sharing could not be reached, and now will continue share all I can for a BIG ZERO, and then let the boats owners themselves decide where they want to spend the hard earned money..


Tony

Hi Tony!


Awesome that you came here. Sbmar pages were for me a great source of information, to obtain information on Cummins engines, when I bought my boat a few months ago.


Here in Northern Europe, Cummins is a not Popular engine boats due to the Volvo Penta produces and leader the market here for a long time.


That is why the Cummins information and spare parts are here under a rock

Tony Athens said:

Carolena,

The "politics" of sharing information, regardless of where it came from, went beyond what I thought was the purpose of what informational forums like this one were all about..

This is: To share all and learn from everyones experiences and hard work so all can benefit.. Then they hopefully will post their experiences and the system builds from there............. But somehow, Boatdiesel in the last year or so, started putting a "price tag" on what viewers could see by raising costs for the viewers on what you wanted to see.. ........ Not fair in my book nor should that be the intent in anytype on forum like this.................This started about a year ago.. I had a good run of 17+ yrs sharing all I could with no restraints.........

I decided it was time to move on when a compromise on sharing could not be reached, and now will continue share all I can for a BIG ZERO, and then let the boats owners themselves decide where they want to spend the hard earned money..


Tony

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THanks for the background, Tony. For what it is worth, I'm signing up for the new forum on Sbmar. Also, not sure if you were aware, but Ski is also on this forum. I found both of your posts on Boatdiesel to be very informative. Welcome to the group. Now the most important question, what type of anchor do you have on your boat?

Anchor gear--If you want to sleep at night

I learned years ago there is only one anchor that would let me sleep good at night..

Tony

Greetings,
Mr. TA. A belated welcome aboard. Oh my...The "A" word...

Don't fall for the trap Tony......


Now back to those twin disc trannys. I found Valvoline non-detergent 30w at O'Riliey. $27 for 4 qts! I am looking for the gold....

Edited. Wrong thread Sorry.

For those new to sbmar and Tony even though I live in FL I always bought all my parts from him. Always got the right part and at reasonable prices along with excellent advice when I needed it.

You DO NOT want non-detergent oil.. Per Twin Disc, you want HD SAE 30W ( Like Rotella T or Delo 400)for most climates and 90% of the gears.. A few specify 40Wt, but NEVER non-detergent..

Nor sure where you got that info..


Tony

Tony Athens said:

You DO NOT want non-detergent oil.. Per Twin Disc, you want HD SAE 30W ( Like Rotella T or Delo 400)for most climates and 90% of the gears.. A few specify 40Wt, but NEVER non-detergent..

Nor sure what you got that info..


Tony

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Thank you Tony!

I finally had time to attempt the repair outlined by Tony. It was simple. Remove two bolts and one c-clip. The valve body did not want to come out and took some convincing. It is spring loaded so I just kept pushing it down and adding more PB Blaster until the crud was released and the whole assembly slid out except for the springs.

Transmission shifts perfectly again. Total time 1.5 hrs. Total cost $0.
Thanks again Tony.

Thanks for sharing..That's what forums like this are all about..

Favor Please--Can you send me those picture direct in high res? I'll put together a small "how to" for others to see..

Thanks, Tony

tony@sbmar.com

I did forget to show in the pictures the cap which is held on by the two bolts. This cap is slotted as is the valve stem there. It is this area that collects the contaminates that make shifting difficult. The slot limits the range of the shift throw and it doesn't much debris to shorten the throw to where it can't shift. When I have a chance to do the other side I will post better pics.