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Old 06-21-2008, 11:18 AM
SEMIJim SEMIJim is offline
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Reversing Gear Slippage Issues?

Hi All,

We have a 1976 Pearson P30. A4 is original (we assume). She has a Martek folding prop.

Coming back from our first, and, so far, only , sail this year, a couple weeks ago, we experienced a problem that felt like the prop was fouled, and we couldn't seem to clear it. Would've found a place to pull over and dive on her, but had no goggles and the water was all of about 51 degrees F. Too cold for that. So instead we proceeded back to her slip as gently as possible. By the time we got back to the slip, and after a couple more gentle attempts to clear the prop, she was actually feeling normal again.

The following Sunday we took her down the canal a bit to check her out. She seemed to behave properly, sounded and felt right, gradually going up to 4 kts in the canal. Got to an open spot with a bit of maneuvering room and tried to accelerate. Engine revved-up suddenly. She wasn't popping out-of-gear. Did some more experiments. We can get her up to 6 kts (comfortable cruising speed in quiet water with no head wind), but it has to be done quite gradually.

Already had the Moyer manual. Bought the reversing gear DVD. (Highly recommended, btw.) Last Sunday: Went through it. She is clicking into forward firmly. Trying to tighten one notch results in shifting so stiff that my wife can barely get her out of forward with all her might. (It took all my strength to get it out of foward, from below, while working on it from the quarter berth.)

The neutral zone seems about right. We've had occasional problems with slippage in reverse, but I'm pretty sure that's because one of the overly-long plug wires keeps getting looped around the shift lever, preventing its full travel to reverse. (I'm going to order new wires from Moyer to fix that problem.)

I'm going to dive on the bottom this weekend to make sure the prop and shaft are clear, but she feels good, other than the slippage, so I'm guessing I'll find nothing there.

I suspect the problem is insufficiently fine adjustment in the forward forcing cone adjustment "nut." Assuming that's the case: It looks like our choices are live with the slippage or... not use the boat, as she's unusable tighter.

So, assuming a rebuilt reversing gear is in our boat's future, I have a couple questions:
  1. Can we trust this thing the rest of the season to not leave us stranded, or should we locate a mechanic and order a rebuilt reversing gear ASAP?
  2. Can the reversing gear be replaced with the engine in-place, by simply disconnecting the prop shaft and moving it back? If it can, can this be done with the boat in the water, or will she have to be hauled?
Thanks for bearing with me through the story. Sorry it's so long, but I felt y'all needed the whole story.

Jim
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