Adjusting reverse band

[Mark Millbauer]

My forward gear was slipping under full power. I tried wet clutch motorcycle oil with no improvement so I went ahead and adjusted the forward collar one notch. (mine is the just old enough to have the older style collar with fewer, wider notches). Now it no longer slips. However, it seems to require a little more pressure to get it into gear but it does go and as there always was, it has a good detent. So now to the new issue: There is very little neutral now. I know that I would have to adjust the nut on the reversing band but am not sure by how much. Due to limited access, I don't relish the thought of repeated attempts of trial and error to adjust it. Any idea how far to back of the nut to get a little more neutral?

Mark
C27 Solution

[baileyem]

Mark,
I don't have an answer for today's question, but have one for you instead: Do you still have the wet clutch motorcycle oil in your transmission and is it rated as a motor oil? The engine oill and the transmission oil in an A4 are one-in-the-same. There is no real separation between the transmission case and the crankcase.
It would be a shame to ruin the engine if the two oils are not compatable.

Mike

[MikeB.330]

Motor cycle oil will not hurt the engine however it may be a bit on the thin side since it's not straight 30 weight oil. Motorcycle oil has additives to help it survive being sliced to death by the transmission gears. Almost all motorcycles but Harley Davidsons, are like our A4 in that the crank case and tranny share the same supply of oil. no worries there

That said, I would change it out in favor of straight sae 30 dino juice.

As for adjusting the reversing band. it's going to be trial and error and it all depends on how much travel you have in your shift linkage. I would start with maybe 3/4 of a turn and go from there.

good luck
Mike

[rpowers]

Reverse adjusting band

Hi Mark,

If you search for previous threads on this topic, you'll see plenty of info on how to do it, including instructions from Don Moyer himself.

http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2819&highlight=reverse+adjusting+band

[Mark Millbauer]

Thanks for the input.
4 stroke motorcycle is good oil but with no anti friction additives like the modern car motor oils. The Valvoline I used is rated quite well. Several A4 users have used it (4 stroke motorcycle oil) because it is designed for engines and transmissions that work in rough environments and share the motor oil and contain wet clutches like our A4's. I felt that it was worth a try and am not at all worried about it hurting the engine. If anything, it's probably better than off the shelf motor oils designed for modern cars with low emission additives and less zinc and ratings far advanced that what Universal called for.

Before adjusting the forward collar, I had a nice neutral range, good reverse, and a decent detent into forward. It just slipped when pushing hard at full throttle. Now that I have to do more adjustments to get the transmission right and know that in this case, the oil for wet clutch systems didn't help, I'll change back to a standard oil next change. I tend to change my oil about every 25 hours anyway. On a related note, it is getting hard to find straight 30 weight with the SG rating anymore.

Mark
C27, Solution

[sastanley]

Mark,

Caleb D loves the Shell Rotella SAE 30, which I found at Wal-mart this past fall, based on his suggestion and satisfactory results. I think it meets all the criteria, but the jug is on the boat so I can't be sure. This was good news for me since I already use their 15w40 in my old Cherokee with 228K miles, which burns a little oil, and I also use their 5w40 synthetic in my imported & rebuilt engine in my project Civic with only 10K miles on the rebuilt engine.

edit - Sorry - I have the Rotella T SAE30 here in the garage ...It meets SJ standards. Shell Rotella T Heavy Duty SAE 30. I found it at Wal-Mart in a 1 gallon container.

[captain kenny]

reverse

I just did mine, and this is not as difficult as you may think just give the nut one position move in the tighten direction, make sure you can manually turn the output shaft. When you come out of foward you will probably start to touch reverse then push forward a little that is your neutral before the big foward detent. Go slow and methodical. I learned so will you.