Transmission Won’t Neutral

[Beckettnole]

My stuffing box failed on the mooring ball and long story short, I got water in the oil pan.

Good news is that after changing the oil three times I was able to get her cranked up and running for a bit while on the hard.

That said, I noticed that my prop axle would spin, even in neutral. I opened the transmission up and noticed the oil was still milky in the bottom so I have another oil change or two in my future.

Please find a youtube video link of me manually shifting while the transmission is open in the hope that maybe you could lend me some advice.


[YOUTUBE] https://youtu.be/nkcKE4zuXo4[/YOUTUBE]

https://youtu.be/nkcKE4zuXo4

Thank you everyone so much as always!

Ryan Beckett
C&C 30 MK1

[ArtJ]

On my boat the only thing preventing shaft to neutral rotate is the tightness
of stuffing box- other than playing with shifter in neutral for sweet spot

[jcwright]

Hello Ryan.

Here is an old thread you may find helpful. As you'll see, other people describe similar prop shaft spin in neutral:

https://moyermarineforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5416

Unless it is dead calm, the prop spin I get isn't enough to move my boat on its mooring. My impression is that the amount of spin depends on temperature and grade of oil.

Jack.

[Dave Neptune]

It's just the friction of the "oil" between the "released" discs. Totally normal with a well adjusted stuffing box. A good thing.

Do get rid of the milky oil. It can evaporate a bit in the block and the moisture condensing somewhere else not in the oil can cause rust and sticky things.

Dave Neptune

[Beckettnole]

Thank you everyone! I’ll give it a try

[Mo]

Agree with Dave Neptune. It is not uncommon to have a slightly spinning prop in neutral...at the best of times. Another oil change might sort you out. Typically water in oil takes about 3 to 4 oil changes to get it out...even after that you might have water drops on the dip stick.