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View Full Version : I Need Help with my Volvo Outdrive!!



Rob
06-06-2001, 09:34 PM
I think after 30 years my outdrive may have finally given up. It's a 1971 250B model. Here is the problem: When I put in gear (forward or reverse) and everything is fine. Once I start to give it any throttle past idle, it starts to slip (again, forward or reverse, but seemingly worse in forward).

If this was my inboard, I would say it would be the drive plate that connects the transmission input shaft to the flywheel. But I don't know if outdrives are configured the same way. Is there something wrong with the outrive itself? It seems to go into forward and reverse just fine. Is there possibly something wrong with the cone clutch assembly?

All my previous experience is with inboards. This is the first outdrive I have ever owned. I would appreciate any help all you Volvo experts out there can provide.

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Rob

BigGrizzly
06-07-2001, 08:10 AM
Easy fix, two problems 1)the lpat on the outdrive is loose and the guide isn"t doing its job or guide is bad. 2) the cone clutches are slipping. In that case take out the cone clutch both r and r and the hub qnd lap them together with valve grinding compound forward then reverse cones, reinstall DON'T get the male and female mixwd up. I do put foward in the reverse in the reverse and vise versa because of the use factor. then fill with Hypoid gear oil 75-90 NOT 30 wt. like the manual says-> this had been updated in the 70's but never made it into the manuals. Volvo used the term "For V8 applications"

Randy

Jamesbon
06-07-2001, 09:06 AM
Have you ruled out the possibility of the the propellers hub being worn out?

Rob
06-07-2001, 09:15 AM
Jamesbon, excellent catch! That should have been the first thing I checked. I was so focused on the potential outdrive issue I forgot to check the basics.

I'll do that tonight when I get home.

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Rob

Forrest
06-07-2001, 10:39 AM
Yea, I would bet that it's your prop hub as well, but if you do go into it, don't forget to re-shim everyting. It's not really all that difficult to do.

Randy, really? Hypoid gear oil in a Volvo-Penta 2xx out drive? As far as I have always known, Volvo-Penta has always recommend motor oil of one sort or another in these drives. When I went to Volvo-Penta service school in the early '80's, we drilled the factory folks on what is the best lube for their drives and they kept insisting on either 10w30 or 10w40. Knowing that motor oil is absolutly terrible on dealing with the shearing loads found in meshing gears, I contacted Red Line Oil (http://www.redlinoil.com) to ask what they would recommend for a non-hypoid gearbox that uses cone clutches where the factory recommended a 10w30 or 10w40 motor oil. They recommended their MTL or MT-90 product which is a synthetic non-hypoid, GL-4 rated gear old. Aparently GL-5 (hypoid) has a special friction modifier that is too slippery for cone clutches - the same problem that you find if you put GL-5 gear oil in a BMW manual transmission. The wrong gear oil going into a BMW manual transmissions happens all the time at Jiffy Lube sort of places, and immeditally, people think that their transmission is worn out since it doesn't shift easily anymore. What has happened in this case, is that there is not enough friction for the syncronizers to engauge quickly enough to keep the dogs from grinding. Anyway Randy, I figure that you have been running GL-5 in your Volvo-Penta outdrive and giving it hell, and it does seem to be holding up just fine.

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Forrest

[This message has been edited by Forrest (edited 06-07-2001).]

BigGrizzly
06-07-2001, 07:47 PM
Well A service teck from Volvo gave me that info in the mid 70's. All of my Volvos from the 16 to the Corsican have it. What the rep told me is if I don't and put some real Hp to it the gears and brarings suffer, then Split the upper case. Especially if I crank high RPMs. AS you well know I'm not easy on it. I twist the heck out of it. It also makes the cones engage smooth, and only have to lap them in once. Jeffr Posner of posner's marine in Pensicola, will tell you the same thing. The gear oil hasn't cost me any speed at all. Just for fun match the sheer strength of gear oil with 10-30 or 10-40 and straight 30. that will tell you somting. Now I do use Amsoil tho, my sponsor gave it to me, and I'm really glade he did. just double insurance. However the 16 has somthing I bough from Pen-Jersey auto store. I won't go into the BMW trans subject, but the trans is the worst part of the car, and its prety good anyway.
Rob I will call you to nite.

Randy

[This message has been edited by BigGrizzly (edited 06-07-2001).]

Rob
06-07-2001, 09:14 PM
As Jamesbon predicted, the problem turn out to be a bad hub on my Ultra prop. I could tell as soon as I took it off and turned it over. The inner hub was way off center compared to the blade section of the prop. I'm surprised the hub went bad so quickly. It's not like my 30 year old 302 is putting out much hp at this point. Does anyone know of a replacement hub that might last a little longer?

Anyway, I put my old aluminum Volvo tug boat prop back on and everything was lovely. Except its not very well balanced and I hate the torque it puts on the steering at high speed.

Off to the prop rebuilders!!

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Rob

Rob
06-07-2001, 10:07 PM
BTW Jamesbon, you also saved me for a trip I am planning to Lake of the Ozarks this weekend. After I ran into the slipping problem, I had resigned myself to taking the Mastercraft instead of the Donzi. Now the Donzi is sitting on the trailer ready to go!

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Rob

Forrest
06-08-2001, 09:55 AM
Send it to Admiral C&B Propeller (http://www.acbprop.com/) in Tampa. They are one of the few people who know what they are doing on Volvo Ultra prop re-hub jobs and you will never have to re-hub it again. About $85.00. Also, they will turn it around in less than a couple of days anytime of the year.

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Forrest