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Grinding noise in neutral


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Last year right before I put the boat up, the shop had it to fix damage from hitting a stump. The first time I put it in the water, I heard something that sounded like grinding when I was in neutral. But, it was only when I had the shifter "straight up" in neutral. If I had it slightly off of being true vertical but was still in neutral, it wouldn't make the noise.

The first time I heard it, I called the wife back to the ramp so we could reload on the trailer. By that time, it had stopped. So I mentioned it to the repair shop and they had it again, but of course it never happened when they had it.

Fast forward to this year. It ran great Thursday night and then made the sound again for a short while today. We were boarding for about 3 hours, and it only made the noise between one set. And again, if I was just in neutral without the shifter being truly vertical, no sound (even though the transmission was in neutral). Put the stick straight up, and the sound showed up again. After switching riders, it never did it again the rest of the day.

Any ideas? My wife might have got a video clip of it on her phone today. I'll see if I can post that up later.

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Pete? Anyone? One more bump on this. I plan to call the shop tomorrow, but doubt their ability to diagnose this (or repeat it even). I was hoping someone here had some ideas. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

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That actually may be a good guess. It sounds like it is back near the v-drive/tranny. I hesitate to just leave it making that sound and crawl around trying to isolate it since I don't know what may be getting damaged during that time. However, I would think if it is the damper plate, the noise would be more consistent or repeatable.

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We have a good friend who has a 2003 23xti does the same thing at times. Same issue, dealer never could get it to happen. I hope this is not a precursor to a damper plate failure!

Edited by Malibuzer
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Interesting. How long has your friend's boat done this and has it gotten any worse or more consistent?

Not any worse. It does not do it all the time but after reading the other threads it sure makes me think that the damper plate might have a broken spring or two. We will check it out later this spring.

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Malibuzer - Please keep me posted. I'm very interested in what you find out.

Murphy - You wouldn't know it from the repair bill, but the damage was fairly minor. They didn't touch the transmission or vdrive, but replaced the prop and rudder. The prop damage wasn't even known until they had it all put back together and on the first test run they picked up a slight vibration on the top end. They pulled the prop and took it to another shop, and sure enough, it was just out of balance. They replaced it with a new one rather than reworking the existing prop.

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The more I read up on the damper plate, it seems like the symptoms of that show up when in gear and at idle. My noise happens only in neutral. No problems once I'm in gear. I'm not saying it isn't the damper plate, but my symptoms don't seem to be consistent with other damper plate problems. Keep throwing out your thoughts and ideas.

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I sent the video to my dealers mechanic and he said It couldne a couple of things. But it could very likely be the damper plate. We are going to take in the boat and have them tear it apart. When I talked to them he said at that point you might as well just change it.

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Sorry to keep posting every few minutes, but I just found an interesting theory searching the web - one owner had similar symptoms and found out his ignition switch was sticking. My sound does sound similar to a starter being engaged and grinding and I just posted last weekendon my ignition switch not being tight. I hope this is the issue! Next time I get the grinding noise, I'll check my ignition first to see if it has fully returned to the "run" position.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=429382

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I sent the video to my dealers mechanic and he said It couldne a couple of things.

Did they say what else it could be besides the damper plate? Being that I have nearly 1000 hours on the boat, replacing the damper plate probalby is a good idea. However, I'm not to thrilled about doing it at the beginning of the season unless it absolutely has to be done.

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That is bizarre. When I first heard it, I thought it sounded like the starter too. What's boggling is it depends on shifter position in nuetral. Not even actually in gear.

Let us know what you find,

Steve B.

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Never even gave the starter a thought but I did not put tow and tow together. If the starter is energized it would only work in full neutral,It has a cut out if in gear. It should be easy to isolate if it is.

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Putting this out there...why would the starter do it just in neutral? Do you think it's not "dis-engaging when you go into neutral, hence the grind?

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Putting this out there...why would the starter do it just in neutral? Do you think it's not "dis-engaging when you go into neutral, hence the grind?

If the starter is energized (from the key), the interlock is "de energizing" it in gear. That interlock keeps you from starting the boat in gear.

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I've talked to a few shops today and I think I'm going to order a new ignition switch tonight. Then if it happens again, I may start pulling things apart to myself to do the damper plate or take it to a shop.

It is such an itermittent issue that it could be something I chase all summer if the ignition switch doesn't work.

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Since it only does it with the throttle in a certain position, could it be the shift cable is slightly out of spec. Either needs to be loosened or tightened up a little? Just throwing things out...

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I read up on the shift cable a bit and thought that could be the problem, but it seems most of the shift cable issues are more consistent and usually result in grinding as you try to get in and out of gear (presumably becuase the cable is causing misalignment and the tranny is "searching" for a gear). Mine shifts in and out of gear just fine. No clunking or anything. I appreciate all the input and will definitely post back if/when I find anything more out.

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I read up on the shift cable a bit and thought that could be the problem, but it seems most of the shift cable issues are more consistent and usually result in grinding as you try to get in and out of gear (presumably becuase the cable is causing misalignment and the tranny is "searching" for a gear). Mine shifts in and out of gear just fine. No clunking or anything. I appreciate all the input and will definitely post back if/when I find anything more out.

When troubleshooting, I actually disconnected the shift cable and did the shifting by hand. It would still do it.

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  • 1 month later...

Ugh, the new ignition switch works great, but I still got the intermittent grinding noise today. This will be a tough one to diagnose, as I never know when it will happen. Any other ideas? I'll try to play with the shift cable, but I really don't think that is the problem. The damper plate has me curious, but I guess I'd just expect it to me more consistent. Again, it only happen when the shifter is in the straight up position. Maybe it could be a bad starter safety switch? Anyone know where that is located? I'll have to dig up my manual.

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hello, I am having the exact same issue with my Response. The sound from your video post was same as I am encountering when I put throttle in neutral position.

Have you found a fix for this grinding noise ?

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