Barely moves in drive

[drdave88]

Yesterday I had it out on the water for about 5 hours with no problems at all. It cruised along all day, tubing and everything. Today I put it in, backed off the trailer with no problem, put it in drive and it would barely move at all. Reverse is fine, but in drive, even at 3k rpm the boat will barely crawl along. I had to jump in and pull it back on to the trailer with a rope. I'm have an automotive background but I'm not really familiar with an inboard boat driveline. Any ideas what could be going on here or what I should be checking? I did make sure there was nothing wrapped around the prop.

93 Echelon, 350 Mercruiser. Let me know if you need any additional info.

[tvano]

check the transmission fluid?

[nuttyskier2002]

Yes.....check fluid level and color. Should be red/pink not brown. Give it a sniff for a burnt smell. Slipping forward clutch is what's going on.

[drdave88]

Since I'm not familiar with what's behind the flywheel, how does it work? I would guess if it was fluid related, I would have an issue in reverse and forward, at least somewhat. Reverse feels perfectly fine though.

[nuttyskier2002]

Since I'm not familiar with what's behind the flywheel, how does it work? I would guess if it was fluid related, I would have an issue in reverse and forward, at least somewhat. Reverse feels perfectly fine though.

Your Velvet Drive transmission shares similar componants with an automatic transmission in a car. So it can lose forward and still have reverse or vice-versa. The clutches are fluid applied and can develope fluid leaks and lose clamping force. This can happen to only one clutch at a time. Looks like you need a transmission rebuild.

[Devin7]

I had exact same issue. It was linkage related. Wasn't fully engaging the shifter in the forward position. 

Also if u have perfect pass the auto tighten knob can be positioned wrong and create high rpm's before engaging in to gear.  

[2014Skier]

To rule out the linkage potential, disconnect the linkage, and move the arm on the transmission by hand to see if it engages.  There are pressure ports on the transmission to check for clutch pressure on both the forward and reverse clutch packs.  Inside the VD is one planetary gear set, they are pretty simple, the selector valve is also pretty straight forward.

See the below thread for more info on how they work.