Transmission Replacement

[LateNightSalami]

So, my boat is in at Tommy's of Detroit for an SPN 65701 fault and a "Check Transmission" warning. Got a call back today finally and apparently there is a knock in the transmission that is triggering the knock sensor in the engine. Either the transmission needs to be replaced or rebuilt. The person I talked to didn't have exact numbers since they are looking for the part currently. The person gave me a worst case scenario of informal estimate 8k for the transmission + vdrive and 10.5 hours of labor (about 1.3k) for a total of around 9k for the job. Needless to say this was a bit of a shock. Wanted to ask around and see what I should be expecting for this. It is an '08 VTX with a Monsoon 340 engine. Wish I had the part number for the transmission but I don't.

 

What sucks about all this is that the transmission wasn't noticeably behaving badly until the warnings came on. Even then there wasn't anything immediately apparent. To say I am bummed is a massive understatement

[boardjnky4]

What year is it? You can get the ski vee  trans for closer to 2500. Indmar charges an arm and a leg to source the trans and paint it black.

[Woodski]

Once you find the specific transmission simply do an ebay search for one, either new or used.  There are a reasonable number of marine transmissions listed.  Most tranny's list between 1k - 3k depending on specifics.  FYI - I don't know which one yours would have, so a bit of a guess on pricing, but that is what I have seen doing some searching.

[boardjnky4]

This is where I got my trans from.

https://www.perfprotech.com/transmission-zf45iv-zf45iv/product/246066?search=ZF45IV

If you contact them, they should be able to get both the electric shift and the cable shift version. Also looks like you can buy it on Amazon (gotta love Amazon).

https://www.amazon.com/ZF-45IV-SKIVEE-1-5-Electric/dp/B076PNC7C4

https://www.amazon.com/ZF-45IV-SKIVEE-1-5-1/dp/B076PMNRK5

So 2,500 + 1,300 (install) = 3,800. That's almost a third of the quoted cost.

Edited August 7, 2019 by boardjnky4

[LateNightSalami]

Ok, thanks for talking me off the ledge. 3,800 still suck but it isn't the windfall of 9000. I'll see what Tommy's comes back with price wise for the part. I know they were searching and they hadn't grabbed the part number yet. So when I hear a price I will ask them and search around myself to verify.

[boardjnky4]

6 minutes ago, LateNightSalami said:

Ok, thanks for talking me off the ledge. 3,800 still suck but it isn't the windfall of 9000. I'll see what Tommy's comes back with price wise for the part. I know they were searching and they hadn't grabbed the part number yet. So when I hear a price I will ask them and search around myself to verify.

https://www.bakesonline.com/transmission-skivee-v-drive-and-transmission-combo.html

That would be the retail price from the dealer. Bakes is a Malibu/Indmar dealer same as Tommy's, so that's the price they'll give ya.

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, boardjnky4 said:

https://www.bakesonline.com/transmission-skivee-v-drive-and-transmission-combo.html

That would be the retail price from the dealer. Bakes is a Malibu/Indmar dealer same as Tommy's, so that's the price they'll give ya.

Bakes isn't a Malibu dealer.

From their website;

We are partnered with NW Inboards. Western Washington's premier inboard boat sales specialists. Selling Supra, Moomba & Axis wake boats.

[JeffK]

Maybe from a sales perspective, but this is on there as well. 

"Bake's service department is the exclusive Axis, Malibu, Supra, Moomba, Indmar, and PCM certified service specialist for Washington State."

[boardjnky4]

OK, sorry about that. Regardless, that's the MSRP.

[LateNightSalami]

On 8/7/2019 at 9:05 AM, boardjnky4 said:

This is where I got my trans from.

https://www.perfprotech.com/transmission-zf45iv-zf45iv/product/246066?search=ZF45IV

If you contact them, they should be able to get both the electric shift and the cable shift version. Also looks like you can buy it on Amazon (gotta love Amazon).

https://www.amazon.com/ZF-45IV-SKIVEE-1-5-Electric/dp/B076PNC7C4

https://www.amazon.com/ZF-45IV-SKIVEE-1-5-1/dp/B076PMNRK5

So 2,500 + 1,300 (install) = 3,800. That's almost a third of the quoted cost.

So Tommy's got back to me with a part price of $5200. If I supply the part they will install it so I think I am going to go in Monday talk to thr tech and verify the Amazon or the perfprotech parts will work and order one of those.

Do you guys have an idea of the defect rate? Would hate to pay labor for the install of a defective part.

 

Thanks for your help!

[LateNightSalami]

Just wanted to share the outcome. Boardjnky4 saved me a boatload of money by going through perfprotech and getting the trans + vdrive almost straight form ZF (the italian manufacturer) rather than going through the dealer and Indmar. Can't believe how much the markup is.

Tommy's still has the old transmission. I might ask for it back. Does anyone know if it is worth keeping? I don't know if any enterprising amateur mechanics would want a project or if someone is in the business of rebuilding these things for resale and I could get it to them? When I was talking to the mechanic, the tools to rebuild it were like 900$ just to acquire them so I don't think this is something I could learn/do on my own.

 

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for the guidance and help. It saved me about $2700 all total...which I will likely put in the back for about 5-7 years from now for when this trans gets old and goes 

[boardjnky4]

Super stoked that advice worked for someone else.

You can probably hang onto the V-Drive portion, just in case it's ever needed.

[justgary]

1 hour ago, LateNightSalami said:

Just wanted to share the outcome. Boardjnky4 saved me a boatload of money by going through perfprotech and getting the trans + vdrive almost straight form ZF (the italian manufacturer) rather than going through the dealer and Indmar. Can't believe how much the markup is.

Tommy's still has the old transmission. I might ask for it back. Does anyone know if it is worth keeping? I don't know if any enterprising amateur mechanics would want a project or if someone is in the business of rebuilding these things for resale and I could get it to them? When I was talking to the mechanic, the tools to rebuild it were like 900$ just to acquire them so I don't think this is something I could learn/do on my own.

 

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for the guidance and help. It saved me about $2700 all total...which I will likely put in the back for about 5-7 years from now for when this trans gets old and goes 

If it were mine, I'd go get it.  I can't imagine needing a whole lot of specialized tools, but I have been wrong before.  A snap ring plier and maybe a few other tools should get you a long way. 

You could always take it to a transmission shop (or Tommy's) for a rebuild and then sell it, or even sell it as is.  No reason to leave the money with them.

[nofallsnoballs]

On 9/18/2019 at 7:15 AM, LateNightSalami said:

Just wanted to share the outcome. Boardjnky4 saved me a boatload of money by going through perfprotech and getting the trans + vdrive almost straight form ZF (the italian manufacturer) rather than going through the dealer and Indmar. Can't believe how much the markup is.

Tommy's still has the old transmission. I might ask for it back. Does anyone know if it is worth keeping? I don't know if any enterprising amateur mechanics would want a project or if someone is in the business of rebuilding these things for resale and I could get it to them? When I was talking to the mechanic, the tools to rebuild it were like 900$ just to acquire them so I don't think this is something I could learn/do on my own.

 

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for the guidance and help. It saved me about $2700 all total...which I will likely put in the back for about 5-7 years from now for when this trans gets old and goes 

Hey there. Just messaging you because this exact same thing just happened to my '08 VTX. They are qouting me 8k for the new tranny and v drive. Anyways I figured I would check in with you on how your boat is running with the new transmission? Have you seen any other problems with this boat? I bought my boat used about 4 years ago and I have already doubled the hours from 600 to 1200 so it gets a lot of use. The mechanic told me that the cause of the transmission failure was from moisture and water in the bilge. I live in oregon so we get a lot of rain and i have moored my boat in the water all summer the last 4 summers (going to get a drylift after this) so i'm wondering if this could've led to moisture in the bilge. Anyways I just wanted too reach out to see if there are any upkeep things I can do to try to keep the bilge clean and avoid having to replace the transmission again.

Thanks!

[nofallsnoballs]

On 8/7/2019 at 6:05 AM, boardjnky4 said:

This is where I got my trans from.

https://www.perfprotech.com/transmission-zf45iv-zf45iv/product/246066?search=ZF45IV

If you contact them, they should be able to get both the electric shift and the cable shift version. Also looks like you can buy it on Amazon (gotta love Amazon).

https://www.amazon.com/ZF-45IV-SKIVEE-1-5-Electric/dp/B076PNC7C4

https://www.amazon.com/ZF-45IV-SKIVEE-1-5-1/dp/B076PMNRK5

So 2,500 + 1,300 (install) = 3,800. That's almost a third of the quoted cost.

I am looking for the same transmission but this site says they are out of stock now. Any other suggestions to find this??

[tru-jack]

I rebuilt my transmission (2007 response lxi) at https://anthonykeatsmarine.com/ 

they were incredibly fast and reasonable and considered the place to get transmissions done in Ontario. I gave the part number to them and they ordered the original parts and I brought transmission to their shop and they rebuilt in one day while I waited. I can’t remember but price was approximately $2k Canadian so will be about 30% less usd. Works perfect.