www.iFourWinns.com

I had a complete replacement upper and lower starboard outdrive put on our 2001 328 Four Winns earlier this summer. The drive was rebuilt by our marina and came with a one year warranty. From the first time I used the boat after replacement outdrive was installed you could clearly hear it clunked going into forward gear much louder than the original port outdrive did. The replacement starboard drive seems to run fine, shifts into reverse very similar to the original port outdrive but simply bangs louder going into forward than the port and it bugs me for it to do this being it is a rebuilt drive.

For you guys that know these drives, what would be your best guess as to the cause of this clunk going into forward? Could it be a shift cable adjustment or would it definitely be in the outdrive itself?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

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Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

What is your idle rpm? Doe the side in quesiton idle faster than the side that does not clunk? I never had a Volvo only the OMC dog clutch but on these the idle has to be not more than 600 rpm or else it will clunk and be stiff coming out of gear. If you can try checking with a tach/dwell meter, standard boat tachs are not that accurate. If the shift cable is getting sticky, it is possible that it could be delaying the shift and then it clunks. Was the original drive that got replaced doing the same thing?

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Hi Lou, by the engine tachs themselves both port and starboard engines appear to idle very close to the same RPM. I'll see if I can verify the accuracy of both engine tachs this weekend. The starboard drive before being replaced did not clunk as much as the new replacement drive. I'm leaning towards asking the marina to pull the replacement starboard outdrive when we get lifted out for winter storage in October and ask them to open drive and inspect. This would be after confirming no idle difference between engines and any other feedback I my receive from this thread.

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Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

Clunking is normal on Volvo duo drives. But being louder than normal would make me question too. Definitely have the marina that did the rebuild check it out especially if it's still under warranty. Even paying them to have the oil changed would be worth the peace of mind. An oil change can't cost that much, I would hope.
It might be something as simple as using synthetic oil on one drive and regular oil on the other drive.

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--2002 3880 Regal Flybridge | Twin Merc 8.1HO **Seven**
--2003 AB 13 VST Console Inflatable | Tohatsu 40hp TLDI **Phish'n ski**
--310 Mercury Inflatable | 1982 9.9 Johnson

I was gonna add, too, its possible the marina used a different lube in the one outdrive than the other... Marinas around here are about 50/50 on using Amsoil, Volvo Penta OEM, or the blue goopy Mercruiser high performance lube. Each mechanic will tell you that any one of those will work just fine, its all mechanic preference or what they have on hand. Why Im mentioning this is, maybe this could be the reason one shifts clunkier than the next FWIW, just like everyone else, I have Twin Volvo SX's and they both clunk going into gear, forward/reverse doesnt matter.

Seeing that the one outdrive was rebuilt, its probably a good idea to change the gear lube on it after 20 hours or so. I'd change them both at the same time and start anew. See if that makes a difference.

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1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

That’s a good suggestion I’ve heard that the Volvos shift better with their OEM gear oil; one would think that the Merc High Performance gear lube would be ok because it’s specified for their Bravo drives which are also cone clutch shifted but I guess there are still differences in the finish quality of the cone etc.

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Thanks gentlemen for your replies. My marina has agreed to have our boat lifted out, winterized and blocked for the off season this Thursday afternoon. So it will be interesting to check drive oils in both drives and the plan is if they have time to pull the starboard drive during lift out before blocking to inspect drive over the winter lay up period.

_________________

Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation