Forward Gear Sluggish

[julian hood]

I have a later model Atomic Four. Recently it seems to have no pep in forward gear. I can walk faster than I am moving in the boat even at medium throttle. I tried adjusting the gear to the point that I am one tooth away from the last adjustment. This is not my first time adjusting. It is sluggish at this point. I tried taking it to the last gear and got better propulsion but the shift was very tight and caused a lot of vibration. I get more speed in reverse. Reverse doesn't require me to hold it. Don't know if this is just tight linkage or maybe I've got it over adjusted. Have not had any problems with reverse. very satisfied with the way it works. Any suggestions. Don I'm the guy that usually comes thru during the winter with a trailer and you have 2 feet of snow in the yard.

[Don Moyer]

The fact that you report being "one tooth away from the last adjustment", and suggesting that you may be holding the shifting lever in the forward mode (but not in reverse) is strong circumstantial evidence that your forward adjustment is grossly out of adjustment. I would start by reviewing the forward adjustment procedure to be sure that you have a good understanding of each step (referring to chapter 6 of our service and overhaul manual as necessary) and then go over the entire process on your engine again.

Don

[julian hood]

Don thanks for the reply, I don't have a problem with forward locking its self into drive. I did back off several notches and tried it. When i put it into drive after adjusting i could rotate the shaft fairly easily by hand. The last 2 notches are where I got resistance. Do I need to make some other adjustment or change the oil.

[Don Moyer]

Julian,

I'm still not sure I understand your situation. Specifically, I don't understand how anything going on in your reversing gear could make your engine feel sluggish. If the adjustment is off, the result will either end up being the case that the forward clutch assembly will slip at high power settings or it will take a weight-lifter to get the shifting lever into and out of the forward detent. You're not reporting either of these conditions.

What we need at this point is confirmation that your forward adjustment is set so that it takes a healthy amount of effort to get into and out of the forward detent, and that once in the detent, there is no slippage even at high power settings. If your engine is still sluggish after confirming a correct forward adjustment, we'll have to start looking elsewhere for a reason for the sluggishness.

Don

[julian hood]

Don
Sorry I'm not being specific enough. The engine itself is running fine. My problem is that in forward gear with the shifter moved forward into detente i'm not getting the propulsion that I should be. Obviously there is slippage in the pressure plate area. I adjusted in increments as directed in your manuel, but still feel that I'm not getting the propulsion that I should in the next to last gap in the ring. The boat does not respond very quickly and only gets up to maybe 4 mph. (I have one of the 3 blade props designed for A 4's.) I'm in fresh water, so no barnicles. I adjusted ithe ring to the last gap in the ring and got better propulsion but the engine vibrated and seemed to be in a bind when rpm's were increased. I backed it down to the next gap not wanting to cause any damage. Hope this explains my situation better.

[Don Moyer]

For those of you who may have been following this particular thread, I spoke with Julian late yesterday on the phone, and we both feel at this point that his forward clutch assembly may be slipping because the adjustment is still 2 or 3 notches too loose. He'll probably be checking back in after he has checked the adjustment one more time.

Don

[julian hood]

Don,
Tightened the adjustment ring up another notch, seems to have done the trick. Now have some vibration issues, probably need to realign the couplings. I haven't done that in a while.

Julian :)

[Don Moyer]

Julian,

Thanks for the update. We're glad things worked out for you.

Don