Carver Owners Forum

Hi folks. I recently bought a 1994 Carver Aft Cabin on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

It has twin Crusader 350 engines, one of them counter rotating. They are freshwater cooled. Twin Borg Warner transmissions, but the literature doesn't say what model. Engines and transmissions are painted blue.

The seller told me the starboard transmission needs to be rebuilt. The shift handle moves freely to all three positions. It will only crank when the handle is at neutral, but the transmission is stuck in forward. With the handle in neutral, the boat will start and lurch forward. The prop cannot be turned by hand.
I'm hoping the entire engine doesn't have to come out for the transmission to come out to be rebuilt?
Also, looks like the aft engine mounts are actually on the transmission? So for the transmission to come out, the aft end of the engine must be supported? Oh man.

The port transmission was said to be fine. The shift handle moves forward but wants to come back to neutral, like it hasn't fully gone into forward. When I try to put it back to neutral, it catches on something. If I keep trying, it will go back into neutral, but it feels like something's wrong, I don't want to keep forcing it. The linkage appears to be working fine. The prop can be turned in either direction by hand, in forward, neutral and reverse. This is all with the engine not running, I'm replacing a starter as well. So I can't run the engine to see if the port transmission shifts well when running.

I'm hoping someone can tell me:
-the exact transmission type
-what is involved in removing, rebuilding and reinstalling the stbd transmission
-their thoughts on the condition of the port transmission based on the info I gave. Also I have the starter and heat
exchanger off of the port engine right now. If the port transmission could fail any time, based on the timing of the
failure of the other transmission, maybe it would be worth it to have it rebuilt while I have everything apart
and the boat on the hard? .


Thanks for reading.

Velvet drive transmission. Direct drive probably in aftcabin. Tag will be on the transmission itself. Weighs around 120 lbs I think. Can be rebuild for about $1000 or so, probably can get several ideas for cost on calling around. Have you disconnected the linkage and see if its truly stuck ? Wouldn't be too bad to remove and support engine if your handy and take to someone for rebuild. Port side could it be the shifter at the helm is causing the issue when shifting. You could remove linkage at the transmission and check shifting and also smoothness at shift lever at helm. How many hours on the engines,? I don't know if I would just rebuild the port just for the fear of it failing. What's the fluid look and smell like,?

If the starboard is locked in gear, it most likely needs rebuilt. Good news is the rebuild parts for a velvet drive are only about $300. Bad news is, if you can't do it yourself, labor to remove, rebuild and install will most likely be 5x that amount depending on where you are.
Sounds like the port may be a linkage issue. Try disconnecting the linkage at the gear and manually changing gears at the trans at idle while firmly secured to the dock. You can try the same on the starboard just to be sure it needs rebuilt.

When I owned my 81 3007 aft cabin model I too had to rebuild one of the transmissions. It was the port side. Sounds like you have the same issue I had. Mint too was stuck in forward. The clutches were fused together. It stayed in forward when in neutral and forward but if shifted into reverse it would kill the engine.

In my case it was easier for the mechanic to pull both the engine and transmission together to do the rebuild. The rebuild cost me $2400. When I sold the boat it was still performing flawlessly. It was a Velvet Drive transmission.

First, when you say you have Crusader "350" engines, you should clarify that. Crusader made both a 350 cubic inch engine and a 350 horsepower engine, but they are different animals. The 350HP is a 454 CI big block. Just based on the boat, I suspect you have the 350CI small block, which is probably rated around 270HP.

Post a pic of the transmission. I agree they are probably Velvet Drives, but they could be series 71 or series 72 and they may or may not have reduction gears on the back end. The reduction gear adds about 40lbs to the weight when you're trying to remove them as an assembly.

I removed and rebuilt a VelvetDrive 72C on my boat. They are actually very simple, but you do need a shop press to put it back together. I built one out of some 4x4s and 2x6s and a 5 ton hydraulic jack and it worked fine. The parts cost around $175 and, even though that was many years ago, the parts aren't that much more now. As suggested earlier, you can also have someone else rebuilt it for probably around $1k.

Yes, you have to support the rear of the engine when you remove the trans. I put some blocks under the back of the engine to do that, and just raised the rear engine mounts to get them to fit, then lowered them until the weight was transferred, then I removed the trans. I rigged a makeshift lift with some 2x4s in the cabin and used a block and tackle to carry most of the weight of the trans when I pulled it and when I reinstalled it. Had a friend help me lift it from the cabin to the aft deck and out to the truck. If it has a reduction gear on it the total weight is 150-160lbs

They use hydraulic clutches inside to put into gear, so without the engine running you should be able to spin the shaft regardless if it's in either gear or in neutral. The fact you can't do this on the starboard side does indicate the clutches are fused inside.

On the port trans, disconnect the cable at the trans and see if the linkage CLICKS in each position. If it doesn't, then something might be wrong with the detent mechanism. Otherwise, the issue is probably in the cables or at the helm.

Thank you, everyone. I will try the port trans linkage while disconnected. I will also check the tag to see exactly what model of transmissions I have.

I appreciate the info. Updates soon.

Mack

Here are some sample tags from Velvetdrives. As you can see, it's just forward of the shift lever, but yours might be painted over. The first pis is a trans with the reduction gear at the end (big round thing). The second one doesn't have a reduction gear.

Update:
had the port engine starter rebuilt, installed it and found that the port engine flywheel is missing a tooth.
That's priority right now, I'd like to avoid having both engines apart at once.
So the stbd transmission is on hold for now.
I'll start another topic about the flywheel.

Thanks for help

Well, unless something's changed, then you KNOW you're going to have to do that starboard transmission. Having parts off both engines (like the exhaust) might make it easier to work on BOTH situations. If you end up having/wanting to ship the transmission off to have it rebuilt, that gives you time to resolve the port side issues while you're waiting for it to return.