2007 SX-A reverse noise/clunk

[Amhochb]

Hey there y’all,
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. Another question for the group. My outdrive shifts into forward as smooth as can be. Shifting into reverse is a much different story. No matter how slow or fast I shift to reverse I get I pretty loud (and physical) clunk. No abnormal noise once in reverse; just the getting there clunk. I don’t remember the boat doing it when I first got it but only really ran it on land and once on the water before I noticed it. I’ve since changed the gear oil with Volvo spec’d oil and there were no chunks or shavings in the old oil. Just wondering if there’s anything I can check or do fix or prevent anything from getting worse.

[Big Block Power]

If it's still doing it with new oil I would think your cone clutch is bad.

[Amhochb]

If it's still doing it with new oil I would think your cone clutch is bad.

Thats what i was afraid of. any harm in continuing to run as is?

[Big Block Power]

If it's still doing it with new oil I would think your cone clutch is bad.

Thats what i was afraid of. any harm in continuing to run as is?

Nothing good will happen. Fix it now before it makes something else go. It should be smooth as butter.

[billk2632]

Symptoms of the cone clutch worn out tend to be slipping / delayed shifting - ie you shift into FWD or REV and there is a delay before the gear engages. My drive seems to clunk more going into reverse also, especially when shifting from FWD > REV while docking. It's smooth, but there is a definitive clunk when the gear engages. I think you are hearing the normal sound of the REV gear engaging, if it is not delayed in shifting, I would suspect the shift cable may need adjustment. Also, if you are going from FWD to REV the prop is probably still spinning FWD when REV engages unless you stay in N for at least a few seconds. The last time I was on a boat with a worn cone clutch, there was probably a 3-5sec delay when engaging mainly FWD, it was terrible - this was a Merc BIII. The cone clutch has two sides to it, FWD and REV, so wear could be only on one side affecting FWD or REV. One other thing to check/verify is your idle speed, this can effect shifting also.

[Amhochb]

Symptoms of the cone clutch worn out tend to be slipping / delayed shifting - ie you shift into FWD or REV and there is a delay before the gear engages. My drive seems to clunk more going into reverse also, especially when shifting from FWD > REV while docking. It's smooth, but there is a definitive clunk when the gear engages. I think you are hearing the normal sound of the REV gear engaging, if it is not delayed in shifting, I would suspect the shift cable may need adjustment. Also, if you are going from FWD to REV the prop is probably still spinning FWD when REV engages unless you stay in N for at least a few seconds. The last time I was on a boat with a worn cone clutch, there was probably a 3-5sec delay when engaging mainly FWD, it was terrible - this was a Merc BIII. The cone clutch has two sides to it, FWD and REV, so wear could be only on one side affecting FWD or REV. One other thing to check/verify is your idle speed, this can effect shifting also.

thanks for the input. You are correct, it is not delayed shifting. Just louder when engaging than forward is. I did pull the cover when I got back home yesterday and adjusted the shift cable. It was much tighter toward the forward engagement than reverse was. Hooked it to the hose and it was quieter but I didn’t get a baseline on the hose before adjusting. I’ll have to see how it is next time we go out.

Idle speed also seems fine.

We’ll have to see