The Boating Forum - V-Drive overheating on my 32' Albin or is something else wrong?

I recently purchased a 32' 1989 Albin Sportfisher with a 300hp Cummins with a Borg Warner transmission rigged to a Walter V-Drive. The pre-purchase survey noted that there is a high-pitch whistle coming from the V-Drive at cruise and higher speeds. A mechanic inspected it and at the time he was more concerned that he thought he heard a slight rumble from the gears when the boat is first put in gear.

For the first 90 hours that I owned her, boat has run great. However, a few weeks ago my wife and I noticed an obvious problem. Every so often, when the boat is run for twenty minutes or more and then is allowed to sit with the engine off for about ten minutes, there is a noticeable "struggle" when the boat is put in gear after it is started again. It felt and sound as though something was slipping. It occured in both forward and reverse. But once I gave her a little throttle the "rumble" went away (at about 1000 rpms). Also at the same time I noticed that when the boat has been run for a while, I lose the ability to get her up to my maximum rpm's. Thinking that maybe it was a lube problem and/or the prior owner may have used the wrong lube, I drained out all the oil and added a high quality 80 gear lube as per the directions on the Walter V-drive serial number plate. That lube seemed to help. The high-pitch whistle is still there but the rumble seemed to happen much less often although the problem was not solved.

After a little trial-n-error and trouble shooting I narrowed down that problem. It seemed as though the the engine was having problems getting the V-drive and/or shaft to spin after they heated up and were allowed to sit and "cook" for that short period of time while the engine was off. I came to this conclusion because it never happened back at the marina at the end of the day after I throttled-down. It only happened after I stopped to fish and then started and attempted to move the boat.

Now that really bad part...

This weekend we took the boat to Montauk. It is a 74 mile run that took 4 hours and 15 minutes running at 2500 rpm's (speed fluctuated between 16 and 19 knots depending on the tide and wind speed/ directions). The trip there was flawless. During the five or six trips from the harbor to the fishing grounds and dozens of hops from one fishing spot to the next she only had that "rumble" problem once between fishing stops. But on the way home, two and a half hours and 45 or so miles into our trip I noticed the rpm's start to slowly drop without touching the throttle. I was able to give her more throttle to get her back up to 2500 rpm's but within minutes I could only sustain 2200 rpm's at wot. When I throttled her down to near idle speed there was a very noticeably loud clanking and rumble and as soon I reduced the rpm's below 900 the load on the engine was too much and she stalled.

My first thought was that maybe it wasn't the V-drive but that my stuffing box may have been tightened too much the last time the mechanic tightened it so I took out the wrenches and loosend them a little. I then noticed thart the V-drive seemed hot to touch. The oil dipstick felt exceptionally hot. I removed the hose that runs from the dripless stuffing box to the V-drive to check for blockages but it was clear. I tried spraying my saltwater washdown hose under light pressure into the nozzle that the hose attaches to on the V-drive to see if I could flush out any blockages. I then let the boat sit and drift for ten minutes. After that I started her and she had no rumble at all, even at the idle. I was able to get her up to cruise speed.

That only lasted about five or six miles. Then she lost rpm's again but this time for good. For a long while I could only cruise at 1800 rpm's. Anything higher and she would start to lose rpm's. Then the max I could run at dropped all the way down to 1300. Below 1,000 rpm's (when that red oil pressure light comes on) she started grinding and stalledin forward or reverse. At 1,000 rpm's she was able to shift in either direction without any problem.

So what does this sound like? Am I correct to think that maybe the V-Drive is overheating and starting to seize when it gets too hot?

What is the solution?

Is there a way to inspect the cooling system and flush it while the boat is in the water?

Is there a kit to replace the cooling system if needed?

If not the V-Drive, could my shaft or be overheating and starting to seize?

Help!!

Sorry that this was so long!

Not owning a V drive like you but owning a later model, 1996, Albin 32, you have my sympathies.

The remote V drive with the shaft between engine & tranny was the Achilles heel of the earlier A 32s. The ZF tranny my Cummins 315hp is treated just like regular straight tranny.

Have you checked your alignments. I know, they are a pain to do. I don't have much knowledge of the true V drives. Stayed away from an older A32 in part because of the reputation of the V drives, & also we liked the aft galley layout with the queen berth fwd better.

I was on Block Island 2 weekends ago & saw an Albin 32 of your vintage ot one of the marinas, the one where The Oar is. Yours per chance? :thumbsup:

The rumble you hear at idle is typically normal for those v-drives, it's the square cut gears rapping back and forth at no/slight load against a large prop....after running awhile they do get hot, your loss of rpm's sounds more like a fuel problem than anything else.....check the filters...an over-tightened stuffing box would heat up some, then fry the stuffing and leak, not stall the engine....you said the the oil pressure light comes on? on the engine?....sounds like you need more info to figure out what's going on....seek out a good mechanic and take him for a ride....good luck...mick

Thanks for the info Doug. -nope it wasn't me at Block.

I can't see how this could be a fuel problem. The engine revs to full rpms at wot in neutral. It also works fine when the she isn't hot. It only occurs after the boat is run for a long period of time while in gear. The time needed to cool her down and to be able to run again is the same whether the engine is shut off or if it is left in idle.

I guess it is possible that this might be an alignment problem. Then again, wouldn't it happen all the time then?

Here is an update and more info on my problem;

For starters, my Walter V-drive is actually an RV-50, serial# 55955.

Tonight we removed the top cover to reveal the cooling unit. There was some rust, some sand or silt, and some really murcky black water. We cleaned out everything, including some large pieces of rust. I also removed the water outlet hose and found more pieces of rust at the bottom of the hose where it loops back up towards the engine. The overall condition of the inside of the cooling unit seems satisfactory and not in need of any replacement.

The most significant finding however was the outlet for that hose that leads to the stuffing box/shaft. It was COMPLETELY blocked by rust and buildup. I had to shove a screw driver through it to get it to break free. That's when it occured to me that this isn't an inlet hose but an OUTLET hose!

Does this water shooting from the V-Drive unit into the stuffing box and down the shaft serve as a coolant for the shaft or a bearing or something or is it designed to create water pressure down the shaft to force water away from the stuffing box???

I am thinking, maybe it wasn't my V-Drive that was overheating and seizing but rather my shaft or a bearing that holds the shaft.

Also, upon reading a downloadable Walters manual for my V-Drive I discovered that I did not properly drain the oil. I only drained about two pints of the five or so pints that are in the unit because I pulled the wrong plug (I drained it from the upper magnetic plug instead of the bottom plug on the other side). So since that oil change I was running with a mixture of at least two or three different types of oil, gear lube and ATF!

Tonight we pulled the proper drain plug and drained all of the oil. We also removed the oil screen/filter and cleaned it. The oil was replaced with SAE 30 as the manual suggests (instead of the 80 Gear lube I used last time).

Now I seem to be ready for a test cruise. At the marina she shifted in and out of forward and reverse without that rumble. But this was with everything still cool. I need to see now what she does after heating up.

The good news is now I performed a proper oil change on the V-drive with the correct motor oil, I have a fresh clean cooling unit and outlet hose, and the hose to the stuffing box went from zero water outflow to shooting water with a nice steady pressure of clean water.

Let me know if I am missing anything or if anyone thinks my problem may not be related to anything I discussed.

Thank you!!!

I would have to agree with slickster . Did you inspect the oil removed from the V-drive ? Any metal ? The transmission ? Any metal ? These symptoms are pretty extreme . If you have anything at all , that severe , going on it would definitly show up in the oil , or tranny fluid . As slickster suggested , I beleive you may have an engine problem . The line you described going from the cooler to the packings is for lubrication and cooling of the shaft seal . I assume you have drippless . With no water getting to it , it would burn the seal and cause them to not be drippless anymore , but would not cause any kind of binding , especialy not enough to slow a 300 hp Cummins . Your engin can show many things under a load , that it does not show at the dock , or in nuetral . It would take an extreme amount of resistence to slow a 300 hp Cummins from 2500 rpms to 1300 rpms . I would imagine if you had that kind of resistence in your vdrive or any other part of your drive train , it would damage other things , such as your flex plate , tranny , or engine . I am curious to see how this ends up .

Given all that has been said above it might be worth your while to look into doing away with the V drive & upgrading to the ZF system as found on later Albin 32s. The expense may well be offset by not having further V drive problems in the future.

The Albin 32 gains it's huge amount of cabin space by having the reversed engine arangement, The ZF tranny method makes it as simple & reliable as a traditional inline inboard.