V-Drive trans problem. Anyone know about these things?

[ScarabChris]

Hello,
This boat belongs to a friend of mine and it is a 1986 32' WellCraft St Tropez with twin 7.4 Mercruiser Bluewater V-Drive inboards. The problem is that on one of the tranmissions developed a leak where most of the fluid leaked out while the boat was at rest. We only noticed a problem when we started the engine and it was in foward and the shifter had no effect so it was shut down. Upon looking in the engine compartment we saw the bilge full of trans fluid. We filled the trans back up with fluid and there is still no neutral. It will however shift from foward to reverse but it will not go in to neutral, it instantly goes from foward to reverse.

My questions are 1) Is there a procedure to get the trans to work properly once emptied and refilled?

2) We know there is a bad seal that will require the trans to come out. Will the boat need to come out of the water and will the engine need to come out of the boat to remove the trans?

Keep in mind the boat was not running when this occured, it was at the dock so I suspect minimal internal damage if any at all. We are just not sure why it will not shift properly when refilled with fluid.

Any help would be great.

Thanks

[Grady Wahoo]

I rebuilt a v-drive once. Should have 2 of the 4 motor mounts attached to it? This means undoing those 2 mounts, lifting engine a bit and blocking it. May need hoist of some sort, jury rig or whatever. Can be done in the water. You should be able to get a diagram, change the clutch plates while it's out. Or just bring it somewhere and let them do it.