I have a 1992 Beneteau F310 with a Volvo-Penta 2000 series two cylinder direct drive diesel and MS 2B transmission with a 2.37 reduction gear. In early July 2016 with approximately 1700 hours on the engine and transmission, the flywheel drive plate splines and transmission input shaft splines failed completely (stripped on their own, no collision) such that the engine would not turn the propeller. Fortunately, there was a nice breeze and we sailed back a couple miles to port.
Investigation of our failure found shaft to engine alignment very good (only 0.001 misalignment on a 3 inch coupling), no indication of bent shaft, and no indication of bearing wear or seal failure in the transmission. Examination of the damaged parts, however, identified that the shaft splines were only partly inserted into the flywheel drive plate. This may have contributed to the failure by overloading the reduced spline surfaces actually in contact.
As a minimum, we needed a new drive plate for the flywheel (a splined disc bolted to the center of the flywheel) and a gear set for the transmission. We were able to buy a drive plate from Volvo-Penta with an upgraded design that moved the drive plate splines toward the transmission (increasing engagement) and added some polymer dampening. After three months trying to get a source and delivery date via Volvo-Penta for the gear set, we went looking for a new transmission. We bought a new transmission (had to accept a 2.41 reduction) from French Creek Marina in Clayton, New York. The boat is reassembled and currently working fine but we have no way other than transmission removal to determine success of the design upgrade.
This past week we were made aware of a British Columbia, Canada company called Next Wave Marine Systems, Inc. with a solution called Suredrive marine coupling that replaces the flywheel drive plate and couples to the damaged transmission shaft without requiring a new gear set (see it at www.suredrivemarine.com). Had I known about this earlier, I would not have been forced to buy an entire transmission. Their design looks good but I don't know anything about their track record.
I lost the entire summer sailing season this year. Hopefully this information will help the next skipper experiencing this failure to a faster solution.
Investigation of our failure found shaft to engine alignment very good (only 0.001 misalignment on a 3 inch coupling), no indication of bent shaft, and no indication of bearing wear or seal failure in the transmission. Examination of the damaged parts, however, identified that the shaft splines were only partly inserted into the flywheel drive plate. This may have contributed to the failure by overloading the reduced spline surfaces actually in contact.
As a minimum, we needed a new drive plate for the flywheel (a splined disc bolted to the center of the flywheel) and a gear set for the transmission. We were able to buy a drive plate from Volvo-Penta with an upgraded design that moved the drive plate splines toward the transmission (increasing engagement) and added some polymer dampening. After three months trying to get a source and delivery date via Volvo-Penta for the gear set, we went looking for a new transmission. We bought a new transmission (had to accept a 2.41 reduction) from French Creek Marina in Clayton, New York. The boat is reassembled and currently working fine but we have no way other than transmission removal to determine success of the design upgrade.
This past week we were made aware of a British Columbia, Canada company called Next Wave Marine Systems, Inc. with a solution called Suredrive marine coupling that replaces the flywheel drive plate and couples to the damaged transmission shaft without requiring a new gear set (see it at www.suredrivemarine.com). Had I known about this earlier, I would not have been forced to buy an entire transmission. Their design looks good but I don't know anything about their track record.
I lost the entire summer sailing season this year. Hopefully this information will help the next skipper experiencing this failure to a faster solution.