Paragon SA0V gear adjustment video

[Mary Mac]

I made a blog post with a video about adjusting the gears. If anyone here has more knowledge about these adjustments, please let me know. Going to go out and see if it is still slipping after these adjustments.

https://svmuleka.com/boat-projects/para ... djustment/

[rcvesselstyn]

That's a great tutorial Mary! I was unaware of your blog. We were also unaware that you also had that sinking feeling. I think there are a few things as bad as opening up the hatch and seeing water. We had gone through that when our bottom cleaners scuba tank became wedged against the prop and cracked the fiberglass. We caught it just before it got to the engine too. Great video!

[Mary Mac]

Thanks, Randy! Unfortunately, that adjustment didn’t work. I went out to test it and the boat was hardly moving in forward gear. I don’t know what is wrong with it, but maybe the plates are worn or something is broken. I’m trying to leave to sail to LA in a couple weeks, so hopefully I can find some more info or a mechanic who knows these. It’s been impossible to find a mechanic here and I don’t know much about this thing! Wish me luck. At least she’s still floating, right?

[rcvesselstyn]

I can remember adjusting mine but it was a very long time ago. I think you're headed in the right direction. Just make small adjustments throw the cover back on and try forward out while you're in the slip. Keep making small adjustments at a time and trying out all three , forward neutral and reverse. If it is slipping worse in forward try going the opposite direction with the crown nut. Take it back to the original setting and then go two or three notches the other direction. Retest and see if there's improvement. Keep running log as to what notch you are in in relation to where you started. That way you can always get back to where you were originally. The solution is there, you will just need multiple tries and lots of patience. Good luck! We are hoping to see you down this way soon.

[Mary Mac]

Thank you for the good advice. One problem is that the castle nut was one notch away from the stop when I started. Another problem is that I dropped the screw and nut into the oily abyss when I tried to adjust it again.. just as I was thinking.. careful, don’t back it out too far! Damnit! Currently waiting for my friend to come back with a magnet. Good times! May be a delayed departure. The view in the downwind slip I ended up in, however, is lovely.

415E8CCA-F96E-45C8-BF77-722A389ECC41.jpeg (2.19 MiB) Viewed 11610 times

[rcvesselstyn]

Well once you retrieve the screw and the locking nut it might be worthwhile to test out my theory. If the crown nut was cranked down all the way, you indicated you had just one notch left, it might be that it's putting too much force and you're not really getting into forward. Meaning that the adjustment is keeping it from sniking into gear. If it's not all the way into forward then that would cause it to slip. That would also explain how it could be tight enough to cause it to turn in neutral and still slip when in forward. If you think this scenario might be possible then my suggestion would be to counterintuitively back off the crown nut. You would need to take the linkage or the cable running to the shift lever out of the equation. You could either manually override it making sure that it did not keep the lever from traveling its full distance or you could disconnect the linkage or cable. The trick would be to note where the lever was when you are now fully in forward and then back off the crown nut and see if you can get it to go any further. I can't remember whether there is an indent when you're fully engaged but you should be able to look at the mechanism and see if it's locked in forward. It's also possible that your linkage or cable is keeping you from going all the way into forward, disconnecting it and moving the lever manually might be a good way to check that.Just some ideas.

[Mary Mac]

I actually turned it the other way initially. Away from the stop. As I understand it, turning it the way I did should cause less slippage which makes me think that the clutch plates could be warped/worn or something else broken. I think that disconnecting the linkage makes sense. It was difficult to get it all the way into gear before I adjusted it, which was more obvious once I removed the lid and watched it while it moved in and out of gear.

[Sailmiles]

I gave up on mine about 8 years ago as the clutch plates were worn and and I could not find replacement parts. Went to a full hydraulic Velvet Drive by Borg Warner for the same price of used parts as they are rare. Bolted on the old Beeker bell housing perfectly! Sweet tranny, shifts with one finger. When and if you go that route I’d be happy to share the info.

[Mary Mac]

I gave up on mine about 8 years ago as the clutch plates were worn and and I could not find replacement parts. Went to a full hydraulic Velvet Drive by Borg Warner for the same price of used parts as they are rare. Bolted on the old Beeker bell housing perfectly! Sweet tranny, shifts with one finger. When and if you go that route I’d be happy to share the info.

Thank you. I was looking into that. I the first place I called quoted a very high price. How much did it cost? Was it simple to install? What is the part number? Thanks!

[Sailmiles]

Model 10-17-004, I am traveling but will home today and will send you the cost breakdown and some pics on how I removed the old turd. I recall I did the complete drive train for 5k. That included a new Walters drive & damper plate, which is a good time to replace. To your comment about cost, once we purchase one of these neglected antiques we are in for a financial ride. Obviously that’s why they are cheap to buy but keep bleeding money.
Mine failed completely after 3 days of disassembly and tweaking. Had a fun time getting the boat back to the dock. That was enough for me.