ZF MARINE GEARBOX

[Sam goldsmith]

Hello all. I have a arvor 250as with a ZF marine 45A gearbox.
went togo to sea today and on start up the boat goes into forward and reverse and then nothing just sits there and revs.
I’ve removed the throttle cable and put it into gear manually and it will stay in gear for around 2 minutes beofore going back to doing nothing and not able to put it in either forward or reverse.
It seem it only works as soon as you start it for a short time and then there’s no gears atall.
all help will behugely appreciated.
Sam.

 

[Keith-i]

Presumably you’ve checked the basics such as gear oil level? Does the gear lever engage positively?

 

[Sam goldsmith]

Hi mate. Yes topped all the way up and gear lever engages fine. Will stay in gear for 2 minutes then nothing, moving it manual forward and back and nothing atall

 

[dulls]

Hello all. I have a arvor 250as with a ZF marine 45A gearbox.
went togo to sea today and on start up the boat goes into forward and reverse and then nothing just sits there and revs.
I’ve removed the throttle cable and put it into gear manually and it will stay in gear for around 2 minutes beofore going back to doing nothing and not able to put it in either forward or reverse.
It seem it only works as soon as you start it for a short time and then there’s no gears atall.
all help will behugely appreciated.
Sam.

First thing before you go to great expense is change the oil. For 2 reasons. Many people put the wrong ear in their gearbox and second dirty oil causes problems that can be solved with clean oil. I took the advice of an old trawler man and it solved my problems before the mechanic could. Mine was a ZF of some sort and made in Spain.

 

[Sam goldsmith]

I filled it up with atf yesterday and still nothing ran it 5/6 times and it still looses gear

 

[Boater Sam]

I filled it up with atf yesterday and still nothing ran it 5/6 times and it still looses gear

Cone clutch knackered, fit a PRM gearbox instead and you will have no more trouble.

 

[dulls]

I filled it up with atf yesterday and still nothing ran it 5/6 times and it still looses gear

The correct ATF? The actual ATF recommended for your gear box?

 

[dulls]

Cone clutch knackered, fit a PRM gearbox instead and you will have no more trouble.

Cone clutch is easy to adjust.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Your problem is not the oil, your problem is mechanical; could be the clutches (although when the clutch goes, it is not instant, you would have noticed over long period) or other mechanical issue. Have a look at the ZF diagram to see how it operates and possible faults. Hope you can fix it because replacement or repair can be expensive.

 

[Rocksteadee]

Just to confirm.
“Putting into gear manually“
has this involved disconecting the cable and operating the level manually. Does this level them jump back to neutral by itself?
The level may have an ‘indent’ ie a sprung loaded ball engaging into a hole on the lever, or may be hidden under an adjacent bolt engaging into a hole internally on the shaft.
This spring and ball could be siezed