Transmission Shifting Hard

[jrpontiac]

And my last question.  When I shift into forward or reverse I have to do it very carefully and slowly because if I don't it engages very hard, almost bangs into gear.      Fluid looks goods, has been doing this the 150hrs I've owned the boats.  Hasn't got any worse or better.    When I first got the boat I thought the tranny must be going bad but I'm not so sure.

Do the Velvet drives have adjustments.

One thing I noticed last week is that I can take my prop off without a prop removal tool, should I be able to do this? The nut is tight but I can wiggle the prop just the smallest amount.  It is the prop not the shaft.  It is like the nut needs to go an extra 1/2 turn but can't because it is tight against the drive shaft shoulder.   Is there suppose to be a washer between the prop and the prop nut?  I'm not sure is the small amount of wiggle translates into a bang when go into gear.

[RonT]

1) Prop should have no play between the prop & shaft, assuming this is a 1" bore prop on a 1" shaft, the only explanation I can come up with is a poorly machined shaft or prop taper to cause this. (a 1 1 /8" prop from newer boats would be real sloppy) I would add a thick ss lock washer between the prop & prop nut after careful inspection.
2) Trans: make sure cables are adjusted correctly, sounds like you may be engaging trans & throttle at the same time along with a sloppy fitting prop, after correcting the prop issue disconnect the shift cable at the trans, start boat & have someone manually shift the trans while at idle & see if it shifts smooth, it so, your throttle cable is not preloaded.
3) Throttle return spring. They all come from the factory with a throttle return spring, however they are usually not strong enough to overcome the cable friction, someone may have installed a stiffer spring, try a lighter one.