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I have a 2004 Super Sport V drive with 350 hours on it. Boat is new to me but have used for the last month without issue. We have surfed it mostly (had it plumbed by local dealer whom I purchased it from) with tubing and some skiing. It has the PCM 350 with Walter V drive. After spending a day tubing and surfing the V drive has starting making a clunking noise with every revolution of the drive shaft. This does not occur in neutral, only when in gear (forward or reverse). It increases with increasing rpm and is quite loud emanating from the v drive. The oil in the V drive was a touch low but topping this off did not make any difference. It shifts into gear smoothly and engine runs quietly itself. I do not think it is the transmission. Only occurs when put in gear and does not go away at higher RPM as a lot of threads discuss. There is no visual problem with the external drive shaft or prop. Seems to make the noise, although somewhat more limited, when rotating the prop by hand. Did not seem to lose power but haven't really used it since it started doing this. I can't seem to find any threads on this and am worried there is an issue in the V drive with the gearing or linkage. Anyone have experience with this? Thoughts and input?
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Could be a bad bearing, broken gear tooth or oil pump those are the only main moving parts. Walter will rebuild them if you ship it to them. Cost is around $1400-$1800 I recall depending on the parts needing replacement. New units are upwards of $3400 I believe. You can pull it out flip it upside down and remove the bottom cover and see the bottom gear and visually inspect it yourself. Not sure you can get parts for them to do an overhaul/rebuild job yourself, would have to contact Walter directly to see if they sell parts. -
Thanks for the input. I ended up taking this to the local Nautique dealer. They found that two teeth sheared off the gears in the V-drive. I was told this occurred from a forward to reverse shift. I understand what they are saying but am fairly certain this didn't happen since I've owned the boat in the last 6 weeks. For the dealer to repair and replace the parts with labor was essentially a wash with just replacing the drive with a new one. The dealer acted like Walters didn't offer to rebuild it themselves when asked about this option. Either way, this turned out to be a pricey problem. Walters shipped a new unit quickly and the shop got it back in fairly promptly. I have the boat back and have only ran it around the lake for a couple of minutes so far. Seems to be in good working order.Comment
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Good to hear you got it fixed in a timely manner. Replacing the v-drive is surely not a fun endeavor. At least you'll be able to take good care of the new unit and it will last another 20 years or longer.Comment
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In case someone someday surfs on to this thread, this is right off Walter's web site-
Factory Rebuilding Service
Our staff of expert factory technicians is available to repair your Walter V-Drive. Factory professionals rebuild your V-Drive using only the correct premium original equipment marine-grade parts -- no used or inferior aftermarket substitutes are used.
Our repair philosophy is simple, we repair your V-Drive to factory specifications, we do it in a timely fashion, and we do it right the first time.- Every effort is put into facilitating quick turnaround to get your boat back on the water.
- We provide an accurate quotation and await your approval before proceeding with the repair.
- Our labor rate is extremely competitive, often below local rates.
- After rebuild, all V-Drives are run on factory test stands and checked for proper operation prior to shipment. Our goal is to exceed your expectations.
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