Transmission or engine problem???

[alecams]

Wouldn't you know, the comming weekend with plans and the boat is going sour. First i noticed that comming off the throttle quickly produces a mild grinding sort of noise, and when in reverse it just doesn't sound right. This past Sunday the boat won't run over 4k RPM and i know it should run about 4500rpm which would be about barefoot speed. Is this the dampner plate and other trans issues or motor or both? Will a bad trans reduce rpm rather than increase rpm? I hope this is easy to fix by the weekend.

[J. Patterson]

alecams
---Lets hope for the best here. First--- a transmission problem, any one that still allows it to go into gear anyway, will produce heat. If the transmission is not getting abnormally hot, then lets look elsewhere. If your idle speed is low and irregular you will get a clatter that comes from the transmission or torque plate. It's the slack in the gears train as the engine is not running smoothly enough to keep pressure against the gears at very low rpm. This could simply be due to a cylinder missing, hopefully due to a lack of spark. This would also explain your loss of rpm at full throttle. Try removing one spark wire at a time to while at idle to see if there is one plug that does not make a difference. If there is. change the plug, and or wire.

Good Luck,
J. Patterson
Trussville, AL

[alecams]

All the plugs are new but not the wires. at idle there is not any noise but the tach needle will jump frequently. The trans fluid is clean & clear still. There is no clunking when placing it in fwd gear, and a slight clunk going into reverse (which i am told is normal). I am more concerned about not running up to speed although both problems could be related i guess.