1999 Xstar - red transmission fluid emptied

[Kitt]

Hey guys, I am mechanically inclined, but new to mastercraft & vdrive. I have put about 10 hours on my used boat (260 hours total), and the transmission seems to be leaking - possibly leaking to empty at this point since the dipstick seems dry, and there's at least a couple quarts of what looks like ATF in the bilge.

Can anyone walk me through finding the trouble area and repair/replacing the seals/damage?

I am willing to bring it to a marina, but feel I am capable of this repair, and trust myself more than others to work on it.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Kitt

[FrankSchwab]

The transmissions are pretty simple when it comes to gross fluid leaks. There's a seal on the input shaft, a seal on the output shaft, and two hoses that run to the transmission fluid cooler. To figure out which one it is, you're going to have to get dirty.

Drop the partition walls on each side of the engine. Inspect the hoses and transmission cooler. On mine, you also have to remove the rear seat to see the bow side of the transmission. See if you can tell where the oil is leaking from. If not, clean the bilge and transmission - soapy water is my choice followed by a careful power wash at the local self-service car wash, but others use engine cleaner or similar.

Refill the transmission and cover the bilge with newspaper. Start the engine, and see if you have a leak that you can spot. If not, take it to the lake, and drop it in the water. Start it up, and have a friend drop it into Idle while you carefully look at the transmission (be careful of the rotating bits and belts). See if you can see where the leak is coming from. Stop the engine, and look very closely. If you haven't found it yet, start the boat and hit it for a minute or so - then climb back in and see if you can find the leak. If not, hit it for 10 minutes and go look. Eventually you'll see the telltale red drops on the paper.

/frank

[jared205v]

I had a hose end go bad that would only leak above 1500 RPM. That is an easy fix. had local hose guy make a new hose.