3 weeks ago after being on planing for about 20 minutes the prop stopped and would not engage, had to get towed in. Same thing happened last weekend, but it only took 10 minutes unitl the prop would not engage.

I replaced the switch, and I dont think they are related, but after starting it up with the new switch I blew the 30 amp fuse. Replaced the fuse and starts up no problem.

I have a neighbor that is an electrical engineer, who thought the problem might be electrical.

So yesterday we took the boat out to test to see if it is electrical or the clutch itself.

It only took about 10 minutes for the prop to stop. Unlike the last two times the prop would interminttinly engage. Pull the switch...nothing....then the prop would engage....go about 20 feet and prop would stop. We connected a volt meter to the wire that goes from the switch to the clutch, inside the control box. When the prop stopped the volts would immediately drop, but just once and only for a couple of seconds. With the prop still not engaged now the volt meter read 12 volts. It then stayed at 12 volts with the prop still not engaging.

This, to us, indicates the clutch is bad and needs to be replaced.

Couple of questions:

1. Just order the clutch from PD or somewhere else?
2. Is it just removing the four bolts to drop the lower unit and expose the clutch.....I am not an engine guy so neighbor has a hoist has offered to do it.
3. Anything else we should be aware of?


Any other thoughts or comments regarding this scenario or diagnosis would be welcome.

Thanks.

If it is the clutch, your going to have to pull the 4 long bolts with the spacers and lift the powerhead off along with the stub shaft. Then remove the stub shaft bolts (4ea) and center clutch retaining bolt that holds the clutch onto the crank. There is no need to drop the lower unit.

I still cant help to think it is electirical even wtih what the volt meter said. You dont hear about these clutches going much.

I read on here that someone had a bad grounding wire to the block with similar symptoms. Where is that located?

I really want to remove the tiller handle and clean up and recheck the wiring, but from what I hear removing it is a PITA.

We looked at the wiring and nothing looked worn/ melted, etc.

I just hate to take the motor apart if I don't need to. I asked my neighbor how sure he is that it is the clutch and he said 100%.

To lift off the engine its just four bolts. The engine stays attached to the tiller assembly and the clutch comes off with it. I haven't taken the clutch off of one yet, but would think it would not be too hard unless it's seized up on there. I don't think you have to take the engine off of the tiller, but I'm not positive.

We were just swapping the lower units, and that takes about 30 minutes the first time. Lifting the engine off the frame takes about 5 minutes and the clutch is right there.

sonunds like ur voltage regulator is bad. if u ain't getting 12v to the clutch it will stop. seen it before.

if u melt a clutch it won't ever work again. ever. ever. ever. do u understand?

my advice is that u obiously need sumone with more electrical experiance checkout ur engine.

and ur eletrical engineer friend may need to go eat sum stfu pie and leave the mech stuff to a real mech. lol

You don't need stinkin clutch!!! Go to Napa an get yourself a set of love joy couplins and be done with it!

Here is what it looked like inside, except the rust was not there. It has been sitting next to the shed for a year making rust..... 3 of the 6 bands broke loose and a 4th was cracked at the rivet.

It's amazing how long these clutches last on lawnmower applications.

I've personally never had one go out on my lawnmower.

And the winner is: Wire to the clutch finally broke off.

When the prop would not engage I wiggled the "yellow coated" wire to the clutch and the clutch/ prop would engage/ disengage with each jiggle of the wire. Finally would not engage the clutch/ prop anymore and when we looked at it at the boat launch one of the two wires to the clutch had completely broken off. Obviously found the intermitten problem, but from what I know will need to replace the clutch anyway since that wire broke inside the clutch.

Yes it was electrical and yes it was the clutch.

cool poker, i've never broken the clutch springs before, seen several broken on other peoples rigs. burnt up 3 clutch's over the years. been the clutch bearing each time. when u fry the clutch bearing, and the heat from the hot bearing melts the wires off the clutch, it ain't gonna pull no more. u might get a small spin from the brake not holding anymore, but it won't buck much current..

usually the big red button will stop working, and if u open the vynil clutch cover and keep moving so it gets sum air, the momentary switch will still work long enough to get u to the landing, or it too will stop working and then u are stuck there smelling burnt clutch and calling for a ride. lol

the first 27pd's had single banded clutches, since then they have double banded clutches from what i remember.

the symptoms i read from the guys post seems like when his battery starts to get around 12 volts the clutch quits working. at least i've seen this happen several times. only way to see is to put a meter on the pos motor lead and rev the boat up and see if it's charging. if it is then start chasing wires, could be as simple as a loose connection.

a bad ground will do the same thing, but nothing will work when the ground is bad.


good luck.


just saw u found the problem. glad it was that simple.

I had the exact same problem - wiring at the clutch. Just put a new one in this weekend. Not too hard - pull the power head and then get the adapter and old clutch off. That is the hard part - my shaft had corroded some from saltwater and the clutch was a little rusty, but nothing mechanically wrong with it.

This worked great to get motorhead to separate from the lower unit. 1/2" all thread, washers and nuts.equal tightening on the four posts was all it took to separate.

I was considering buying a PD 36 and your post has me wondering if this is a common problem. I was in my friends boat that has the Vanguard PD and the ball bearings were being destroyed by the clutch plates. We were cruising along fine, slowed down to idle, start back up and the motor siezed. We smelled electirical burning and noticed a large amount of metal shavings magnatized below the motor. He keeps his boat in the garage, so no rust like your pictures indicated. His motor had 80 hours on it, but was just outside of warranty on time and could not get it covered. If memory serves correct, it was over $600 for the part, not labor.

Is this common among PD owners?

last clutch i bought from pd was around 200$ give or take. your buddy got cornhole-ed.

if it was out of warranty, that's at least a year. eighty hrs is probly average use.

the permanent bearing on top of the clutch is the weak link on these things. if u get some water/mud/saltwater in there and it sets awhile. it can ruin the bearings. they get hot and melt the wires off the clutch..

it's the same clutch they run on ztr lawnmowers. i wanna say 800 hrs or so is what they expect them to last.

That's what happened to mine - saltwater.... I keep mine in the garage, but the corrossion was still pretty bad.