Gearbox, woes what would you do ?

[rob@501]

I'm taking out my PRM 150 gearbox this week,the reason being I have little or no forward momentum , whilst I could go water skiing in reverse.

I've checked the obvious lever controls and have replaced the filter/strainer (now no longer available) with a blanking off bolt thingy. All to no avail.

Now my options are as I see it:

Go out and buy a reconditioned gearbox (PRM 260) for which I've been quoted £700; or take it to the nearest marine engineer and have him strip it down and quote me for the repairs, assuming the parts are available.

I've been advised by the boatyard to go for the first option, the argument being I won't save myself much cash, and that way I should get a guarantee on the recon gearbox.

I don't want to spend more than I have to, (cash being tight) but at the same time I don't want to regret trying to do it on the cheap.

 

Anyone care to offer an opinion on what they would do, or hazard a guess at the cost of letting the engineer do the job?

[Guest]

I'm taking out my PRM 150 gearbox this week,the reason being I have little or no forward momentum , whilst I could go water skiing in reverse.

I've checked the obvious lever controls and have replaced the filter/strainer (now no longer available) with a blanking off bolt thingy. All to no avail.

Now my options are as I see it:

Go out and buy a reconditioned gearbox (PRM 260) for which I've been quoted £700; or take it to the nearest marine engineer and have him strip it down and quote me for the repairs, assuming the parts are available.

I've been advised by the boatyard to go for the first option, the argument being I won't save myself much cash, and that way I should get a guarantee on the recon gearbox.

I don't want to spend more than I have to, (cash being tight) but at the same time I don't want to regret trying to do it on the cheap.

 

Anyone care to offer an opinion on what they would do, or hazard a guess at the cost of letting the engineer do the job?

I have been looking at PRM boxes recently. I may be wrong but thought new ones were around 700 quid or so?

[magnetman]

I have been looking at PRM boxes recently. I may be wrong but thought new ones were around 700 quid or so?

 

PRM 150 is a light weight gearbox, a similar unit was previously sold as the PRM 'Delta'. The PRM 260, on the other hand, is a heavyweight unit which was the replacement for the PRM 160.

 

150 and 160 are similar numbers but very different gearboxes.

 

a recon of the 150 would seem more sensible to me as a 260 to replace a 150 is not appropriate in my opinion.

 

what engine is it?

[casper ghost]

I don't think a 160 will fit into the space where you had a 150. Either repair your 150 or buy a second hand 150.

Casp'

[Keeping Up]

When my Delta packed up, I was advised that it wasn't worth repairing (it needed new seals, shafts, and gears) but I was told the 150 is actually a good deal meatier than the Delta inside. If yours is a PRM150, wouldn't replacing it with a new PRM150 be an option? At least everything else will marry up with no changes. But personally I'd get a quote for reconditioning the existing one first.

[Guest]

When my Delta packed up, I was advised that it wasn't worth repairing (it needed new seals, shafts, and gears) but I was told the 150 is actually a good deal meatier than the Delta inside. If yours is a PRM150, wouldn't replacing it with a new PRM150 be an option? At least everything else will marry up with no changes. But personally I'd get a quote for reconditioning the existing one first.

Midland Chandlers are advertising the 150 new for 880 quid. I have seen them for a bit less.

[casper ghost]

I've a prm 140s and with no knowledge at all of these I stripped it down and replaced all the seals. I got them from Lancing Marine, they have spares for even the old boxes. While I had it apart it was easy to see how to replace the clutches and the bearings too, though I did have to post a question on here about where a bit went when I tried to put it back together , works ok now.

Casp'

[alan_fincher]

Midland Chandlers are advertising the 150 new for 880 quid. I have seen them for a bit less.

Just under £800 at Calcutt for a new 150.

[ditchcrawler]

Midland Chandlers are advertising the 150 new for 880 quid. I have seen them for a bit less.

Calcutt do them for £800 or they will rebuild yours

[casper ghost]

699.00 from Lancing Marine, go to Boats and Outboards web site.

Casp'

[rob@501]

Extremely red faced here 160 NOT 150, the replacement would be a 260. Senior moment

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to reply. Still cant believe I wrote 150. What a T1t.

[Grace and Favour]

Extremely red faced here 160 NOT 150, the replacement would be a 260. Senior moment

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to reply. Still cant believe I wrote 150. What a T1t.

 

Carpe gearbox . . . . . . . .

[casper ghost]

never mind, everytime I put 150 in my resonse just replace it with 160... It'll probably need new clutch plates..

Casp'

[RobinJ]

Extremely red faced here 160 NOT 150, the replacement would be a 260. Senior moment

The 160 is more squarish than the 150 and completely different.

It should be cheaper and easier to overhaul than a 150, but is heavier, so I would expect a recon unit to be more expensive?

[David Schweizer]

May I suggest that you contact the Technical department of PRM for advice. There may be a simple reason for the apparent failure (which is rare on the 160/260 box) I found them very heplful when I thought I had a problem, which turned out to be the drive plate and not the box at all.

 

http://www.prm-marine.com/contact_us.php

[RobinJ]

May I suggest that you contact the Technical department of PRM for advice. There may be a simple reason for the apparent failure (which is rare on the 160/260 box) I found them very heplful when I thought I had a problem, which turned out to be the drive plate and not the box at all.

Good point, if the gearbox is off, the drive plate can be checked first!

However, however drive plate failure is normally noisy and if failed both forward and reverse should not be there!

Was it clunking? Have you lost both forward and reverse?

On the 160 there should be an inspection plate which allows you to look at the friction lining thickness.

[MtB]

The 160 is more squarish than the 150 and completely different.

It should be cheaper and easier to overhaul than a 150, but is heavier, so I would expect a recon unit to be more expensive?

 

 

The other difference between a 150 and a 160 of course is the price. A new 150 may be competitive with repair costs but I believe a new 260 is not far off £3k so repairing yours is bound to be the best option.

 

But as others have said, the 160 has a reputation for being bombproof so driveplate or something else is more likely to have failed than the gearbox.

 

Mike

[Sir Nibble]

Something that need bearing in mind here which I raise as a one time repairman myself.

If you get someone to strip your box and quote you for repair, are you prepared to pay the man for his time stripping and inspecting if you choose not to go ahead with the repair?

[Proper Job]

£3K!

 

Calcutt has 260's for less than £1,200

[David Schweizer]

Good point, if the gearbox is off, the drive plate can be checked first!

However, however drive plate failure is normally noisy and if failed both forward and reverse should not be there!

Was it clunking? Have you lost both forward and reverse?

On the 160 there should be an inspection plate which allows you to look at the friction lining thickness.

Not neccessarily. The problem I had was significant noise and loss of full drive in reverse, but forward worked ok with no noise above 1000 revs. The centre of the drive plate fell off when the plate was removed.

[RLWP]

Not neccessarily. The problem I had was significant noise and loss of full drive in reverse, but forward worked ok with no noise above 1000 revs. The centre of the drive plate fell off when the plate was removed.

 

I like problems like that. Something that is really clear when you get to it. The guy who trained me in electronics much preferred high amperage fuses, that way you could always tell where the problem was in a circuit from the black marks

 

Richard

[Guest]

Not neccessarily. The problem I had was significant noise and loss of full drive in reverse, but forward worked ok with no noise above 1000 revs. The centre of the drive plate fell off when the plate was removed.

I've heard of that before. Operating like a ratchet screwdriver.

Edited July 6, 2010 by Guest

[rob@501]

AJ, you are quite right. Calcutt have quoted me in the region of £1100 on a new PRM 260, and I'm beginning to wonder if thats not the way to go. ( bloody boats ) but as already been mentioned the 260 does have a reputation for being boom-proof. So I think my best course of action is to get the box off and then have a rethink.

In the mean time I'll get onto PRM Marine as you suggest David.

 

Once again many thanks to all for taking the trouble to reply.

I will keep you posted as and when.