Paragon SAO V Transmission Adjustments

A few months after getting Johanna Rose back into the water, I started to notice a problem with the transmission slipping and thought that I needed to have the transmission rebuilt.  I called Transmission Marine, Inc in Fort Lauderdale and spoke with one of the Paragon experts about a rebuild.  While I received the info on a complete rebuild, I was encouraged to adjust the clutch plates myself first. I received quick instructions over the phone, and later found a nice description online.  Much of the Paragon transmission adjustments described below were provided by Ralph Mudge on the CnC mailing list on Apr 18, 2009.   It turns out that my forward transmission slippage was partly due to a miss-adjustment of the transmission cable causing the transmission to not fully engage (or click) in forward.   My problem was corrected by properly adjusting the transmission cable and by tightening the forward clutch adjustment in the transmission.  At the same time, I adjusted the reversing band. After a year and half and about 50 hrs of engine use later, all still seems fine with the transmission. 

Adjustment of the forward clutches 

Remove the 4 bolts that hold the top cover down and take off the cover. 

(Try to save the gasket, but new ones are cheap)  As you look down into 

the guts, there is a fore and aft shaft that goes through the clutch pack 

that has a castle nut on the end( about 1-1 1/2 ").  With the transmission 

in neutral, turn that shaft with a screwdriver until you find a locking bolt.  

Back off the bolt until you can turn the castle nut.  Careful, a small adjustment 

goes a real long way and there is no frame of reference as to how far 
you have turned it.  In your case, I would try turning it only 2 
notches.  In other words, from the locking bolt turn the nut 
clockwise(facing aft) 2 indentations in the nut (for the locking bolt), 
and lock it down again.  Try it out.  If you have gone too far, the prop 
shaft will slowly turn over in neutral,  meaning that the clutches are 
not fully released. Back up one notch on the nut a try again.  (Though 
neutral is kind of a moving target on this transmission)  If you still 
have slippage, you have not gone far enough, try turning the nut one 
more notch.

Adjustment of the reversing clutch or band
With the top cover off, as you face aft, on the back left side of the 
gearbox, there is a largish nut with a spring clip around it.
Turning that nut clockwise will tighten the band.  Again, small 
adjustments!  One or two flats on the nut make a significant change. 
This will move the reversing movement closer to the neutral spot on the 
shifter, in other words you will not have to push so far down on the 
shifter to fully engage reverse

Top view of Paragon transmission
with top cover removed.

Top cover for Paragon SAO V Transmission

The reserving band adjuster is the horizontal part at the top of the photo
which has holes in the broad bolt-head and goes through the spring. The locking
bolt for the forward clutch adjustment is shown in the center of the photo.   

Transmission Oils
The folks at Transmission Marine, Inc in Fort Lauderdale, recommended the use of ATF or 30W in the paragon and 30W non-detergent oil in the Walter V-drive.  The advantage of ATF is that the fluid provides less drag for the clutch plates in neutral whereas with 30W in the Paragon, the drag can lead to minor turning of the prop shaft while in neutral.  Unfortunately, there are many types of ATF, and some types may actually lead to premature clutch plate slippage.  Because of concerns with transmission slippage, 30W non-detergent is used in both the Paragon transmission and the Walter V-drive.  An added plus is that one only needs to keep one type of transmission oil on hand.