1995 Carver 390 Cockpit Trans issues

I have Velvet drives pushed by 454s. The tranny gets hot after only a mile now. I believe the forward plates are slipping and the friction is causing the heat. Cooler and lines were flushed with air and brake fluid and new oil; still hot and slipage at low rpm in forward-reverse works.

So, I think it's time for a rebuild. Has anyone pulled this type of tranny and if so, is this a job that I should hire out or is it a do it yourself job for a guy who has some knowledge.

Next question is if there is any guide to the process of removing the tranny anywhere? If not, I prob will just hire it out......

Was the transmission cooler cleaned where the raw water passes through it? Are you positive you don't have a blockage in the transmission cooler? I'd recommend taking it off and looking through it with a flashlight first. Also make sure it's getting plenty of waterflow.

Thank you:

Raw water goes to the transmission cooler first then the engine cooler. If the raw water was blocked the engine would get hotter than normal. I did check waterflow and it was very good. I also took off both cooler lines at the tranny and blew air and brake pad cleaner through the lines to the cooler then back. The flow of air was strong and the brake pad cleaner blew out well.

This indicated to me that the cooler was working but was unable to keep up with the heat caused by the friction of the slipping plates.?.?...Also, when hot, forward slips at low idle (drive wont turn unles rpm hits 1300-1500) but reverse still works-although used sparingly

this is my guess; does it make sense??

Forward Plates are toast. Reverse is perfect. Pump can be saved (machined).
Should be back in by MON......

Long story short, the trans came out 3 times. Two and three because the seal failed at the pump and it lost all fluid; Velvet rebuild kit used a rubber seal at the pump. 1st time we thought we made the mistake of not using blue sealer. Install with the blue. It failed again - meaning it lost all fluid under pressure.

Then we decided it had to be the rubber seal at the pump or the pump itself. The pump did have wear on it but was machined .025 smooth. On paper that should have worked. P.S. Boat has 680hrs

Because there was no freakin way we were going to pull that beast again, we decided to get a new pump. (the new one was a used one that had a metal seal and had zero wear) it also has a two year warranty.......

Install again and after about 2 hours, No problems, no heat. I will burn some dinasaur bones next week to confirm but am pretty confident we got it.....

Thanks