Paragon 1 1 Turns shaft while in neutral

I noticed while winterizing t

I noticed while winterizing the engine for the season that the transmission makes a scrapeing sound and will turn the prop shaft slowly if the motor is reved a bit while in neutral. The tranny and engine functioned fine last season. I changed the fluid last spring. It had good color and odor. (still does) The fluid I used was Valvoline Dextron III. I noticed the bottle said it had "shutter protection". Could the fluid be causing this? I checked the shift arm on the tranny and it is in the correct postion. Fluid level is fine. Do you think the tranny is ready to fail? I want to take care of this prior to April launch to have a hopefully trouble free season.
The boat is a 1977 Chris Craft Catalina 251 with a 305K motor. As always thanks for your help.
Joe

" Joe,
This is most likely no

" Joe,
This is most likely nothing to worry about. It is likely that this has been this way since new. There are clutch plates in the transmission. If the shimming for these plates is not exact, you will have them engaged slightly while in neutral. Although I don't agree with it, transmission manufacturers state that if you can stop the shaft from spinning with one hand, this is acceptable. Keep in mind that temperature will effect this. It is more noticable when the transmission and it's fluid are cold. Also, since you noticed this while winterizing, I am assuming the boat was out of the water. When in the water there is drag on the propellor and therefore less spinning of the shaft. If this sinning is more than "slightly", or if you can not stop it with one hand, you should have it checked by a professional. Please, please use caution while checking this. Don't wear loose clothing which might get caught in the spinning shaft and wear gloves. If you are not comftorable checking this, please seek professional help. Good luck. "

" The plate clearance on the 1

" The plate clearance on the 1:1 Paragons is adjustable by turning a castellated nut inside. It should not be loosened so much the plates slip when under full load, which would heat the tranny and ultimately burn up the plates; a little spinning in neutral is OK, although it accelerates plate wear a bit. My tranny sounds like a box of rocks in neutral, there's a lot of loose parts rattling around when the pressure plates aren't locked up.

I use 30w oil, the manual says oil or Dextron is acceptable. About 20hp runs through mine, so it's not a big deal. "