I have a 1992 Four Winns Horizon 200 with a Ford 351 / 5.8L with a King Cobra outdrive. I am the 3rd owner of this boat and, for a 24 year old boat, it is in immaculate condition. It has performed very well for us over the last 8 years, being used 30 to 50 times per summer.
Last year, we had our first problem with the boat not going into forward gear. I diagnosed that down to being a bad shift cable from the engine mount to the outdrive. I pulled the outdrive and replaced that cable and resolved the problem. Just now, however, a year later, the problem has come back. Now, I am fairly certain that the problem is a mechanical problem inside the gear system of the outdrive. I say that because, I disconnected the cable at the engine mount and operated it by hand and was able to get the boat to go into forward gear. Initially, when I was able to get the boat to go into forward gear by pushing the cable all the way in by hand (taking out any influence of any adjustments), I thought it must just be an adjustment issue.... because it worked manually. Then, however, I had an unfortunate turn of events. We were moving down the lake at WOT (45 mph)... with the cable still disconnected at the engine mount and pushed into the forward gear position by hand and, after we slowed to a stop... and tried to accelerate again, the boat would not go and the gear system had gone back into Neutral with the cable still in the same position! To me, that points to either something being wrong with the Cone Clutch assembly or, perhaps, the levers and linkages that react to the cable position and actuate the shifting through the wall of the upper gear housing.
After lots of reading on these Cobra and King Cobra outdrives, it sounds like I am fortunate in that mine is one with the Cone Clutch (has the hump on the top of the drive) and it is not one of the more troubled units with the Clutch Dog. I have read (don't know if its true) that the type I have is nearly indestructible.
After all of that background, here are my questions:
1.) Anybody know of a good OMC outdrive mechanic in Colorado or a nearby state? All boat repair places I have contacted have said they will not work on older boats now, as they have all the business they can handle with newer boats.
2.) If I do find a mechanic and the problem turns out to be a gear or clutch cone problem, would the repair likely be so much that I should consider just installing a brand new outdrive?
3.) Anybody know of a good outdrive (Volvo Penta Perhaps) that would just bolt right on to my setup?
As I mentioned above, this is a really nice, well maintained boat and, if I could put upwards of $4,000 into to it to return it to operation, I would do that. I was just looking at brand new boats of the same capacity (power and people) and they are over $80,000!!! Makes $4,000 seem really cheap!
Oh.. one more thing....
4.) I noticed a tiny amount of water actually bubbling out from the end of the cable (between the cable and housing) when I actuated it by hand. When I replaced the cable last year, I noticed that the shift housing compartment on the side of the outdrive appeared to have not been keeping the water out, as it had water / mineral looking stains inside. I replaced the seal, but was still skeptical that the compartment would actually be water tight. Now, seeing water coming up the cable and out the end, however, tiny the drops... thats seems like strong evidence that the compartment on the other end is, indeed, not water tight.
Could water getting inside that compartment, be causing this issue in some way? Seems to me like the shifting operation would still work ok, but who knows?
Sorry for the long post, but I am running out of options on what to do about this and thought I would try this just to see if anyone had any advice?
Thanks for any advice anyone may be able to provide!
Bob
Last year, we had our first problem with the boat not going into forward gear. I diagnosed that down to being a bad shift cable from the engine mount to the outdrive. I pulled the outdrive and replaced that cable and resolved the problem. Just now, however, a year later, the problem has come back. Now, I am fairly certain that the problem is a mechanical problem inside the gear system of the outdrive. I say that because, I disconnected the cable at the engine mount and operated it by hand and was able to get the boat to go into forward gear. Initially, when I was able to get the boat to go into forward gear by pushing the cable all the way in by hand (taking out any influence of any adjustments), I thought it must just be an adjustment issue.... because it worked manually. Then, however, I had an unfortunate turn of events. We were moving down the lake at WOT (45 mph)... with the cable still disconnected at the engine mount and pushed into the forward gear position by hand and, after we slowed to a stop... and tried to accelerate again, the boat would not go and the gear system had gone back into Neutral with the cable still in the same position! To me, that points to either something being wrong with the Cone Clutch assembly or, perhaps, the levers and linkages that react to the cable position and actuate the shifting through the wall of the upper gear housing.
After lots of reading on these Cobra and King Cobra outdrives, it sounds like I am fortunate in that mine is one with the Cone Clutch (has the hump on the top of the drive) and it is not one of the more troubled units with the Clutch Dog. I have read (don't know if its true) that the type I have is nearly indestructible.
After all of that background, here are my questions:
1.) Anybody know of a good OMC outdrive mechanic in Colorado or a nearby state? All boat repair places I have contacted have said they will not work on older boats now, as they have all the business they can handle with newer boats.
2.) If I do find a mechanic and the problem turns out to be a gear or clutch cone problem, would the repair likely be so much that I should consider just installing a brand new outdrive?
3.) Anybody know of a good outdrive (Volvo Penta Perhaps) that would just bolt right on to my setup?
As I mentioned above, this is a really nice, well maintained boat and, if I could put upwards of $4,000 into to it to return it to operation, I would do that. I was just looking at brand new boats of the same capacity (power and people) and they are over $80,000!!! Makes $4,000 seem really cheap!
Oh.. one more thing....
4.) I noticed a tiny amount of water actually bubbling out from the end of the cable (between the cable and housing) when I actuated it by hand. When I replaced the cable last year, I noticed that the shift housing compartment on the side of the outdrive appeared to have not been keeping the water out, as it had water / mineral looking stains inside. I replaced the seal, but was still skeptical that the compartment would actually be water tight. Now, seeing water coming up the cable and out the end, however, tiny the drops... thats seems like strong evidence that the compartment on the other end is, indeed, not water tight.
Could water getting inside that compartment, be causing this issue in some way? Seems to me like the shifting operation would still work ok, but who knows?
Sorry for the long post, but I am running out of options on what to do about this and thought I would try this just to see if anyone had any advice?
Thanks for any advice anyone may be able to provide!
Bob
