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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    I can buy rebuild kits for the SX rams but I haven't seen any for the Cobra rams. Don't think I've heard of BRP, could be a problem getting hold of the Cobra parts. Is my pump (pictured above) standard SX? I read that someone's rams didn't need servicing for 35 years, my rams don't look in...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Thought my trim hydraulics were fixed after I changed an O ring on the pump, the drive did stay up over night when I test fitted it a few weeks ago. But now the drive is back to falling slowly again, no external leaks so the problem must be inside the rams or the pump.. But which? 1995 OMC...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Thanks. When I was looking at buying a replacement prop I looked at one that might have been 14 x 21, the seller told me the 1/2" less diameter wouldn't make much practical difference. Is that true?
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    Need to determine best prop for weird setup

    Why did they change prop sizes in 69?
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Thanks, I understand the prop should allow the engine to reach max rpm etc. I would have a good idea what to expect from a change in pitch if I knew a baseline (good engine and good prop) but my engine and prop were both bad when I bought the boat, I just went on marina advice and cost when I...
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    Need to determine best prop for weird setup

    iIrc both motors (Evinrude and Merc) would be around 60/70 hp. But all OMC stuff used bigger props than Merc stuff. I know there's a difference in prop to cavitation plate and gearing but they were design choices by OMC/Merc respectively, my question is about what the trade-offs are between prop...
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    Need to determine best prop for weird setup

    Thanks, I think I get most of that, but why do manufacturers choose (say) a 14.5" diameter prop instead of (say) a 10" or 18" diameter prop and change gearing/pitch for similar(?) results? I've wondered about this since my dad's boating days when I was a kid and noticed my dad's Evinrude engine...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Fitted the drive on Friday evening, removed the drive drainplug and dipstick. My 13x2mm drive socket wouldn't fit in the level plug so I left the drive fluid draining for a couple of days. Today I bought a big screwdriver and undid the level plug, used a little pump to refill the drive from the...
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    Need to determine best prop for weird setup

    What I'm getting at is how should size/weight/design of boat and (say) engine rpm and torque / hp dictate drive gearing and prop size. Merc or OMC gearing / prop wouldn't be best suited to the Titanic lol, it obviously need much bigger props, but why couldn't a smaller OMC or Merc prop be turned...
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    Need to determine best prop for weird setup

    Not trying to take the thread off topic, Mercury outboards always had smaller props than Johnson, obviously with different gearing to suit, but which is most efficient at low and high speeds (small prop spinning faster or big prop spinning slower)?
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    5 US qts = 10 US pts = 4.16 imperial qts = 8.26 imperial pints, so going on those figures if I pumped 9 pints out of my engine I was only overfilled by 0.7 pints (0.35 qts) yet my dipstick showed I was overfilled until I pumped 3 pints out. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to make sure...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Thanks Lou. I pumped the oil out of the engine today, main reason being I wasn't sure how much I'd put in it because I part filled it before fitting the engine then ran the oil pump with the oil pressure sender disconnected and pumped some oil onto the ground in the yard. I removed 9 British...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Thanks, I got the drive fitted but it did seem more difficult than last time I test fitted it after cleaning everything up. I may have made a mistake though because I didn't wait for your answer, fitted it with triple guard over the O rings... maybe that was why I also struggled a bit to get the...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Thanks, I edited my post to include some pics and more info, posts crossed. I did coat the water passage groove and gasket with the triple guard grease... I remembered your advice from earlier in the thread ;-) I thought you also said coat the entire leg to transom swivel mating area? I know to...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    The O rings are around an inch / 3cm diameter but the ones already on the input shaft look wider diameter... unless they stretch to fit in the grooves on the input shaft? Been getting the transom swivel and leg ready for refitting, re-greased the universal joints using Morris Lubricants K323...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Had hoped to get a bit of time to work on the boat today but real work got in the way. I'll be refitting the OMC Cobra (Volvo SX) drive leg soon. I bought the odd shaped water intake gasket that seals between the leg and transom swivel, the odd shaped gasket fits fine but it came in a pack with...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    I doubt this instrument cluster would be fitted on a boat with a 2 cylinder engine, which made me wonder if the tach settings control points to number of ignition pulses per engine rotation in which case it should be set to 4 for the V8? I've set it to 4 now but haven't started the engine to...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Been trying to fix some electrical gremlins. I still haven't got to the bottom of the 'immobilser' issue but I might have fixed that anyway. To recap a marina sent the previous owner a video showing how to start the engine... turn the ignition on, then flick the cockpit light switch on/off...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Adding to my last post... Hopefully I fixed all the gauges in the car style instrument cluster. Tested them all with various electrical resistance to earth instead of connected to respective sender units and all readings responded as they should. The only gauge I haven't tested is the rev...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    I got a bit of time to work on the boat today, been messing with the dashboard instruments. To recap, this is the Four Winns car style instruments, the problem was all the dials seemed to move but all pointed to the wrong place. I removed the instrument cluster and using 2 small spoons (it's a...
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