Re: 460 king cobra wont start
It's an 87-89 model.. That's the only years they were made.
You probably have a shift cable problem if it goes into and out of gear with difficulty.
Does it not crank at all or does it crank but not start?
If it's not cranking, it may be all the usual suspects. Starter, starter solenoid, starter switch, neutral safety switch circuit, etc.
If it IS cranking, it's probably somewhere in the ignition or shift assist etc.
You also have a few micro switches back on the engine that control the shift assist system. This system is activated (or should be activated) only when coming out of reverse or forward. If it activates any other time you have either an adjustment problem or a binding shift cable.
If your transom shift cable is black, then you may have the original cable (which was superseded with an improved one (that is red) )
If there's corrosion in the shift cable or it's frayed internally, it will bind and make the vertical drive shift hard.... this may also destroy the drive (dog clutches) eventually.
If you do not have a current and correct OMC service manual, now is the time to get one. They're not cheep...(I paid $100 for mine) I see them on EBAY once in a while $25-75 or so. Doug Russell and Shorts Marine have online parts diagrams and numbers.
I'm not going to suger coat this. You will have a REAL problem if you ever need to replace exhaust manifolds. (they are not manufactured by anyone....Shorts Marine told me they saw manifolds 2 years ago for $600 each and they were "back-ordered" for a year....their parts system shows them for $290 each....their parts guy laughed when I told him that!!)
Also, if you spin the coupler, you're done. They don't exist either (except in wrecking yards...like rusted thru manifolds...)
BRP evidently is not supporting the 460/King at all and doesn't seem to have plans to in the near future.
maybe you already know all of this. If so, please accept my most humble apologies
There is an "up-side" If you keep everything in good condx and baby that coupler and those manifolds you're good until they fail. Also (see my sig below) If and when you decide to repower, A Mercruiser Alpha WILL bolt right up into the Cobra hole! Yes, even the bolt holes match up....you have to relocate the main engine mounts forward a couple of inches depending on the engine.
If you use a Bravo like I did you have to drill 2 additional holes in the transom because the Bravo gimbal has 8 bolts instead of 6 like the Alpha and Cobra.
In any case you'll absolutely need a manual. It's pretty hard to describe how to adjust a Cobra transom shift cable here. There's another description out there by a guy named Stuart. I don't have a current link but if you do a search for "Stuart Cobra Shift" you'll find it.
Cheers,
Rick
