Drive seal kit installation

[cobra 3.0]

I've been having some water in my drive oil on my 1986 OMC Cobra drive (3.0 engine). I had hit some rocks. (I had the bottom fin and propeller fixed.)<br /><br />I'd like to replace the seals myself but I read last year that you need to test the new seals under pressure to make sure there are no leaks. <br /> <br />What's involved? (I have a compressor.) <br />What does one do when there is a leak anyway?

 

[tommays]

Re: Drive seal kit installation

the first thing you need to do is pressure test the drive with it off the boat and find the leak<br /><br />you really need to find a orginal service manual on ebay if not then a seloc<br /><br />the manuals will show what is involved and were special tools will be required which will allow you to decide if you want to DIY or not <br /><br />some seals are not to bad some require pretty involved repiars<br /><br />tommays

 

[bigbrownbuku]

Re: Drive seal kit installation

if you have had propellor impact damage chances are your propshaft is bent. remove the prop and spin the shaft by hand its usually pretty easy to tell. a bent shaft will increase the chances of failure in this area tenfold. a "backyard" way to check ive used on the road, stack some bricks to the height of the propshaft and place a pencil with the point very close to an even surface close to the end, then spin it. the spec is around .003" which basically means anything but straight.

 

[cobra 3.0]

Re: Drive seal kit installation

Thanks guys. I'll check for a bent shaft first. I have the manual and will look into it further.

 

[sea wolf]

Re: Drive seal kit installation

If you are going to change the prop shaft seals u probably will also have to change the 2 o-rings on the bearing carrier. They'll probably be damaged when u pull that bearing carrier. You should also change the 4 o-rings for the bearing carier bolts. Those bearing carriers can be a bull to remove. Give it a good soaking around the housing with some pb blaster & let it sit overnite.

 

[sea wolf]

Re: Drive seal kit installation

By the way cobra, another common seal failure which could cause your problem is the water pump shaft seal. Check it out.

 

[cobra 3.0]

Re: Drive seal kit installation

Thank you for the advise.