I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

[a70eliminator]

Yep. I've been just a little disturbed lately, I bought this 20' chaparral for a family fun boat 1990 OMC Cobra drive 5.8 4bbl Ford, I had no Idea about the whole OMC thing with getting parts an all. Anyhow first trip my positive cable chaffed and shorted out against the exh. manifold quick thinking prevented fire, anyhow that was a tow in. Sunday I almost got stranded again, couldn't get shifted out of gear, I messed with the lever and finally found neutral but now it won't go into reverse or forward so off with the doghouse again, I fiddled with the cable and got it into gear again and headed for a crash landing at the docks, got home and immediately began diagnostics, it was off with the upper and lower gear housing to get to the broken shift cable, the cable is fine but the sheath(casing) broke off right at the lower crimp end by the gearshift lever.

There's an OMC dealer a few miles away from the lake and behold he has the cable in stock 175.00! thats rediculous, he say they aren't making these anymore, I passed on it. I browsed the web and found one for 87.00 half of what this guy was asking.

Anyone else have OMC have I made a mistake buying it, I'm hoping once I get get this shift cable replaced everything will be good, I haven't had a chance to enjoy this boat yet only had it out 3 times and problems seem to crop up each time out, just bad luck I hope.

 

[Don S]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

Might help if someone knew what year and model drive you have.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

Daaa, that would help wouldn't it, I'm an idiot.
1990 OMC cobra drive
5.8 4bbl Ford

 

[evilratgirl]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

Hey Eliminator, don't get too flustered just yet. With a new used boat there will be bugs to work out. The battery cable is a prime example, not OMC specific.
I also own and OMC Cobra and love it. There are limitations, as you found local OMC dealers will take advantage of you. Parts are of plenty on the internet and much more reasonable.
As far as any shift linkage, DON'T FIDDLE!!!!! I don't care if it's OMC or Merc, there is a proper means of adjustment. The Stewart site and the OEM manual will take you thru the correct steps to get it right. It's really not all that difficult and makes a world of difference in shifting.
Don't buy into the OMC trash just yet.

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

battery cable shorting out not an OMC thing. Sounds like your issues are more from buying a 17 year old boat that didn't have the necessary loads of money spent on it for maintenance over the years.
I'm not sure there's many 17 year old Mercruiser's that havent had a shift problem or two.
Sounds like your lower gears survived so I'd say you've been let off easy by the i/o gods....

 

[akwalker]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

I picked up my boat 2 months ago. It has a 4.3 OMC coupled to a Cobra outdrive, 1988. I put it in my slip, ran out on the lake a bit, and generated a list of "things to do",,,,,,,, points, plugs, condenser, wires, cap, ESA module, adjust the shift cables, etc. I believe that the Cobra is just like any other outdrive,,,,, you need to maintain and take care of small problems before they become big ones. Granted, the company is no longer in bussiness, and some parts are hard to come by, but, at the risk of jinxing myself, the thing now runs and perfoms great. I think you would find the problems with ANY used engine/outdrive. No one has any idea how a used engine/outdrive was treated by the previous owner(s), so I think some work is to be expected. Hang in there.

 

[akwalker]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

Wow, I must really be a slow typist,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

You have a good engine........​

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

Heck yea, that windsor is what sold me on this boat, I know Fords, and I'm learning fast about the outdrive. thanks for the vote of confidence it helps knowing some of you have had good results with your OMC cobra's. I'm very mechanically inclined and I'll take good care of my stuff. anyhow here's a link to who I ordered the cable from 87.00 seems teally cheap compared to 175.00 I just hope it's the correct peice? 987661 I think is correct.




http://www.sterndrive.info/shift_cable.html

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

You will want to read this on the cable adjustment http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/kw-shift.html

A factory manual is a must have as far as shift adjustments.Things must be measured exactly or the gears are not going to survive.

Here is a REAL manual,the best 50 bucks you will ever spend!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OMC-...3QQihZ010QQitemZ200152119188#ebayphotohosting

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

Yep already have the Manual, also have read through the Hastings report the two finger thing, I'll get there, thanks.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

If you measure right at the bell crank with it being exactly 90* to the transom plate and the measurment on the engine bracket where the lower cable connects and do it per the book you should be fine.The manual has about 3 pages with very good pics of what to measure.
Get some triple guard grease for the bell crank end of the cable..Put a couple finger fulls in there..

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

Thanks, good tip on the triple guard grease, are there any substitutes for triple guard? I hate to have to buy anything from the marina, the guy probably wants 80.00 for a tube of it.
Also is there anything else I should do now that have the outdrive off? All my bellows seems to look fine, What entails servicing the U-joint? Thanks for all the help.

 

[Dante04SRT]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

Feel lucky...

I bought my boat in late June locally (ebay) and got a big surprise...

My Mercruiser equipped boat might as well have been an anchor... The seller didn't disclose that it wasn't running right, only that it might have "needed a tuneup".

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1987...0QQihZ001QQcategoryZ63685QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Almost 3 months later, I have just barely gotten it running... I replaced the entire engine because the head gasket was blown and both the engine block and head were cracked...

Sooooo... don't feel too bad just yet.

 

[marunr]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

Triple guard grease isn't expensive...even at most marinas...but you can get it at West marine, or online at most sites including this one I'm sure. I'll second filling up that bell crank cavity.

As far as the bellows, I would go ahead and replace the u-joint bellows since you don't know how old they are. Sometimes they look allright but when you put the outdrive back on they don't seal well around the yoke.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

Agree on the bellows replacement.The u-joints can be greased easy and reach in the hole and turn the gimbal bearing by hand.It should be smooth to turn.
Don't forget to use an alignment tool when you put the drive back on.
Go ahead and drain and fill the drive with new gear oil and the out drive will be fully serviced for next year.
Also pick up some bellows sealant and put the clamps on with the screw at about the 2 oclock position..Bellows sealant needed in the ujoint bellow,not the exhaust...
You have a factory manual or is it a Seloc or Clymers?

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

I have the factory manual, I bought it off Ebay for right around 40.00, finding info can be tricky, I found all the info on replacing and or adjusting shift cables, but the info was split up between 2 sections of the book, you really have to read closely, I find myself reading some paragraphs over and over and over till finally it sinks in, great book a definate must have ranks right up there with this forum which is becoming my best friend. I spent some time today cleaning the casing, chasing threads in the drain plugs and cleaning out the shift pin cavity, put new o-ring on shift lever, gasket surfaces. I'll taking a closer look at the bellows along with the other systems while I still have access while waiting on new cable to arrive.
Oh, I almost forgot to ask about those gimble screws the 1/2" allen heads ones there are plastic shims oh forget it I'll look in my manual first then ask questions.

 

[Maclin]

Re: I think I made a mistake buying this OMC

Just hang with it for a while, I mean, "...you're already dirty..." !!!!

I will echo what the others have said, some of the problems you described are just old boat problems you would have with anything. And from what others here have echoed you can find the stuff you need and I bet the boat is pretty cool too......