Well ladies and gentleman I just wanted to say thank you for these forums. This is my first post on this forum, but by no means am I an internet newbie. I have been lurking here for about 2 weeks, since the purchase of my boat.
Let me give you a little background on who I am, so that you all have a little bit of insight into my experience level with mechanics...
I have been in the US Air Force for 18 yrs, I am a vehicle mechanic, and have been since I came into the service. I work on everything from lawn mowers to armored personnel carriers. So I have a wide knowledge of anything automotive related. But I am dumber than a box of rocks when it comes to a boat... somewhat.
I joined the forum because I have been using it over the past 2 weeks to diagnose some of the issues that I have. So without further delay, here is what I am going to need help with...
Boat #1, 1986 Landau Bow rider 18' I/O 3.0 w/ OMC cobra stern drive. Boat was purchased as a basket case on ebay from Boatangel. I did not get hurt on the price, but the engine had a cracked block, and was in pieces when I received it (head removed, starter laying on deck, no interior etc etc) Stern drive was laying on the deck as well. but the hull of the boat was in excellent shape, and most of the pieces were still there. The problem is that the engine and stern drive were not winterized correctly and cracked the lower unit, and the block. Upper unit looks decent, but probably needs some work. So I decided to go looking for another drivetrain.
Boat #2 1988 Bayliner Capri 18.8' 3.0 with OMC Cobra stern drive. This is the parts boat, the drivetrain will be removed from this boat and placed into boat #1 supposedly ran, had less than 100 hrs on the motor since rebuild, and although the paint looks pretty on it, I doubt the motor is as sound as the seller says.
So with both boats at the house, I have removed the bad block from Boat #1 and prepped it for the other motor. was not hard, since the previous owner had removed most of the components already, and was careful with the wiring harness.
Boat #2 on the other hand, not sure how many people have been playing with this thing over the years, but WOW! they should never have been allowed to have wire cutters or crimpers. Glad I am not using that harness.
So, in preperation to remove the out drive from Boat#2 I found that the oil in the top section was lightly milky, but not mayonaise like a headgasket on an automobile. I could not find any cracks or external signs of leakage on the housings, so I installed the "muffs" as you guys call them and put a hose on it. I found 3 areas that were letting water out of the housing. First area was where the cobra emblem would have been, there is a drain plug for the water jacket here, and somebody cracked the little plastic piece then RTV'd it, so there was a trickle there. The other 2 are small diameter holes by the muffs, both on the right side of the housing, they were squiting well, I assume this is a normal function, if it is a weep hole for bad seals, please let me know. If you know something else that may cause the milk in the gear case please let me know. I flushed some 85w-140 through the case to help push out any remaining water.
Second issue is that I could not start the engine due to a bad starter bendix drive, would not engage the flywheel, because of it being the wrong one. So I was unable to run the motor. But I am not afraid to tear down the motor and put a rebuild kit in it as well. Now the motor has a light milk to the oil as well, this can be many things and I will update this more as I open it up to determine if it is a head gasket, exhaust manifold leak or whatever else.
Now, before I get beat over the head, I have less than $600 invested in both boats at this point, so I am not killing my wallet yet... I know its coming from reading some of the other stories on here about the 3.0 OMC setup.
I do not have a boat shop down the street, so I have to rely on some of your inputs, before I drive an hour to a boat shop to ask the same questions.
Questions:
1. Does anyone have the part # for the drain plug behind the cobra emblem, and its housing, I cracked my good one trying to remove it.
2. What could be the cause of the milk in the out drive.
3. Should I contact Landou for a service manual on the boat, for the wiring diagrams, or just go with whatever I can find for an OMC manual?
I will update this as time goes on so you can see the progress, and ask anymore questions I might have that are not part of another topic.
Thanks
Sean
Let me give you a little background on who I am, so that you all have a little bit of insight into my experience level with mechanics...
I have been in the US Air Force for 18 yrs, I am a vehicle mechanic, and have been since I came into the service. I work on everything from lawn mowers to armored personnel carriers. So I have a wide knowledge of anything automotive related. But I am dumber than a box of rocks when it comes to a boat... somewhat.
I joined the forum because I have been using it over the past 2 weeks to diagnose some of the issues that I have. So without further delay, here is what I am going to need help with...
Boat #1, 1986 Landau Bow rider 18' I/O 3.0 w/ OMC cobra stern drive. Boat was purchased as a basket case on ebay from Boatangel. I did not get hurt on the price, but the engine had a cracked block, and was in pieces when I received it (head removed, starter laying on deck, no interior etc etc) Stern drive was laying on the deck as well. but the hull of the boat was in excellent shape, and most of the pieces were still there. The problem is that the engine and stern drive were not winterized correctly and cracked the lower unit, and the block. Upper unit looks decent, but probably needs some work. So I decided to go looking for another drivetrain.
Boat #2 1988 Bayliner Capri 18.8' 3.0 with OMC Cobra stern drive. This is the parts boat, the drivetrain will be removed from this boat and placed into boat #1 supposedly ran, had less than 100 hrs on the motor since rebuild, and although the paint looks pretty on it, I doubt the motor is as sound as the seller says.
So with both boats at the house, I have removed the bad block from Boat #1 and prepped it for the other motor. was not hard, since the previous owner had removed most of the components already, and was careful with the wiring harness.
Boat #2 on the other hand, not sure how many people have been playing with this thing over the years, but WOW! they should never have been allowed to have wire cutters or crimpers. Glad I am not using that harness.
So, in preperation to remove the out drive from Boat#2 I found that the oil in the top section was lightly milky, but not mayonaise like a headgasket on an automobile. I could not find any cracks or external signs of leakage on the housings, so I installed the "muffs" as you guys call them and put a hose on it. I found 3 areas that were letting water out of the housing. First area was where the cobra emblem would have been, there is a drain plug for the water jacket here, and somebody cracked the little plastic piece then RTV'd it, so there was a trickle there. The other 2 are small diameter holes by the muffs, both on the right side of the housing, they were squiting well, I assume this is a normal function, if it is a weep hole for bad seals, please let me know. If you know something else that may cause the milk in the gear case please let me know. I flushed some 85w-140 through the case to help push out any remaining water.
Second issue is that I could not start the engine due to a bad starter bendix drive, would not engage the flywheel, because of it being the wrong one. So I was unable to run the motor. But I am not afraid to tear down the motor and put a rebuild kit in it as well. Now the motor has a light milk to the oil as well, this can be many things and I will update this more as I open it up to determine if it is a head gasket, exhaust manifold leak or whatever else.
Now, before I get beat over the head, I have less than $600 invested in both boats at this point, so I am not killing my wallet yet... I know its coming from reading some of the other stories on here about the 3.0 OMC setup.
I do not have a boat shop down the street, so I have to rely on some of your inputs, before I drive an hour to a boat shop to ask the same questions.
Questions:
1. Does anyone have the part # for the drain plug behind the cobra emblem, and its housing, I cracked my good one trying to remove it.
2. What could be the cause of the milk in the out drive.
3. Should I contact Landou for a service manual on the boat, for the wiring diagrams, or just go with whatever I can find for an OMC manual?
I will update this as time goes on so you can see the progress, and ask anymore questions I might have that are not part of another topic.
Thanks
Sean
