omc cobra stern dive help

[adam003]

first let me start off by saying thanks in advance any advise is helpful. ok i have a 5.8 omc cobra mated to a cobra outdrive model # 3868052 and serial number t0779313. just got the boat its a 1994 seaswirl. was running great for about 2hours on the water and shifted smooth. then would not come out of drive, checked shift cables all were lubed and working fine. removed outdrive and it will not let you manually select a gear prop spins any direction all the time,dropped lower unit and didnt see a shift cable? is this normal first omc i know my mercruisers had a shifter this just has a wedge piece that sits between 2 disk at the top part of the drive? how goes that work it is very hard to to try to move manually and i dont see how it would switch from neutral to a gear?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: omc cobra stern dive help

First off, you are looking at where the drive shifts gears because you have a cone clutch model. Also, thank your lucky stars because that looks like the Volvo style and not the King Cobra.

There is nothing in the lower unit that shifts gears. You are looking at the upper unit in your picture.

When you take off the shift plate like that, the drive should be in neutral. You did try shifting the drive with the lever that sits on the front side of that plate you took off right?

 

[adam003]

Re: omc cobra stern dive help

yes it was like it was in nuetral with it in any position prop and drive shaft would spin in either direction and it was very hard to get the shifter assembly to move. but once i took the plate off it moved very freely.there is nothing wrong with the lower unit then because it spins freely. what should i look for in the upper that would cause this? thanks again its my first omc

 

[bruceb58]

Re: omc cobra stern dive help

You basically have a Volvo drive.

So what happens when you move the shift lever on the back of the drive when its all put together? You did remove the shift cable from the linkage when you tried to move it right?

When you shift from the helm control, do you see the linkage moving?

Another thing that bothers me is I don't see the oil in there. Should be at the level of that screw to the right of the opening unless that is because you dropped the lower unit. My advice is stop taking things apart. If there is something wrong internal to the drive, you won't have the tools to fix it anyway.

Before you put back together anything you have taken apart, be sure to replace all gaskets and o-rings or you will have water leaking into your drive.

 

[adam003]

Re: omc cobra stern dive help

yes I did remove the shifter cable and the cable moves very free but the shifter on the outdrive is very hard to move that's why I took the plate off to inspect. it was hard enough that it bend the rod that hooks to it. And yes I drained the oil to drop the lower to see which end was the problem. And yes I will use all new gaskets but gotta find out why the shifter assembly wont work smoothly andd all gears loook good just trying to find out how that cone clutch works. any advice is good advice. And I do have most The tools to work on it I am a diesel mech just new to boats have done couplers, driveshafts,gimbal bearing ect...

 

[bruceb58]

Re: omc cobra stern dive help

And I do have most The tools to work on it I am a diesel mech just new to boats have done couplers, driveshafts,gimbal bearing ect...

There are many special Volvo tools that are needed. Before you proceed further, I suggest you buy a factory Volvo service manual. This would have already prevented you from dropping the lower end unnecessarily.

You need the full model number of your drive.

 

[adam003]

Re: omc cobra stern dive help

Thanks for the input at least I know which manual to order all tthe omc ones did not look like this from my research

 

[bruceb58]

Re: omc cobra stern dive help

Make sure you get a factory manual.

 

[adam003]

Re: omc cobra stern dive help

sorry for such a late reply but been out enjoying the boat it turned out that a spilt snap ring in the out drive had fallen out due to someone not using lock tight or a nylon nut on the top of the out drive and let it jam up thanks for the help though.