Capt. Chaos wrote:
Just finished my first weekend of boating. Woo hoo. Lots of fun.
Maneuvering around the marina is a lot harder than it looks though. I
don't think the brakes on my boat work.
I need to change the oil in both the motor and outdrive. The previous
owner said he used synthetic. I've always run conventional oil in all my
machines, mostly cars and motorcycles with the practice of changing the
oil frequently. This practice has never failed. With the cost of
synthetic, I'd rather stick with conventional.
The motor is a 350. I was planning on using 10-40. Any problems with
this? Any other recommendations?
OMC Cobra outdrive. I have no idea what oil to use in this or how much?
Any problems either with the motor or outdrive going from synthetic back
to conventional?
The only problem I've experienced with the boat is that shifting between
foward, neutral, and reverse is a little bit harsh. I'm not sure if that
is normal since I've never driven any other boat before and have nothing
to compare it too. It goes into gear okay, but you have to use a fair
amount of force to do so. Boat is an '89 Dynasty runabout.
===============================
I have a '88 OMC Cobra with the 305 Chevy engine and it would be the
same block that you have, except that yours would be bored out to 350
CID. Keep in mind that OMC also used the 351 Ford engine for the 5.7
outdrives. My manual calls for HD 30 weight motor oil. I've always
used Pennzoil HD 30 and had no problems.
That vinatage Cobra had an inborn problem with the shifting cable. OMC
authorized a free replacement cable to original owners. I had the
dealer install the new cable and I still had occasional shifting
problems. Then, I took it to an independant mech. for other work and
while he was at it, he re-adjusted all the linkage and its been smooth
as glass ever since.

I

On Mon, 8 Aug 2005 09:33:34 -0400, (N.L. Eckert)
wrote:


I have a '88 OMC Cobra with the 305 Chevy engine and it would be the
same block that you have, except that yours would be bored out to 350
CID. Keep in mind that OMC also used the 351 Ford engine for the 5.7
outdrives. My manual calls for HD 30 weight motor oil. I've always
used Pennzoil HD 30 and had no problems.
That vinatage Cobra had an inborn problem with the shifting cable. OMC
authorized a free replacement cable to original owners. I had the
dealer install the new cable and I still had occasional shifting
problems. Then, I took it to an independant mech. for other work and
while he was at it, he re-adjusted all the linkage and its been smooth
as glass ever since.

I am going to purchase a shop manual for the outdrive. I'm thinking
of trying to tackle replacing the shift cable myself come the off
season. I'm average as a mechanic, however, I don't have a lot of
experience. Once I get the shop manual, I'll know more, but so I can
prepare myself, can anyone give any advice as to whether I take the
whole outdrive off to do this repair or just the lower part of the
outdrive? How complicated a task is it to remove the outdrive. Once
the outdrive is off, how complicated to replace the cable in question?

Readnig about Cobra outdrives on the web, it sounds like most
associated problems are due to the original shifting assembly that was
fixed with a recall. I would imagine, given the age of my boat that
the recall work was probably done and the cable has probably gone bad
due to age. If the recall work had not been done, it sounds like the
gears would have been toast long ago due to slippage.

I'm also curious about the device that momentarily stalls the engine
to allow for smoother shifts. Where exactly is that located? Is
there some kind of switch where the cable connects to the motor?

Capt. Chaos wrote:
I am going to purchase a shop manual for the outdrive. I'm thinking of
trying to tackle replacing the shift cable myself come the off season.
I'm average as a mechanic, however, I don't have a lot of experience.
Once I get the shop manual, I'll know more, but so I can prepare myself,
can anyone give any advice as to whether I take the whole outdrive off
to do this repair or just the lower part of the outdrive? How
complicated a task is it to remove the outdrive. Once the outdrive is
off, how complicated to replace the cable in question?
Readnig about Cobra outdrives on the web, it sounds like most associated
problems are due to the original shifting assembly that was fixed with a
recall. I would imagine, given the age of my boat that the recall work
was probably done and the cable has probably gone bad due to age. If the
recall work had not been done, it sounds like the gears would have been
toast long ago due to slippage.
I'm also curious about the device that momentarily stalls the engine to
allow for smoother shifts. Where exactly is that located? Is there some
kind of switch where the cable connects to the motor?
================================
The interuptor switch that you're talking about is on top of the engine
on the stbd. side. Its not very big, but its in plain view. Here is a
web site that someone posted 2 years ago with very complete service data
for the Cobra engines. I wasn't able to cut it, so I wrote it down and
here it is, I hope I got it right.
---------------------------------------------------
http:www.funcopolis.com:8080/~stuart/cobra/
----------------------------------------------------

That website doesn't seem to be working here, its ok in email, so I'll
cut and paste it again from there. Or, iff you want to contact me at my
email addy, I'll forward the website directly to you. Here goes again.
==================================

http::www.funkopolis.com:8080/~stuart/cobra/

On Tue, 09 Aug 2005 09:55:44 -0400, N.L. Eckert wrote:


The interuptor switch that you're talking about is on top of the engine on
the stbd. side. Its not very big, but its in plain view. Here is a web
site that someone posted 2 years ago with very complete service data for
the Cobra engines. I wasn't able to cut it, so I wrote it down and here
it is, I hope I got it right.
---------------------------------------------------
http:www.funcopolis.com:8080/~stuart/cobra/
----------------------------------------------------

Try:

http://www.funkopolis.com:8080/~stuart/cobra/

On Tue, 09 Aug 2005 13:02:25 -0400, thunder
wrote:

On Tue, 09 Aug 2005 09:55:44 -0400, N.L. Eckert wrote:


The interuptor switch that you're talking about is on top of the engine on
the stbd. side. Its not very big, but its in plain view. Here is a web
site that someone posted 2 years ago with very complete service data for
the Cobra engines. I wasn't able to cut it, so I wrote it down and here
it is, I hope I got it right.
---------------------------------------------------
http:www.funcopolis.com:8080/~stuart/cobra/
----------------------------------------------------

Try:

http://www.funkopolis.com:8080/~stuart/cobra/

I've been to Stuart's site. It has since moved to:

http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/index.html

This site really is wonderful when it comes to documenting the
problems associated with OMC Cobras. I don't know if my mechanical
skill will allow me to attempt the repair however. I guess I don't
have too myuch to lose. If I do a humpty-dumpty to my drive, I guess
I could always take all the pieces to a tech and have them put it back
together again.