1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

[DavidW2009]

Looking at a 16' Baretta (sp?) today.

The total hours on the clock are 95. The boat is in poor shape hull-wise (floor is soft and transom has rot), but the motor and outdrive look good.

All the controls seem to work. The owner says he ran it last year, but only after a mechanic friend did something to a safety switch. The engine cranks fine, is getting fuel, but no fire.

Any OMC help here, with this? I'm not familiar at all with how this I/O is wired.

If there is a neutral safety switch in the remote, it appears to be working fine.
When I moved the throttle lever forward or reverse, the engine would not crank. Only in neutral position.

Is there some other limit switch elsewhere that needs to be actuated for fire to get to the engine?

Does the outdrive need to be lowered for the engine to fire?

 

[Don S]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

There is a an emergency kill switch that you hook a lanyard to to stop the motor if you fall overboard or out of the seat or something like that. If that switch goes bad, it stops the power to the igntion, to check it, turn the ign switch to the run position and see if you have power at the coil + terminal. If you do have power to the coil and no spark, the chances are that you need new points. If they get glazed over from sitting, they will not fire.

 

[havasuboatman]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

There is also an ignition interupt switch attached to the remote shift control on top of the motor. You can test it with an Ohm meter. check for continuity between the wire terminals with the drive in neutral.

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

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Looking at a 16' Baretta (sp?) today.

The total hours on the clock are 95. The boat is in poor shape hull-wise, but the motor and outdrive look good.

Ayuh,.... Seein's that you're Just Lookin',.... You might wanta Keep Lookin'....

The 2.3l was the least desireable of the Obsolete Marine Co.'s packages,+ 1 of the hardest to find parts for,...
Almost right up there with the 460 King Cobras...

Buyin' a Dead Horse is Bad enough,.... Atleast buy 1 you can find Parts for...

 

[frank246]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

There is also an ignition interupt switch attached to the remote shift control on top of the motor. You can test it with an Ohm meter. check for continuity between the wire terminals with the drive in neutral.

Sorry to "?nterrupt" but NO continuity is a must between the wires in neutral
unless you have a no points ignition.
If there is continuity in neutral it means that the coil- is continuid to ground permanent resulting in no spark.
No offend, just 2 cent

 

[DavidW2009]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

Thanks y'all for the replies.

I suspect it's the ignition points, from non-use.

I think I'm going to pass on this one. It looks like a low hour engine and drive. There was no water in the lower end and the engine oil looked good. The compression sounded even when cranking it over. May make a good parts boat if there's a market.

ALL the wood in it, transom and all, is rotted. So it's not worth fixing.

 

[DavidW2009]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

Don S: "There is a an emergency kill switch that you hook a lanyard....."

Don, I looked for that thing and could not find it. The one on my Bayliner is right there, next to the throttle control.

I asked the owner where the kill switch was. He didn't know.

 

[Don S]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

May not have one, not all boats do. I would also suggest you read Bondo's a couple more times. It's still a rotten boat with a non running engine. Especially an engine that was only used by OMC for 3 years, and no one else would even touch them.
There is one thread on here already about a guy that can't find a manifold, and they get changed quite often if ever used in salt water. I am fairly sure the coupler and possibly gear sets may be in short supply also for that sized engine.
If it didn't run, how did he winterize it? Did he? Did it freeze???? Or are you buying a pig in a poke.
Personally I think that boat, even if the engine ran, would be overpriced if it was free.

 

[zbnutcase]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

Amen to that! The 2.3 was a turd, second only to the 1.6 Ford from Europe used in the stringers in the late 60s. 'nutcase

 

[DavidW2009]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

Yes, I'm going to pass on it. I looked at it because of the very low hours on the clock. (A 1987 with 95 hours? A lot of folks do that in a year.)

There was no evidence of a cracked block. No condensate under the oil fill cap. The oil was clean and no evidence of water in the crankcase. (But I suppose it could still be cracked.)

I suspect he will end up giving the boat away.

 

[Don S]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

I looked at it because of the very low hours on the clock. (A 1987 with 95 hours? A lot of folks do that in a year.)

Keep one thing in mind about hour meters. VERY few boats come with an hour meter from the factory, and low end bayliners NEVER did. So, what year was that hour meter installed? 2005? 2004?
To me an hour meter is a usless item to look at when buying a boat. How it runs, how it looks, how a basic engine survey turns out, and the overall looks and care taken of the boat has a lot more to do with it than what some hour meter says.

 

[havasuboatman]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

Sorry to "?nterrupt" but NO continuity is a must between the wires in neutral
unless you have a no points ignition.
If there is continuity in neutral it means that the coil- is continuid to ground permanent resulting in no spark.
No offend, just 2 cent

Is that not what I said to look for? He has no spark. look for continuity when the drive is in neutral, problem found. He's looking for what's wrong.
Perhaps I could have been more clear.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

There is also an ignition interupt switch attached to the remote shift control on top of the motor. You can test it with an Ohm meter. check for continuity between the wire terminals with the drive in neutral.

Just for anyone that reads this later. The switch that havasuman is referring to is the switch that goes to the ESA. The switch needs to be OPEN in neutral. When it closes, it engages the ESA. For a Cobra with start problems, it is much easier just to unplug the ESA than messing with measuring the switches.

 

[DavidW2009]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

I did a forum search on "ESA" - nothing.

A web search brought up "European Space Agency".

OR...........

We are to unplug the Ecological Society of America to start this Cobra?

Jokes aside, what is an ESA?

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

Yes, I'm going to pass on it.

The ESA causes the motor to stumble, to allow the drive to shift...

 

[DavidW2009]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

E = Engine
S = Stumble
A = Affect

???

 

[Don S]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

Electronic Shift Assist

 

[bruceb58]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

Do a search for OMC ESA and you would find a lot of info.

 

[DavidW2009]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

Don S: "Keep one thing in mind about hour meters. VERY few boats come with an hour meter from the factory, and low end bayliners NEVER did."

Thank you for the feedback. You are right. But this boat did come with a Faria hour meter that goes with the other Faria instruments on the dash.

The owner called me back and dropped the price way down. I bought the trailer, the boat was free. Nice Georgia Trailer in good condition. New bunks. I towed it home as soon as the transaction was complete.

The PO insists it is the actual hours on the boat and the hour meter came with the boat. So even if the engine and drive are not useable, there should be a bunch of good parts, like the tilt/trim cylinders and pump (work fine), alternator, distributor, exhaust manifold, carb, intake, etc., that can be sold. A lot of peripheral parts may still be good.

I checked around for OMC Cobra used parts on the 'net. The asking prices are high.

The hull on the boat, the gelcoated fiberglass, is very nice condition. I may try to fix this one up.

The ignition points are burned to a crisp. That's why it wouldn't start. The PO had winterised it and I'm not going to start it until the weather is above freezing. March or April.

Reading up on OMC, it appears the Cobras have a lot in common with Volvo/Penta. And it appears OMC got a bad reputation due to bad shift cables that caused the gear set to fail. Once the shift cable problem was fixed, the gear failure was reduced.

 

[DavidW2009]

Re: 1987 2.3 liter OMC Cobra Won't Start

I purchased points, condensor and rotor for an '87 2.3 Ltr Cobra. Went to put them in today and discovered the OEM distributor has been replaced with one from a 1974 Mustang II. Of course, the marine parts won't fit. Someone even hooked up the vacuum advance. I don't think the OEM has a vacuum advance.