Cobra stern drive oil replacement

[JKEP44]

I just changed the oil in my cobra 5.0L using the book as a guide. I filled from the middle hole with the fill plug out on the top. The capacity in my book is 64oz (2 qts). As I got through about 38oz oil started running back out of the fill hole. I used the nose of the bottle and kept pumping it in there until all 64oz were inside. I installed all the plugs and ran it in fwd then rev for approx 1 min each direction. Now I remove the dip stick and there is no oil on it. What is going on? should I fill it some more or is it going somewhere. There isnt any on the pavement. Thanks Kep.

 

[javsam]

Re: Cobra stern drive oil replacement

fill it some more. you did say you lost some when filling,so you dont have all 64 oz in there yet.

 

[javsam]

Re: Cobra stern drive oil replacement

fill it some more. you did say you lost some when filling,so you dont have all 64 oz in there yet.

 

[lakelivin]

Re: Cobra stern drive oil replacement

How much did you lose out the fill hole? If only several ounces, you should be ok topping from the top (dipstick) hole as long as you do it in several stages (fill till it's full, work out any air pockets, check, fill, repeat until full). <br /><br />I'd think you'd also want to raise & lower the outdrive a time or two to work out air pockets before you run it in forward & reverse (just a thought; I don't know enough to suggest you take this as gospel). <br /><br />Btw, you can get a pump that has a hose with a fitting that screws into the fill hole on one end and a pickup tube that screws onto the bottle at the other end at WalMart for just a couple of bucks. Makes the job easier and less messy.

 

[JKEP44]

Re: Cobra stern drive oil replacement

I didnt loose very much out of the fill hole, an ounce at most. The thing that is scaring me now is I have like 68oz in there and it still isnt on the dip stick. Maybe I lost a lot more in each bottle when filling than I thought. I could only find the small tubes so I had a lot of them. I bet there was some in each bottle. New plan is to fill from the dip stick hole to top it off then raise and lower a couple of times to work out air. I will keep posting. Thanks.

 

[Don S]

Re: Cobra stern drive oil replacement

Soooooo, when was the last time you pulled the drive. You may be loosing all your gear lube very quickly into the ujoint bellows.<br />You might want to pull the drive, drain the gear lube and do a pressure and vacuum check of the drive.<br />Did you see any milky gear lube when you drained the drive?<br /><br />PS: NEVER go by ounces put in the drive when filling. Always fill to the dipstick mark. This goes for engine oil as well. To many variations in castings and other factors to say exactly how many ounces a drive holds.

 

[lakelivin]

Re: Cobra stern drive oil replacement

KEP,<br /><br />when you're at wal mart buying the outdrive oil pump, you can also pick up quart bottles of drive oil. something like $3 or $4 / quart for regular dino. Once you've determined you're not leaking anywhere, they have name brand full synthetic (castrol?) drive oil for something like $6 / quart. Seems crazy not to use the synthetic once you know you're not leaking anywhere.<br /><br />Note that they may have the drive oil in the boating section, the automotive section, or both. Must be expensive to fill up 64 oz with those small tubes! <br /><br />If you're gonna pull your drive yourself you may want to check out the following link which has a couple of different designs for easy homemade outdrive holders.<br /> http://www.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=24;t=011664#000000

 

[redblur]

Re: Cobra stern drive oil replacement

I just put a rebuilt (upper and lower) 86 Cobra on my 4.3 so it should be the exact same unit as yours and I know there is no leaking because I had to pull it back off after filling it to get the shift linkage corrected (but that's another story).<br /><br />Anyway, I used the pump to put 64 oz. in the middle hole, but after running it back and forth a little bit I had to put another 3 - 4 oz in until it was back to the line on the dipstick. <br /><br />As Don S said, go by the dipstick not the capacity.

 

[JKEP44]

Re: Cobra stern drive oil replacement

Hey thanks guys. I did just fill from the top hole and it took about another 4.5 to 5.0 oz. I ran it all day and at the end it was still right where I left it. I guess the capacity the book has is for a change and not a complete disassembly/reassembly.