Re: OMC 460 problems
BTW whats so bad about the OMC 460? What steps can i take to avoid the problems people usually have with it?
(Uh....hmmmm.........you already made the first (bad) step!!
)
Well.....originally. nothing was wrong with them.........
Mine went almost 20 years with little or no problems.
Problem now, is OMC is out of business (since about 1999 or so) and they only offered the 460/King Cobra from 87-89. That particular "Dog Clutch" drive was only made those years too. It's somewhat different from the other "dog-clutch" Cobras.
OMC is gone now and the after market suppliers sort of left that model behind since it was unpopular and only made for a few years.
Parts like the coupler and exhaust manifolds (among others) are generally not available. (you might occasionally find new(old stock) parts for "an arm and a leg". Most common parts for the "other" Cobras are more available but they're starting to dwindle too.
Finding a Marine mechanic to fix one is getting harder and harder too since most don't want to mess with them and there's fewer who even know how to adjust the shift mechanism (which was a huge source of problems back when they were new)
There's not much you can do to avoid the "problems". The coupler and exhaust manifolds are absolute "show-stoppers" as are some internal, no longer available, parts inside the drive.
There's the other more common problems with the (dog-clutch) Cobras in general. But with careful adjustment and good care, you can mitigate them for the most part.
http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/ This article can help you keep it in proper adjustment.
There's alternatives to the manifolds.......but they cost big bucks. Stainless steel jacketed custom headers will replace them but be prepared to spend about $3000 for them. The coupler is the other big problem. There is an alternative I'm told, but I don't know how available it is and it's not cheap....
I had all those problems too with mine but I lucked out and found a Mercruiser engine/drive for a pretty good deal so I jumped on it.
If you REALLY like the boat, got it cheap, and want to keep it, don't put too much money in the current eng/drive other than to get it running reliably. Keep a look out for a replacement engine/drive and make it a plan for the future.
Get yourself an OMC service manual. a Clymer or Seloc just won't cut it.
Regards,
Rick
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