OMC Cobra Outdrive pros and cons

[Mechlawrence]

It's me again. <br />Another Inlaw bought a "new to them" boat for last weekend. 1988 Chaparral 187xl 4.3 OMC Cobra. I'm getting more and more familiar with the Mercs and was wondering if there is anything I need to be on the lookout for in this drive as far as problems. It's in my driveway to have engine and drive and trailer serviced so I want to be as complete as possible when I look it over. The new owner only said it didn't seem that the trim gauge was working. Haven't verified for myself but did notice this drive only has the one sender as opposed to the two like the mercs have.<br /><br />Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.<br /><br />Thanks Lawrence

 

[tommays]

Re: OMC Cobra Outdrive pros and cons

the REALLY BIG ISSUE is adjusting the shift cable correctly (its seems to really complex to do right)<br /><br />the next REALLY BIG ISSUE is getting the correct amount of oil in the drive<br /><br />if you search on OMC you will find that these two items have destroyed more drives than you can believe<br /><br /><br />my advise would to be carefull you dont take the rap for mucking up your friends OMC <br /><br />tommays

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: OMC Cobra Outdrive pros and cons

Actually Merc's don't have 2, one is the trim sender and the other is a trim limit switch to stop the drive from coming up too far when trimming. The OMC ones go bad quite often, they leak and then the variable resitor gets wet and shorts out or corrodes. Check out this link about Cobra's just to let you know what you might be in for. Stuarts Cobra Page

 

[Mechlawrence]

Re: OMC Cobra Outdrive pros and cons

Thanks again Tommays and Bob. He said it seems to shift fine and the P.O. was supposed to keep it well maintained so we'll see how that goes. I figured there wasn't a limiter on the trim when we saw there was no "trailer" button on the shift lever. Thanks for the link Bob it looks real helpfull.<br />Thanks Lawrence

 

[Lou C]

Re: OMC Cobra Outdrive pros and cons

like tommays said the main issues are to keep the shift system in adjustment and fill it the right way. When they are maintained right they are quite reliable. The problem is finding techs that are familiar with the shift adjustment.<br />When refilling the drive make sure to follow the instructions, do not fill from the bottom most hole on the drive (the drain on the bottom of the lower) you fill these from the next one up near the joint between the upper and lower. The 4.3 version takes 64 oz of gear oil. Do a search this has been discussed a number of times. I have a good OMC shop around here check the shift system, bellows and ujoints each year for me, the oil change I do myself. Only othe issue on that package is the oddball one piece manifolds may not be available any longer. They are supposed to be made again by Bombardier, but I'm not sure when.