OMC Cobra wont stay in gear

[WALKABOUT2]

Hi all and thanks in advance for your assistance. I have a 3.0 ltr 4 clndr, Cobra Out Drive, I think it is a 86 or 87. It wont hold in forward gear and "jumps out" when getting under load. I pulled the prop shaft, the Clutch Dog looked a litte worn, the gears looked "fair" and did show a little sign of wear but all in all not too bad. I thought a change of the clutch Dog would do the trick. It did not seem to help. I went trhough the book and I believe I have all the linkage in allignement.<br /><br />My question to the wise ones of this forum is this. Did OMC superceede the entire Clutch Dog into a replacement gear set? I had a hard time just fiding a clutch dog for this. Even if you disengage the lower shif cable and manually engage the forward gear it will still pull out under load. I believe I have eliminated everything in the shift linkage and shift shaft adjustment as a problem and feel the only thing left to do is put new gears and a new dog in it. Does anyone know if there has been shifting problems associated with the old gear sets in these old cobra out drives? <br /><br />Thanks

 

[Lou C]

Re: OMC Cobra wont stay in gear

Go th this site, www.funkopolis.com:8080/~stuart/cobra/ he has put together a lot of information on the history of problems with the Cobra and how to solve them, including info on the different dog clutches used and OMC service bulletins. I was able to order a factory shop manual for my OMC from a local dealer for about $35, it is well written and helpful.

 

[P.V.]

Re: OMC Cobra wont stay in gear

If you have worn "dogs" on your shifter OR the fwd gear, you cannot change only one or the other. Omc came out with the "new and improved" gears via the recall in 1989/90. Including the updated shift cable (and newer adjustments), you should go from the orginal 2 degree gears to the 5 degree gears. But, you actually can buy the 2 degree ones ! 2 degree gears and shifter are still used with outboards while for Cobra, you will be directed to use 5 degree stuff! I would use 5 degree stuff and get on with life!