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  1. Lou C

    OMC COBRA 5.8 EFI and ESA

    I bought both the pressure & vacuum testers and as long as you have a boat with either I/O or outboard they are useful to troubleshoot problems and water in the gear oil is a common issue with both. I would be curious to see what the drag on your cable is, and if the bell crank in the pivot...
  2. Lou C

    Simple winterization process / draining 4.3gl

    That looks like it; these are a little different than the ones on my older pre-Vortec 4.3. Just make sure that the Allen wrench really fits right, there are both metric and US inch sizes, if it doesn’t want to come out try heating the cast iron around it. With those plugs I would coat the...
  3. Lou C

    Simple winterization process / draining 4.3gl

    Yes just make sure to properly drain it, antifreeze is optional. I get all my stuff ahead of time in late Sept Pull the boat in late Oct within a week of pulling it, it is fully winterized and the drive is off. next I put the winter storage cover on and that's it. Here's an old pic.....
  4. Lou C

    Can I Tell if Water is Getting into the U-Joint Bellows?

    Sometimes yes but by the time you notice it you have a bigger problem with rusty gimble &u joints. It’s a misconception that a leaky bellows will sink the boat with the I/O. With the OMC Cobra & Volvo SX drives a small amount of water can get past the gimble bearing but there is a seal behind...
  5. Lou C

    Simple winterization process / draining 4.3gl

    5 gallons is more than enough I’d use the West Marine -100 right out of the jug….
  6. Lou C

    Gimbal bearing lubrication without zirc fitting

    The gimble bearings are different, the greaseable one has a hole in the cage that lets the grease go thru, if you can install the grease tube and the fitting it may work, I would carefully seal both ends of the tube with Evinrude gasket sealer...
  7. Lou C

    Winterizing 4.3 VP Gxi

    There is a P/S cooler at the rear of the engine, in line with the water intake hose, same as the Cobra, what I do is disconnect that raw water intake hose, hold it down to drain it, then hold it up and fill with -100 AF till the AF runs out the water intakes on the drive (put the drive level...
  8. Lou C

    Simple winterization process / draining 4.3gl

    I agree, there have been a few reports of those cracking, but it's kind of hard to see why it wouldn't drain when you pull the bottom end of the big hose on the circulating pump. And the Pre Vortec like mine doesn't have that drain. Not sure what the changed, but the water passage might be a bit...
  9. Lou C

    Running Volvo Penta 4.3GL with outdrive removed?

    That part is actually plastic. and they can crack and leak! What I did was run my water hose to the thermostat housing but the OMC Cobra had the impeller in the drive unlike the Volvo so it was a bit simpler. If you like you can just disconnect the feed hose to the impeller, measure the ID of...
  10. Lou C

    OMC COBRA 5.8 EFI and ESA

    Sounds like you tried to cover all the bases... questions... did you check the drag of the shift cable with it disconnected at both ends with a fish scale? should be not more than 2.5 lbs, the drag on the cable is pretty important... also if you shifted the lower unit when it's off the boat...
  11. Lou C

    Running Volvo Penta 4.3GL with outdrive removed?

    Just make sure the hose stays in place because if it falls off the impeller will burn as well as the rubber exhaust hoses below the exhaust elbows.
  12. Lou C

    Running Volvo Penta 4.3GL with outdrive removed?

    Yep at idle most will come out the bottom of the transom mount but some will come thru the exhaust bellows
  13. Lou C

    Running Volvo Penta 4.3GL with outdrive removed?

    Yes that’s how to do it. I would stick a rag in the driveshaft bellows because water may splash out of the exhaust bellows right underneath the driveshaft bellows.,
  14. Lou C

    OMC COBRA 5.8 EFI and ESA

    https://www.westmarine.com/dometic-xtreme-side-mount-control-18874594.html?queryID=bb904f4a4c91f10261674604486e1695&objectID=18874594&indexName=production_na01_westmarine_demandware_net__WestMarine__products__en_US Like this but check if our sponsor iboats sells something similar….
  15. Lou C

    OMC COBRA 5.8 EFI and ESA

    Are you sure you need a new remote control? There are others listed on the iboats website…
  16. Lou C

    OMC COBRA 5.8 EFI and ESA

    Overfilling if extreme could hypothetically cause a leak but nothing, nada, zero, zilch to do with the clutch dog. That’s either a shift cable/linkage/ESA issue or a lower unit issue. Not overfilled oil & water in the gear oil.
  17. Lou C

    Is a 4.3 Mercrusier Waterpump the same as a 4.3 Chevy waterpump ?

    So are mine, spraying with Boeshield/CorrosionX have kept them from rusting thru so far after 20 seasons in the salt air.
  18. Lou C

    4.3 won’t start

    Was the battery wiring checked, positive to starter solenoid positive, ground to engine stud near bellhousing? Was the fuel pump getting a good ground? When I look at these schematics I am grateful to have a simple points ignition, mechanical fuel pump and 4bbl carb. But always check and verify...
  19. Lou C

    Gimbal bearing lubrication without zirc fitting

    Like a sealed unit bearing on the front of a 4x4 truck or SUV Not sure if you could use one of those needle adapter fittings but be careful! I also prefer the greaseable ones but in fact thinking about it all my vehicles have had the sealed bearings and only had to replace them on our Subarus...
  20. Lou C

    Can I use this Y pipe

    I might just replace it with a good freshwater used one. I have one for my Cobra that I bought from NLA Marine it literally looks brand new. Still running the original one, if you can believe it, 20+ years of salt water use.
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