3.0 L OMC King Cobra-Lesson learned

[schmitty66]

Long story short

The gear oil was changed last fall and replaced with 1/2 the amount it should take. I didn't have a manual but a dealership gave me 1 litre. This spring it started great then died after about 10minutes.
-gimbal bearing replaced
-starter rebuilt
-carb cleaned
-fuel replaced
-gear oil is clear and no fillings

I did all i could and put it back in the water. After 10 minutes i died again...alomost like the engine was under stress. This time i took it to a Marine and they said because i had too little oil, the upper gears(seals/bearings) are binding and stalling the boat.

Gears are out of my league.....what are your thoughts before i give the okay?

Thanks

ps..i went back to the original dearlership and they denied it all.

 

[Don S]

Re: 3.0 L OMC King Cobra-Lesson learned

I didn't have a manual but a dealership gave me 1 litre.

ps..i went back to the original dearlership and they denied it all.

A little confused here, did you change your own gear lube? Or did they change it and only bill you for 1L of gear lube.

 

[schmitty66]

Re: 3.0 L OMC King Cobra-Lesson learned

I bought the oil and did it myself(with a friend).

 

[gadget73]

Re: 3.0 L OMC King Cobra-Lesson learned

Isn't the KC the drive that has a dipstick on it? I seem to recall one of the later OMCs has a threaded plug straight down from the top. If you pull it, theres a dipstick on the thing where you are supposed to fill the oil to. Normally you have to pull that plug to pump the gear oil in, since it needs a spot for the air to escape. Thing is, there is another screw on the side that looks like a vent, but its actually a bearing retainer screw. If you pull that, it causes problems because the bearing can move. Mind you its been a couple years since I had my hands on an OMC, and I never had that much experience with them.


I'd ask to see the oil that came out of the drive, or for a more detailed explanation of how they determined the gears had wasted. If the gears did fail, the oil should have visible metal contamination in it.

 

[Bondo]

Re: 3.0 L OMC King Cobra-Lesson learned

Gears are out of my league.....

Ayuh,... At this point, I'd say just changing the Oil is Out of your league....

The upper gears were Smoked because of a lack of oil,...
That means all the metal debris went down into the lower unit,...
You need a New Drive....Complete...

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: 3.0 L OMC King Cobra-Lesson learned

Even though it does have a dipstick it can read full but still be way less gear lube than needed because of air pockets trapped in the drive.
Every Cobra i fill i do it by the book.
Run the boat on the muffs in gear for a couple minutes then let it set over night with the dipstick loose.
9 times out of 10 it will take more lube to top it off.
Depending on what drive they hold 64 ounces up to 103 ounces..

 

[schmitty66]

Re: 3.0 L OMC King Cobra-Lesson learned

so if you say fillings got into the lower unit....why was there none when the oil was drained?
can the sterndrive be rebuilt or entire refurb?

 

[Don S]

Re: 3.0 L OMC King Cobra-Lesson learned

so if you say fillings got into the lower unit....why was there none when the oil was drained?
can the sterndrive be rebuilt or entire refurb?

They can be rebuilt if you can find someone to do it, that actually has all the special tools and schooling to do the job. The drive needs disassembled and all gears and bearing inspected to see if it's worth rebuilding.
Just remember, OMC now stands for Obsolete Marine Company. They went out of buisness over 10 years ago.