3.0 OMC Cobra Stern bellows and gimble questions

[mikeike99]

I have a 1989 Cadorette bowrider with a 3.0 OMC with Cobra drive, I have had a marine friend help me remove the drive and take a look, we were going to grease it up but noticed the gimbles didnt look to great, not bad but not great, and had some water in the exhaust bellow, are the gimbles hard to switch out and while i am changing them is the water in the exhaust below a big problem and should I change those as well.

Thanks
Mike

 

[danond]

Re: 3.0 OMC Cobra Stern bellows and gimble questions

I think you mean gimble as in gimble bearing, right? There's only one, I wasn't sure if you were talking about something else.

...and there should never be water in there with the bearing.

Turn the bearing by hand - how does it feel? Any roughness, noise, grinding, etc means the bearing is toast.

Neither of the bellows are hard to replace, but then, you'd know that if you had a factory service manual

Clymers manual: No
SELOC manual: No
Factory OMC Service manual: YES

You can find them on eBay.

Get the service manual then you can walk through how the bearing comes out. Slide hammer to pull it, installer tool to re-install it. Nothing too terrible but it is manual-worthy.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: 3.0 OMC Cobra Stern bellows and gimble questions

we were going to grease it up but noticed the gimbles didnt look to great, not bad but not great

Howdy,

I'm not exactly sure what the above means,

Water is NORMAL in the exhaust bellows. It's NOT normal in the drive bellows.

 

[danond]

Re: 3.0 OMC Cobra Stern bellows and gimble questions

Yeah I'm kinda hoping he meant "gimble" by "gimbles" and not "bellows" otherwise the advice is going to be very confusing.

 

[mikeike99]

Re: 3.0 OMC Cobra Stern bellows and gimble questions

sorry bout the confusion, gimble is what I mean it does turn easily, no grinding or anything.
And I had water in the exhaust bellows but was not just sure what It meant, good or bad, but If it is supposed to be some water that is good, I am new to stern drives but I am mechanically inclined

Thanks for the advice and I do have a factory manual on order. anything else I should check while I have the stern off, shift cable looks good, I am going to be putting it back on in the morning or late tonight so I can get out in the morning for some walleye

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: 3.0 OMC Cobra Stern bellows and gimble questions

gimble is what I mean it does turn easily

You DO mean Gimbal BEARING?

That's good that it turns freely.

Now you need to check the alignment and adjust the lower shift cable.

Checking the alignment will ensure that your coupler less likely to fail (due to misalignment). If it does you have to remove the engine to replace it.

Adjusting (or ensuring the adjustment is correct) your lower shift cable will help prevent shift problems that WILL destroy the drive in short order.

 

[danond]

Re: 3.0 OMC Cobra Stern bellows and gimble questions

OK good.

The shift cable's appearance is irrelevant. Get a fish scale, disconnect the lower shift cable from the carb-side, and with the outdrive off, see how many pounds it requires to move the cable by hooking the fish scale to the cable trunion (on the outdrive side). More than 2.5lbs and the cable needs to be replaced. Not replacing it could eat your gears.

Check your u-joints. If they're rusty, replace them (in fact, if you haven't replaced them, just do it). Who knows when the last time they were serviced.

Water in the exhaust bellows is fine. Water in the driveshaft bellows is very bad.

 

[danond]

Re: 3.0 OMC Cobra Stern bellows and gimble questions

Dammit Rick, quit chasing me around! lol.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: 3.0 OMC Cobra Stern bellows and gimble questions

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: 3.0 OMC Cobra Stern bellows and gimble questions

No more than a transom service kit costs i would replace it all..you will need the gasket and o-rings anyway.Its already apart so now is a good time and no worries for a few years..
Wait for the manual and adjust the shift cable the right way.

http://www.ebasicpower.com/pc/MAL9-..., Transom Seal Kit, OMC Cobra 1986-1993.html

 

[Don S]

Re: 3.0 OMC Cobra Stern bellows and gimble questions

Just a note here guys, Gary posted a link to a Mallory set. You can tell by the MAL-XXXXXX numbers.
I installed a BRAND NEW (Mallory) transom seal kit on a Customers Mercruiser Alpha I out drive last year. This year, all three bellows are falling apart. Just stretch them a little bit and they fall apart. ALL THREE BELLOWS!!
They (Mallory) is taking back the other 4 kits we had in stock (1 OMC, 2 Merc A1, and 1 AIG2) and paying for replacement of ujoints, gimbal bearing, and all labor.

It's now OEM only for our customers. IF they want aftermarket, they casn have it, but there will be no warranty.