Re: Omc 400 (nervous now)
hillbillyrider, no need to be nervous. It is good that you have the OMC manual. Take care of the drive and you'll come to appreciate it. True they are out of business and it is getting harder to find competent mechanics but you will soon learn that the other options are not all that hot either.
Your Hydro-Mechanical shift stringer is a whole lot less compex and requires a whole lot less routine maintanance than the black anchors. You don't have all the Rube Goldberg pumps, plumbing and boots, U-joints, gimbals, gimbal bearings, cables and alignment requirements that they do.
Additionally, your stringer turns tighter and lifts out of the water higher and quicker. You can also sit on the transom and and pull a ski rope out of the prop or change a propeller. You'd be diving in if you had a black anchor and dropping pins, washers, nuts and wrenches into the deep blue sea.
Some points of care and observation for your drive is the tilt motor, the waterpump shaft and the ball gears. Never run with the outdrive in an up position, never hit the tilt toggle and hold it down until the drive goes clunk. Once you've learned it's downward speed, let off the toggle and bump it the rest of the down the rest of the way, otherwise you can spit the wormdrive gear right out into the briney deep.
As I mentioned earlier, the impeller is not an annual event. Keep the fluid changed and checked and do not use a stainless steel propeller.
I would look around your area and see if you can find a good OMC mechanic before you might need one. If push comes to shove, you can always ship the drive to Portland Oregon where there is a preeminent OMC guru. He gets drives shipped from all over the country including Alaska and Hawaii.
