OMC 454, King Cobra...

[sheriffred09]

Hey all...looking to gain more info on the motor and stern drive unit....
I looking to purchase a 28ft Chris Craft, w/an OMC 454 King cobra, motor-stern drive rated at 300 HP on this one.....

Some guys on here have already told me to be carefull on this because parts and service could be a major problem as far as getting parts and servicing the motor and drive.......Is it just the drive that you can't get parts for??...or both Motor and drive???....and other pit falls????....

Just wondering if I should just walk away from this one....

Thanks much,....

RED

 

[bruceb58]

Re: OMC 454, King Cobra...

I would suggest to walk away. Its the drive that is the problem.

What year is it?

 

[sheriffred09]

Re: OMC 454, King Cobra...

It's a 1993 28ft Chris Craft, yeah I'm hearing all kinds of not so good things about the KC drives, no parts available, no machanics to work on them anymore....I don't have a big back log of money to sink into it, not looking for a project...I enough for general boat mataince....dealer is asking 14K....rest of the boat looks clean , some wood root around the edges of the swim platform underneath...other than that clean w/electronics....but I'm worried about the motor and drive....I can mess all the other issues...but the motor and drive have to be right...

RED

 

[sheriffred09]

Re: OMC 454, King Cobra...

I here ya on that....salesman don't tell you enough or tell you things that don't matter..lol....good idea about the asking service tech...I already called a local marina and the machanic told me he would steer away from it....I told the slae guy I was very nervous about the drive and motor, so he's supposed to get back to me and wants me to go for a ride on it........

and YES I turn wrenches all the time...I have motorcycles and cars, been doing that all my life.....but this is a little on the bigger scale for me...lol....it's an unknown...for me...always had outboard motors and 17ft boats...bass boats...so little bigger,...lol...we will see....rather it be a Merc cruiser or something like that....

RED

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: OMC 454, King Cobra...

Parts really are not a big issue, lots of places to get them on line

That's true for "most" of the Cobras. NOT the 460's and NOT the electronic ignition and/or EFI 460 & 454. If it's newer than 93 it might be an SX (which is good)...... According to Doug Russell Parts the 93 King Cobra drive had the raw water pump on the drive. That makes it an interim (cone clutch drive) not a bad drive but NOT a VP SX either.

The engine has electronic ignition. If it fails you have to replace the distributor with an after-market Mallory, MSD, etc marine unit. Some of the OMC Spitfire ignition parts (like the module) are no longer available anywhere at any price.


Unless you could get that boat REALLY cheap, you might consider finding another one that has a newer Volvo Penta or Mercruiser engine and drive.



Regards,


Rick

 

[sheriffred09]

Re: OMC 454, King Cobra...

Hey ALL, I passed on this boat and GLADLY SO....man I don't know what I'd do without you all on this forum....Saved me big time guys....you guys RULE!

THANKS MUCH....and onward it goes with the search...

RED...

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: OMC 454, King Cobra...

Thats good news....The parts for the KC drives are WAY expensive!

Find a good Volvo Duo-prop setup or a Bravo....

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: OMC 454, King Cobra...

Hey ALL, I passed on this boat and GLADLY SO....man I don't know what I'd do without you all on this forum....Saved me big time guys....you guys RULE!

THANKS MUCH....and onward it goes with the search...

RED...

You're WELCOME!!!


If I was smart enough to have done the same thing when I bought my 460 King Cobra powered Liberator(from my brother) , I would have PASSED on it too!!!.................

Because I didn't, I had to do what my signature indicates below!! It worked out pretty good but it was a LOTTA WORK....and counting my labor, it probably wasn't worth it......But this is a labor of love.......right?

and labor is never included there is it?

 

[rodbolt]

Re: OMC 454, King Cobra...

ANY time you see a cobra drive with a King Cobra logo YOU MUST verify whether its a cone clutch,made from about 1985 to about 1989 or a DOG clutch drive.
both had a cobra decal and King Cobra decals and only shared gray paint and a logo.
the cone clutch models are getting terrible to find parts and service personnel.
the dog clutch king cobras were made in a few versions and gear ratios and were used behind the 454 and 460 engines by various hull manufactures.
about 1994 volvo and OMC started the joint venture cobra SX and in 1995 early 96 it simply went to the SX and volvo purchased the OMC stern drive divison outright.
none of the cobraSX or SX drives used a water pump in the gearcase.
the dates may be off a tad but thats a rough timeline of the OMC and volvo venture into the cobra and later SX drives.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: OMC 454, King Cobra...

verify whether its a cone clutch,made from about 1985 to about 1989

minor point.......I know what you meant.........but It's the other way around......85-89 were the "Dogs" and were still sold past that for a few years on the small engines..... (to get rid of them presumably) The "Cones" came 90 on.....

 

[rodbolt]

Re: OMC 454, King Cobra...

told ya, memory gets fuzzy and there were never many Kings in my area mostly standard cobras behind 5.0 and 5.8 and 5.7 engines, crabbers loved them once you solved the lower swivel pin issue that was also inherent to the SX drives.
still havent solved the wearing out of the trim hoses.
last cone clutch drive I was involved with was in the early 2000 area and the upper was destroyed and parts were no where so we converted it to a volvo DPS.the year prior I had replaced the engine but the guy will never get his money back.
I have seen about 3 of the cone style in the past 10 years or so.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: OMC 454, King Cobra...

told ya

Told me what?....................Can't remember!