OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

[DBreskin]

First the details: 1992 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L OMC Cobra

I took my new-to-me boat out for the first time on April 2. I had checked everything I could think of and performed lots of preventative maintenance including having the drive lube changed. Even so, I got stuck out on the water; the engine stopped suddenly and refused to crank.

After looking at various possibilities (detailed in a separate thread), I removed the outdrive today. With the outdrive removed, the engine turns over properly.

I assume the driveshaft on the leg should turn freely once removed from the transom; it does not. It will rotate perhaps 2 degrees but no further. It is not binding within the 2 degree range.

I pulled the drive lube drain plug. There are no metal fragments or shavings in the lube as far as I can tell.

I am assuming something broke inside, and there's a fragment caught between the teeth of one of the gearsets. If anyone has another guess please let me know.

In addition, there's a gray slurry in the cavity where the shift cable moves. See picture below. I don't know what might cause this or if it's directly related to the Seizing problem.

So, now what do I do? Rebuild the Cobra; buy a SEI transom converter and Mercruiser leg; buy a SEI transom converter and SEI leg; or something else.

Let me know your opinions and the pros and cons of each. Thanks.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

It should turn with ease...bummer.
Can you shift it in or out of gear now that its off the boat or is it just locked up no matter what?

I suspect the gear lube was not filled properly.
Unless you know the OMC drives most Merc mechanics just fill them like any other drive,the results are usually not good.

Remove the 4 bolts holding the top cover on the drive...look at the gears.

 

[JustJason]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

Seperate the upper from the lower and see which half is locked up. As far as what you should do, that depends on you, your budget, your mechanical ability etc.

 

[Juniinc]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

As Gary mentioned, seems like it wasn't filled properly.
Who did the lube job?

 

[zbnutcase]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

Sounds like a good canadate for the SEI bellhousing and drive! I have a feeling your gonna find your Cobra upper box gears are toast from improper filling procedure. 'nutcase

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

Yeah, I wouldn't even think of rebuilding that drive. Now that SEI has a good replacement.

But if yours is a model 584DPEAMK 1992


You might have a problem with the SEI kit. You'll have to talk to them to see if their kit will work with a "transition" drive......


Does your drive (upper) have a "hump" in the top?...... I.E, does the top part of the drive look like #56 below?

If it does, you may not be able to use the SEI kit.....

including having the drive lube changed

That very same thing happened to my previously installed OMC 460 King Cobra.....it was done by a "qualified" Four Winns dealer

Only they changed it like a Mercruiser and it only made it about halfway around the lake before it seized.

They did replace the drive with no "lawyering" up. When I pulled the whole OMC mess, it probably only had about 50-100 hrs on the replacement drive. (I'm sure glad that thing is gone!!)


Cheers,


Rick

 

[Lou C]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

Looking at the pic in the beginning of the thread...I see a tell tale shifter rod going into the lower unit...that tells me that its an original dog clutch Cobra...but Rick you are right there were some 5.8s that did have that 90-93 cone clutch drive before the Volvo JV ones...probably went on bigger boats....

 

[DBreskin]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

I opened up the drive this afternoon and found it was only filled halfway with lube; I drained about 30 ounces out of it instead of the needed 64 ounces. It seems my mechanic (who assured me he knew how to service OMCs) used the Mercruiser procedure instead.

I will go back to the mechanic to see if he'll make things right but I have low expectations. Maybe small claims court is my only recourse.

Is there any chance the bottom half is OK (I doubt it)? I have nothing to lose at this point, so I'll split the top and bottom and see if the lower half will spin. If it does, I may think about getting a rebuilt upper half. Opinions?

Thanks to everyone for your help.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

Is there any chance the bottom half is OK (I doubt it)? I have nothing to lose at this point, so I'll split the top and bottom and see if the lower half will spin. If it does, I may think about getting a rebuilt upper half. Opinions?

Yeah,

Unless you had a severe leak, your "mechanic" did it to you!

Before you tell him what happened, you might ask him how to refill your drive if you "decide" to do it yourself next time and see how he tells you to do it!!!

He probably filled it from the drain port on the bottom and trapped a big bubble in the drive that slowly worked it's way up to the top and uncovered the upper gears.......


It's a sure fire way to destroy a dog clutch Cobra.

The drive MUST be disassembled and rebuilt. Since the whole drive shares all the oil, you will have contamination of all the oil, bearings and gears.....



Sorry about that,



Rick


Incidentally, it might be cheaper to buy a brand new SEI drive and the conversion kit than to have the Cobra rebuilt....

 

[DBreskin]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

Incidentally, it might be cheaper to buy a brand new SEI drive and the conversion kit than to have the Cobra rebuilt....

It's definitely cheaper to get a SEI drive, but is it better? I'm concerned about having to change the remote control, among other things.

 

[Don S]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

OMC doesn't exist any more. They went out of buisness back in 98.
Hope you can find some place that remembers how to rebuild them, and has the tools to do it.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

I'm not sure I agree with contaminated oil ruining the lower in this peticular scenerio because with only 30oz of oil there would not have been any oil sharing because none would have even reached the upper gearset, there's no oil pump, If the oil looked and smelled normal and like you said no metal shavings came out than chances are good the upper pinion bearing ran dry and seized and nothing got crunched up, you'll know once you get it separated.

 

[metro3pilot]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

being that it's probably going to be a wash cost wise between

1. Rebuild
2. Buying used ( crap shoot at best )
3. SEI

Go SEI my .02

 

[Juniinc]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

It's a shame, all they had to was to make sure whole 64OZ goes in.
rebuilt for $1500.
Many ppl will ask,,, why do that? when U can get a SEI set up for about $1800.
U can also try to get a good deal on a used Volvo SX drive. U would only have to plumb the water pump+remote control cable.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

It's definitely cheaper to get a SEI drive, but is it better? I'm concerned about having to change the remote control, among other things.

"Better" is a relative thing I suppose.........there's a LOT of people who have bought new SEI drives and are happy with them.


I would think that a brand new drive, with a 3 year "no-hassle" warranty would be "better" than a questionable rebuild of a drive that has no manufacturer and no warranty..... and in some cases with certain parts.....no parts availability.

My suggestion is to pull the Cobra, part it out and either get the SEI + kit or if you want, find yourself a used Merc drive and use the SEI kit......and consider yourself very lucky that you DON'T have a 460 King Cobra.


Good luck!



Rick

 

[DBreskin]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

I spoke to the mechanic this morning. He asked me to bring the drive to him so he could look at it. He said if it was his fault he'd have it rebuilt (he hasn't admitted it was his fault yet).

Before I let someone else work on it I want to find out if they know how to rebuild Cobras. I'm going to find out who the mechanic will send it to before I let it out of my sight. Does anyone have recommendations in Southern New Jersey?

 

[Juniinc]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

remanufactured Cobra upper gear for $1500 from sterndrive.

 

[havasuboatman]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

Don't take that drive apart. Don't do ANYTHING else to that drive but put it back together. Not if you want any kind of chance of being reimbursed for the faulty service. You should never have touched it at all. You should have gone straight back to the shop that did the work and told them what occured. Not filling the drive completely was their fault they were liable for the damage.
Now, you have removed the oil and tampered with the drive. You have given them a basis to dispute.

 

[DBreskin]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

I took the drive (still assembled, except for taking off the top cover to look in the upper half) back to the mechanic. While I was there explaining the upper half was dry, he said he had only drained the lower half, not the upper half. I responded that a Cobra has one large cavity; opening the bottom plug drains the whole drive.

Does a Mercruiser or VP drain the top and bottom halves separately?

 

[havasuboatman]

Re: OMC Cobra drive seized, now what?

Good, He just admitted liability. Don't ever use that moron again.