omc cobra

[my three sons]

i own a 1985 bayliner with omc cobra drive- shortly after take off there is a thud like a spline slipping -or engaging into forward gear again. it only does it once with each take off- any ideas on what I should take apart?

 

[Don S]

Re: omc cobra

Sounds to me like it's not all the way into gear, when you take off, it slips one notch in the dog clutch, then catches fully in the next.
Before you need to replace the gears and clutch dog in the drive, you probably need to replace a faulty lower shift cable that is worn out and won't give full movement in both directions.

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: omc cobra

Don't mean to question the facts but are you really sure it has a Cobra in a 1985 Bay, Cobra's didn't come out until 1986 and quite often dealers will put a last years motor in a current boat but not normally the other way around?

 

[my three sons]

Re: omc cobra

I am new to boating so it is cetainly ok to question- Title does say 1985 it has a 5.0 litre chevy engine and on top of the out board unit it says "OMC COBRA" is there something else I should look for to be sure?

 

[my three sons]

Re: omc cobra

thanks Don S. I will look at cable engagement for lower cable. I can tell you that out of the water when I put it into gear I cannot turn prop by hand. Or if i rotate engine either direction by hand there appears to be immediate movement of the prop.

 

[wakeboarddude]

Re: omc cobra

Could be as simple as the adjustment on your shift control box. I had a similar problem after re-assembling everything this season, boat made a horrible noise coiming out of the hole, after it went clunk it was fine for as many hole shots as needed as long as I left it in gear. I just needed to adjust the actuator to the control box. Repair manual will tell you how to do this.
Good luck

 

[my three sons]

Re: omc cobra

Could be as simple as the adjustment on your shift control box. I had a similar problem after re-assembling everything this season, boat made a horrible noise coiming out of the hole, after it went clunk it was fine for as many hole shots as needed as long as I left it in gear. I just needed to adjust the actuator to the control box. Repair manual will tell you how to do this.
Good luck

if you could help me i am in a real crunch employee appreciation day in two days repair manual wont be here for three days can you give me genereal instructions- start with where is the control box>>>

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: omc cobra

Take Dons advice,The cobra lower shift cable is notorious for causing that problem. Do NOT start trying to adjust anything in the control until you know the lower cable is right and within specs.Best bet is to buy a new lower cable and set everything per the factory service manual.The drive need pulled and the bell crank set for nutrual adjustment..it gets complicated.

Read this link!!

http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/kw-shift.html

If you need an OEM shift cable and a real factory service manual let me know.

 

[evilratgirl]

Re: omc cobra

The new style of shift cable on the Cobra should be red rather then the origional black. Even then, they don't last forever. As Gary mentioned, DON"T just start "adjusting" to try to make it work. Check out the Hastings site as well as the service manual. There are only 2 adjustments made to the shift cable. The first is to get the neutral point for upper shift/throttle assembly.
The second is for the bell crank neutral. Not rocket science, but you really need to pay attention to what you're doing.