OMC King Cobra won't engage forward gear, but reverse works good

[deegs]

New member looking for some help to get me back on the water. All of the shops in the area are booked for the next few months so I am trying to see if I can fix it while I am on a wait list. Here is my situation:

Last week after I was out running the boat for two hours I came back and tied up to the dock to put my trailer in the water. When I came back to the boat, to put it on the trailer, it would not engage forward. When putting into forward gear the engine would just rev with no motion from the boat. I shifted into reverse and it engaged and worked properly. After a minute or so of going back and forth from neutral to forward it finally engaged and I was able to put it on the trailer. Since then it has become a bigger problem, two days ago I backed off the trailer and it immediately would not engage forward gear so I just tied off to the dock and then had to drag the boat back to the trailer. Here are the troubleshooting steps that I have taken so far:

1. Out of the water, with engine running, shifting into forward gear makes the prop spin but does not appear to spin as fast as reverse. In the water, in forward gear I can see the prop spinning slowly, but is definitely slower than when the gear is engaged. I tinkered with it in the water for about an hour and every once in a while it would engage properly and churn water behind the boat. When it is not engaged properly, it spins but not fast enough to move the boat in forward.

2. With engine off the prop turns freely both directions when in forward gear sometimes, sometimes it locks but then frees up and allows to spin, then locks again (strange behavior). In reverse the prop locks when spinning clockwise.

3. I have tried shifting the boat into forward directly from the shift bracket on the engine and this does not engage forward gear. I have also tried shifting manually from the side of the outdrive, again the prop spins but does not appear to spin fast enough to be fully engaged.

4. I checked the gear oil and it was full. I drained the gear oil and it appeared to be a little milky, but not really sure what color I should be seeing there.

5. I confirmed that the Neutral Switch is not engaged on the throttle lever(remote control).

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

My boat:

1996 Four Winns Horizon 240
7.4l Chevy Big Block MPFI
OMC King Cobra outdrive (1995 model outdrive unit)

 

[jhonster]

Be ready to pull your outdrive out and replace the shift cable. The area where it pivots in your outdrive housing is probably all full of corrosion dust. The packing of all that corrosion over a long period of time keep the shift pivot from going all the way into the housing area where the head stays when in forward. If you're going to be taking it apart, you should be checking your input shaft ujoints. Replace the two bellows (input shaft and ujoints and exhaust). You should also be looking at your gimbal bearing while there. It would be a good time to pound a new one in. You'll need a gasket set as well. They're not hard to work on. Once you take it all apart, replace the cable and little boot at the top of the shift cable as well. There are two alignment tools you'll need to properly set the shifter cable. Here's a video from Michael Romer on youtube who does a pretty good job showing you how it's done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7UXtcmhEVs&list=PLvpOnNn30ab0rQwe4x9UqG8-deS_yUXPH&index=14

 

[Lou C]

Post up a pic of what you have, but it may be that you have the now very rare OMC Cone Clutch King Cobra so the above doesn't really apply, that's for the dog clutch model which I've had for many years and am completely familiar with. You will need to find someone familiar with cone clutch drives, to figure this out.

https://www.crowleymarine.com/johnson-evinrude/parts/53981.cfm

look at this parts break down, this is for a '95 unit, and its clearly the OMC Cone Clutch, not the joint venture Cobra which was really the same as a Volvo SX (that would make it much easier to find someone who could repair it).

 

[deegs]

jhonster thanks for the advice. I was trying to avoid taking off the outdrive but figured at this point it is unavoidable. The previous owner just replaced the u-joints, impeller and bellows.
Lou C I do in fact have the rare cone clutch king cobra (pics below). I will do a cleanup of the shift assembly on the side of the outdrive and maybe replace the cable too.

 

[Scott Danforth]

you are supposed to be taking your drive off every year for maintenance and inspection

 

[deegs]

Scott Danforth great advice thank you! I just bought the bot a few weeks ago so I guess this is a great time to dive into it.

 

[Scott Danforth]

had you come here first, you probably would not have bought a boat with an OMC

 

[Bills bay]

had you come here first, you probably would not have bought a boat with an OMC

You should be kicked from this forum!

 

[hugh g]

You should be kicked from this forum!

Why? OMC went down the tubes over 20 years ago. Some parts are NLA & the shift system on the Cobra, which no doubt was designed by commitee is a nightmare to figure out & adjust properly without the proper tools, a ton of patience & a case of beer. And try to find a mechanic to work on one. I owned my Cobra for over 20 years & no way will I ever own another one. They're dinosaurs.

 

[Bills bay]

All machinery gets old with time and requires maintenance and repair. Your posts discourage individuals who want to repair but cannot afford a new boat. When help is needed constructive assist is needed.

 

[kenny nunez]

Have you checked the condition of the shift cable going through the transom. Sometimes the outer jacket separates and the cable will not give full stroke. The control box has to move the inner core of the cable 3” from forward to reverse.

 

[Lou C]

Why? OMC went down the tubes over 20 years ago. Some parts are NLA & the shift system on the Cobra, which no doubt was designed by commitee is a nightmare to figure out & adjust properly without the proper tools, a ton of patience & a case of beer. And try to find a mechanic to work on one. I owned my Cobra for over 20 years & no way will I ever own another one. They're dinosaurs.

What the OP has and the dog clutch Cobra system are totally different.
I was able to properly set up my Cobra approx 8 years ago and got it shifting perfect. With the OMC tools, it took me approx 3 hrs including pulling the drive, setting the shift rod height, adjusting the transom shift cable, etc. Shifts with 2 fingers. And I've never had to touch it since. It still has the same shift cable on it as when I bought the boat, almost 20 years ago. But I keep the drive down when the boat is stored which helps the shift cables last longer because the jacket does not crack and let in water.
If mine was that much trouble I would have converted it over to a Volvo SX years ago, it wasn't and I left it OMC. I have a spare drive, transom mount and other stuff I might need, the factory shop manual, updated adjustment instructions, shift cable tools, etc.....

 

[hugh g]

I know, I shouldn't knock Cobra's. They're good drives with proper maintenance. As a matter of fact I still have my '87 3.0 drive still sitting in my garage ready to go. If I could find a buyer. Which I can't. Which tells me nobody wants one & or there's a ton of them out there still running because they're bulletproof with proper maintenance. Personally, I think it's a shame that OMC no longer exists for the simple reason of giving Merc more competition.

Sorry for going off topic.

 

[Scott06]

All machinery gets old with time and requires maintenance and repair. Your posts discourage individuals who want to repair but cannot afford a new boat. When help is needed constructive assist is needed.

Point is that there are plenty of affordable used boats that dont have the challenges of owning a system that many pieces are NLA, essentially obsolete. nothing worse than some one buys a boat and cant get or keep it running Or under estimate how much $$$ it will take.
Sure guys like Lou who are skilled can keep it running, but it sounds like one needs their own spare parts supply.

 

[Lou C]

Yep I would never advise someone to buy one now, but if you have one, the dog clutch models, with the conventional ignition and carburerator are the easiest to deal with.
What the OP has, is much more rare, the pure OMC Cobra cone clutch, it is really a shame that the company was so mismanaged at that point because I think these drives were very good and could have been a worthy competitor to Merc.
And BTW, the transom mount of the Cobra is much higher quality than Merc, this I know because of my salt water experience. The Merc Alphas are prone to worn hinge pins, loose steering and leaks through the transom mount. I've had none of this at all on mine, replaced the bellows 2x and the trim lines once in 19 years of salt water use.
And while I could have converted it to a Volvo SX, which has some advantages the all up cost would be close to $4000. For approx $1600, I was able to buy in good used shape:
spare 4.3 Cobra outdrive
spare Cobra transom mount
spare power steering unit
spare exhaust Y pipe.
So cost, and my familiarity with it, is why I stuck with the Cobra. If I were not a driveway mechanic changing to the Volvo would have made more sense as then the boat could be serviced anywhere. Mine has not been to a mechanic in over 15 years lol.

 

[PITBoat]

Yours hasn't left the mechanic's in over 15yrs, Lou. Lol.

Thanks for sharing so much of your knowledge about it, btw.

 

[GA_Boater]

You should be kicked from this forum!

All machinery gets old with time and requires maintenance and repair. Your posts discourage individuals who want to repair but cannot afford a new boat. When help is needed constructive assist is needed.

You should be the first to go for posting in an old and inactive thread.

It's OK for you to express an opinion and those expressing a contrary opinion should be removed. I don't agree with you, so what should I do?