Omc?

[JoshOnt]

What does everyone thing of OMC engines? Wondering because I have found one for pretty cheap, guy has a video of it running and is willing to run it if I show up.

 

[rockyrude]

Re: Omc?

If you are talking about a Johnson or Evinrude outboard, depending on the year, they are as bullet proof as Mercs. The later VRO's need closer looking at that the oil system worked as designed.

 

[JoshOnt]

Re: Omc?

I think it is from the 80's don't remember the exact year.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Omc?

Well OMC was bought out by bombardier several years ago, and Evinrude is the only one left in production, but a lot of after market parts are around. And its a shame to because i think they were some of the best ever made.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Omc?

OMC outboards are great, with only a few exceptions.

OMC stringer stern drives are not so good and very old/unsupported at this point.

OMC Cobra stern drives are good but also getting pretty old and more difficult to get support for than Mercruisers.

OMC Sea Drive bracket mounted outboards were an interesting product taking a basic outboard and allowing it to be attached to a boat with full transom...the Sea Drive specific parts are getting hard to source. The power heads and lower units are standard outboard stuff.

OMC was in the boat building business for many years also, they owned Chris Craft, Donzi, Four Winns and many other brands.

OMC also made many other products over there years such as snowmobiles, utility/industrial carts and various other things.

OMC ceased to exist in 2001, when Bombardier (BRP) bought the engine assets and Genmar bought most of boat brand assets.

Provide more information about the OMC engine you are looking at to get a more specific answer.

 

[superbenk]

Re: Omc?

Agree with RotaryRacer on all points except the Stringer ones. I contend that there's nothin wrong with the Stringer at all except its age. It's a wonderfully simple setup that works quite well & is easy to work on. It has an incredible turning radius and trailers higher than any other IO. It has its quirks but it works.

That being said, it's been out of production for around 28 yrs so its getting hard to service them if you have major issues. Maintenance parts (seals, bearings, impellar, manifolds, etc.) are still readily available. Some gears and shafts can be found easily, other things like housings are hard to come by.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Omc?

Agree with RotaryRacer on all points except the Stringer ones. I contend that there's nothin wrong with the Stringer at all except its age. It's a wonderfully simple setup that works quite well & is easy to work on. It has an incredible turning radius and trailers higher than any other IO. It has its quirks but it works.

That being said, it's been out of production for around 28 yrs so its getting hard to service them if you have major issues. Maintenance parts (seals, bearings, impellar, manifolds, etc.) are still readily available. Some gears and shafts can be found easily, other things like housings are hard to come by.

^^^^ What Ben said, plus ... Stringers are amazingly quiet compared even to modern Merc I/O's.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Omc?

before we get too far it would be nice to find out what the O/P is looking at... outboard or I/O...

if the former then no probs with most but if the latter then better to avoid it

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Omc?

Have heard bad reports about the Ficht (or however you spell it) fuel injection system initially when in production. Would imagine that they got the problems fixed. The old engines were real workhorses and pretty much bullet proof. Lots of them still running. I had several. Don't know about recent events.

They were usually large cubic inches for the hp so they would really work for you. Around here you could take a 16' plywood boat, load up with a couple of guys, tackle, coolers, couple of 6 gallon gas cans and head out in the bay at a good clip with a 25 hp outboard.

But the old cross flows did like their fuel. Course back then gas was 35 cents a gallon. From an inflation standpoint, I don't know what that would mean in today's money.

Mark

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Omc?

Agree with RotaryRacer on all points except the Stringer ones. I contend that there's nothin wrong with the Stringer at all except its age. It's a wonderfully simple setup that works quite well & is easy to work on. It has an incredible turning radius and trailers higher than any other IO. It has its quirks but it works.

Heard and understood....and I won't argue. You are saying the same thing I say about Cobras when people try to say they are inferior by design. The stringer drive was born out of the need to compete in a "hostile" environment. It met the challenge to stay away from the Mercruiser patent and worked. It did provide some benefits, but in the end even OMC gave in and designed the Cobra, which was really a direct competitor for the Alpha 1.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Omc?

before we get too far it would be nice to find out what the O/P is looking at... outboard or I/O...

if the former then no probs with most but if the latter then better to avoid it

Unless the latter is a Cobra 'SX', tied to a GM engine instead of a Ford. BUT, the OP needs to tell us what whether he's talking about outboards or I/O's. Completely different set of considerations where the letters 'OMC' are concerned.