What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cobra?

[The Grayt 1]

What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cobra?

Just want to know what brand oil and what weight I should sue in the engine and outdrive on my new 93 Seaswirl with the 4.3 OMC Cobra? Also where is the best and cheapest place to get these fluids?

 

[89 VIP Valiant]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Grayt, I was recommended to use GL-5 Royal Purple grease in the outdrive; I believe that GL-5 is a 75W-90; but others can probably correct me if i am wrong. However, I do believe with good certainty that in any good GL-5 fluid is sufficient for the Cobra outdrive, and Royal Purple makes some pretty good stuff. Go to any autoparts store for the fluid, I usually get my Royal Purple at O'Reilly's. Make damn sure you get 64oz in the outdrive, or else you will find yourself with destroyed upper gears. Have you ever changed your outdrive lube before? If not, find a video on youtube that demonstrates on an Alpha 1. If I can do it, its not too hard! If you need any help send me a message.

For the engine, I think a lot of guys online will tell you to run Rotella SAE30, or another high ash content oil. I tend to like cleaner oils, so I run Castrol SAE30. I'm sure Rotella is great also, or a lot of guys like Valvoline SAE30. If anyone disagrees, don't be afraid to step on my toes, I'm just a Castrol guy!

 

[bruceb58]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Have you ever changed your outdrive lube before? If not, find a video on youtube that demonstrates on an Alpha 1. If I can do it, its not too hard!

Perfect way to destroy a Cobra drive is to fill it like an Alpha. You fill Cobra drives from the middle and not from the bottom.

 

[smarks]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Perfect way to destroy a Cobra drive is to fill it like an Alpha. You fill Cobra drives from the middle and not from the bottom.

Can you elaborate on this a little more, I'm new to the inboard world. I have a 1989 Stratos 185 4.3 Liter Cobra set up and I need to change the fluid in the outdrive. Regards

 

[bruceb58]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

There are three screws on the cobra, the bottom one is on the bullet, the middle fill plug is half way up the drive and the dipstick one is on the top. You remove all 3 when you drain. Fill until you get 64 oz of oil in the drive. You can then screw in the fill screw and the dipstick screw. I always check the level again after a few hours just in case there were any air bubbles that prevented me from filling completely. To check the level, you use the dipstick on the top but don't screw it in when you check the level. Any more oil can be added from that top hole.

There are countless stories of Cobra owners filling these the Mercruiser/Volvo way and burning up their gears.

One caveat...starting in 1994, the Cobra SX joint venture drive with Volvo gets filled from the bottom. The reason is that it is really a Volvo drive. If you have the raw water pump mounted on the back of the drive, you have the older Cobra and it gets filled from the middle.

Whenever you change your drive oil, replace all the gaskets on all 3 screws.

Edit: Been awhile since I did this and edited the location of the middle plug. Been doing my Volvo too long!

You fill where he shows in his picture.
V
V
V
V

 

[Juniinc]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

My current 91 Four Winns Cuddy Restoration,,,
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=374684

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Perfect way to destroy a Cobra drive is to fill it like an Alpha. You fill Cobra drives from the middle and not from the bottom. _

Yes, many Dog-clutch Cobras have been destroyed that way including the King Dog Cobra that used to hang off the back of my 211 Liberator..........AND it was a Four Winns Dealer with a "trained Mechanic" that did it! (they replaced with NO lawyering up too!)


A lot of people use Mercury HP gear lube or Amsoil Marine gear, or other marine type gear lube. The "Marine" lubes are supposedly formulated to keep small amounts of water in suspension so as to provide adequate lubrication in the event of water contamination.....

I tend to like cleaner oils

Ok,



I'll bite......what is a "cleaner" oil? I couldn't find that test in the ASTM Standards.....



Cheers,


Rick

 

[89 VIP Valiant]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

I'm a bit suprised to see the posts about filling from the middle plug; I have read many posts that are just the OPPOSITE; that many cobras have been burned up from filling from the middle plug. I have always serviced mine by cracking open the middle plug and top plug, filling until it comes out of the middle plug, then continuing my fill from the middle plug until i reach 64oz the unit, and it reads full on the top (dipstick) plug. My understanding, and thought process, was that it should help alleviate any air pockets forming by filling from the bottom up. Shouldn't this be the case?

Ok, as I'm typing I just found one place I got my information from:
http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?p=273951

And now I find on the the Stuart Hastings site that says to fill from the middle; looks like you guys are correct, guess I've been lucky going from the bottom up!

Rick, to elaborate on a "cleaner" oil; your Rotellas, Valvolines, and several others carry a higher ash content than Castrol or Havoline; which of course makes it darker sooner.

 

[89 VIP Valiant]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Another site that recommends filling from the bottom hole:

http://www.sterndrive.info/id270.html

However, since the Hastings site tends to be the OMC bible, I guess I'm going to side with you guys on filling from the middle; strange so many places show to fill from the bottom.

 

[Lou C]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Motor oil you can use any good HD straight 30 weight; I use Chevron Delo 400 30 wt but you can use Pennzoil Marine 30 wt...Shell Rotella straight 30 wt....even the Merc 25/40 stuff would be fine...just no conventional multi-vis oils because they thin out with constant high rpm usage. As far as the Cobra drive you can use OMC/Bombardier Hi-Vis or the even better Ultra HPF gear oil; if you can't find either of those use the Merc High Performance Gear lube (greenish blue stuff)...I have used it in mine for years with good results. As far as filling....do it the factory way....remove the dipstick...drain from the bottom most plug...when it's drained then replace the drain plug (new gaskets for all 3 plugs) and then fill as in the pic above from the hole near the joint of the upper and lower gear housings...with the dip stick sitting in the top hole (not screwed in yet). This allows you to get a little extra in to allow for air bubbles. Then when it reads full on the dipstick...screw in the dipstick...quickly remove the oil pump and replace the fill plug...re-check after it sits for a while with the dipstick...often you have to add a little more...check out this link:

http://support.crowleymarine.com/entries/113068-omc-cobra-outdrive-lubricant-filling

 

[bruceb58]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

However, since the Hastings site tends to be the OMC bible, I guess I'm going to side with you guys on filling from the middle; strange so many places show to fill from the bottom.

It's also where the factory manual says to fill it from.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Another site that recommends filling from the bottom hole:

http://www.sterndrive.info/id270.html

However, since the Hastings site tends to be the OMC bible, I guess I'm going to side with you guys on filling from the middle; strange so many places show to fill from the bottom.

Yes, you're right......They do!

But if you read further, they have you fill from the bottom UNTIL oil comes out of the middle (real) fill port, THEN you plug the bottom and continue filling from the "correct" fill port until full....


This evidently works. BUT many drives have been destroyed by filling them wrong......

AND the OEM OMC service manual says to do all the filling from the middle "FILL" port! Their words.....


You can take from that whatever you like. As hard to find and as expensive as parts and service are for a Cobra, I would tend to follow the manufacturers recommendations.



YMMV......



Cheers,


Rick

 

[sethjon]

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

Re: What brand and weight oil / lube to use in engine & outdrive on 93 SS 4.3 OMC Cob

30 wt is to light. You need 40 wt and even better would be a multi viscosity like 10/40 or 25/40. If a major brand is used it will be ok.