whats the difference???

[stephenc8301]

i just bought an 86 reinell 170 with an omc cobra i/o and was wondering what the difference is between omc, mercruiser, volvo? do they still make omc engines. i asked a couple of shops around where i live and they said that they dont even work on them anymore, why is that? is an omc a bad engine?

 

[Don S]

Re: whats the difference???

What is the difference between a Ford, a Chevy, and a Volvo car?

 

[stephenc8301]

Re: whats the difference???

so omc is a brand of engine that they dont make anymore? can you still get parts for them?

 

[JustJason]

Re: whats the difference???

omc has not been in business for over 10 years.... if you bought one by an uniformed mistake... i would get rid of it and try and cut your losses.

 

[stephenc8301]

Re: whats the difference???

is that common for shops not to work on these anymore?

 

[mcleaves]

Re: whats the difference???

is that common for shops not to work on these anymore?

Fewer and fewer. Nobody is being trained as an OMC mechanic (at least not really), so the expertise is slowly leaving the industry, as well as parts availability

M

 

[Bondo]

Re: whats the difference???

so omc is a brand of engine that they dont make anymore? can you still get parts for them?

Ayuh,.....

It's not the Basic Long Block,...As they're usually either Chevy or Ford long blocks...
But, Everything bolted to it,+ the Complete Driveline that's Obsolete......

 

[samm835]

Re: whats the difference???

omc has not been in business for over 10 years.... if you bought one by an uniformed mistake... i would get rid of it and try and cut your losses.

Get rid of it??? HA HA HA...little over board there really! I think that was some bad advice. Anyway....the motors aren't as good as a mercruiser, but if you take care of it you should be fine. I have an OMC and I am lucky enough to have a mechanic near me that as able to work on it if I need them to. The OMC mechanic seems to be hard to find, but not you shouldn't have to search that hard. One thing bad about any forum is you always get good and bad advice about boats/motors (can you say bayliner), so make sure to read with caution......but just do a little searching, you might be able to ask the local shop if they can refer you to someone that still works on them. Also call a shop that is actually on the lake, they usually can refer good folks if they can do it themselves. Good luck!

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: whats the difference???

......

 

[jfcar]

Re: whats the difference???

The OMC Cobra is a good out drive. I've owned OMC Cobra, Volvo and Mercruiser Alpha and I thank the OMC outperformed the others. The biggest problem with the OMC Cobra is the lower shift cable, has to be adjusted correctly. Get a OMC Service Manuel for your year (not after market), there available on the Internet, do a Google search. All part are still available. You can buy a brand new Outdrive if you would need to. Go here and read the information, it will tell you a lot about OMC Cobra's.
http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/index.html
John

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: whats the difference???

No, that's not the biggest problem.


The biggest problem is that OMC doesn't exist! It hasn't existed for almost 10 years.

The second biggest problem is that some parts are becoming unavailable.

The third biggest problem is that are fewer and fewer people that can (or are willing to) successfully work on them.

Oh, you can find people that say...."yeah we can fix it $$$" the problem is that sometimes they fix it and they fix it and they fix it! They keep fixing it until you fix it yourself or you find someone that can REALLY fix it.

I really wish people would come here and ask those questions before they buy them!!

By the way I am one of those people that didn't ask the question.......see my sig.

Now having said all that you'll find a LOT of people HERE very willing to help. We are lucky to have this and other sites for this help.


Good luck,


Rick

The biggest problem with the OMC Cobra is the lower shift cable, has to be adjusted correctly.

 

[Coors]

Re: whats the difference???

Yeah, I got one too.
But I have found anything I need locally, maybe 2 days to get in.
There is still a ton of OMC's out there; somebody is making parts.