Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

[Challenger84]

I drained out my Cobra outdrive and let it sit for a day to get everything out and to check if I have any water in there.
Fluid looks really good. When I first got the boat and drained the lube it was dark black and thick.

Well now when I start the engine on the muffs I can hear a ticking noise coming from the outdrive.
The ticking gets a little louder as I raise the drive up.
When in gear I can hear it slightly.
It shifts into forward and reverse just fine.
I checked to make sure that the fluids is topped off by with the dip stick and it looks fine.

Is this something to be worried about?
Does anyone know what is causing the ticking noise.( kinda like a rattling noise)
I taken a video with my phone but don't know where to post it up.

Hope you guys can help me out
Thanks for looking.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

When the boat is NOT in gear the drive
shaft,U-joints and upper gears are all still turning so it is a bad idea to raise the drive up when the engine is running.
Anything past the normal trim adjustments really put the U-joints under stress.
Those would be the first thing i would inspect.

 

[Challenger84]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

Thanks well I never ran the motor with the drive up until i heard a slight rattling noise then tried to move the drive around to see if the noise would go away.
I didn't raise the drive that high.
The noise seem to be coming from

*Note: Do not mind the "Lower drain screw" part. Just found this picture.

As I spin the prop by hand I can hear it make a little noise.
Is there a way to adjust it?
I would need to remove the drive to check the U joints?

Thanks for the help!

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

I'm thinking when turning the prop by hand I can hear the clutch dog ratcheting, it's just a slight ticking sound that I can definately not hear over the exhaust of the running engine. When spinning the prop by hand in neutral the u-joint is not even turning.

 

[Challenger84]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

Is there a way to adjust it?

 

[Challenger84]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

Bump.
Can some one point me in the right direction on how to adjust the prop shaft?

 

[Don S]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

You can't adjust the prop shaft, but you can adjust the shift cable to get it back to center. Problem is, they never just suddenly fall out of adjustment. When they have been working great for years and then do something odd in the shifting, it's usually a sure sign the lower shift cable is due to be replaced. Common on both the OMC and the Mercruiser outdrives.

Here is quite a bit of information on the Cobra drive and shifting.
http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/index.html

 

[Challenger84]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

Thanks Don S. for the link.
I'll be taking the drive off soon and hopefully it's an easy /cheap fix.
I just don't get it.
It's hasn't been making any noise before I changed out the thick dark black stuff that was in there with some new lube.

If the drive was low on lube and I started the engine for a bit would that do any damage to the drve?

I thought that it was low when I heard the noise and then shut it off right away.
I looked to check the level of the lube and it looked fine but I added a little more just in case.

Would 15-30 sec. of running with low lube cause any damage?
And what kind of damage would it cause?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

Did you fill it with the correct lube and per the directions in the manual?
There is a special fill method for the Cobra drives.

I doubt that has anything to do with the noise but was just wondering..

 

[howlnmad]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

15 to 30 seconds? No you didn't hurt anything. If you were half a quart or more on the low side and went out for a run. That could be a different story and you chance destroying both upper driveshaft bearings, both seals and the impeller and water-pump housing. Don't ask me how I know this but if you ever have someone help you, double check their work. Just sayin.

 

[Challenger84]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

15 to 30 seconds? No you didn't hurt anything. If you were half a quart or more on the low side and went out for a run. That could be a different story and you chance destroying both upper driveshaft bearings, both seals and the impeller and water-pump housing. Don't ask me how I know this but if you ever have someone help you, double check their work. Just sayin.

Your right about that. Good help is so hard to find.
Well glad to hear that it wouldn't hurt anything.

Did you fill it with the correct lube and per the directions in the manual?
There is a special fill method for the Cobra drives.

I doubt that has anything to do with the noise but was just wondering..

Well I followed this
http://www.sterndrive.info/id270.html

Now that I've read the link Don S. sent me it is saying to not fill it from the bottom and just pump the lube through the middle until it fills up the gear case.

What I did was drain the lube,
pumped the lube from the bottom til it reached the middle screw,
then moved the pump to the middle screw and
pumped it til it fill to the top where the dip stick is at.
I started the motor and heard the noise and jumped down to hear where it was coming from. I heard it coming from the drive so I climbed back into the boat and shut her down.
I tried to top the drive off with lube to see if that helped. I ran the engine to test it out and heard the noise again so I shut it down.

I haven't taken the boat into the water ever!
I was ready to but thing's always pop up.

Thanks guys for the advice.
Really hoping to get the boat WET for the first time sometime this week.

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

Just changed my lube... This is how I did it... Removed the drain screw.. Drained out the stinky stuff.. Left the plug out.. Removed the top cover.. and poured in till I got oil at the bottom. Put in plug and filled the rest of the way.. Its a bit faster.. Mine holds right at 2 quarts of stink oil. Just a different way to get er done if you don't have a pump

 

[Challenger84]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

Well if you pour it in from the top down wouldn't that create air pockets that could harm your drive?
Thanks for your input.

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

You get some air but it settles pretty fast.. The air works its way out the top... Mine holds about 2 qts... Thats how much I got in there... Justa way to do it with out a pump... It works trust me.. Not near as messy

 

[Challenger84]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

Tanks for the tip!
Well I've been doing alot of research and it looks like it might be my U- Joints.
Another really hot day.
I'm gonna hit the water with my little 16' and relax.
I'll keep you guys up dated.

 

[LAC_STS]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

Well if you dont want to buy a $12 pump for your $$$$ drive then you can still do it the right way.

I have saw some guys use the tip on the bottle and just cut a little off and stick it in the fill hole and squeeze as much as you can in there.

It is a little messy but not as bad as you would think. I changed my drive oil (with a pump) but then went to the marina to get some of the drain and fill screws, and washer/gaskets. I took the fill and bottom screws out and put new ones in and only spilled a couple drops. Just put your finger over it.


Filling from the top because you dont want to buy a $12 pump is pretty bad. Almost as bad as buying a $70K Cadillac and refusing to pay $0.10 more a gallon for premium fuel. Or buying a $1200 pistol and wanting to shoot Wolf or reload ammo. Or . . . . . . . I could go on and on

I even saw the same pumps at wall Mart for $9

 

[sea wolf]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

You get some air but it settles pretty fast.. The air works its way out the top... Mine holds about 2 qts... Thats how much I got in there... Justa way to do it with out a pump... It works trust me.. Not near as messy

I'd rather spend 10 bucks for a pump & do it the right way, instead of 1500-2k for a new gearset. But hey, to each his own.

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

What ever dude.. How is it going to ruin the gearset.. Does the pump magically do something special??? I got the trick from a fella that has worked I/O for longer than I have been alive..: If you can prove some how that it will mess it up I would like to hear it..

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

You get some air but it settles pretty fast.. The air works its way out the top... Mine holds about 2 qts... Thats how much I got in there... Justa way to do it with out a pump... It works trust me.. Not near as messy

Keep on doing it that way and I can guarantee you will be on here some day complaining about how your drive failed.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Wierd ticking noise coming from Cobra outdrive.

What ever dude.. How is it going to ruin the gearset.. Does the pump magically do something special??? I got the trick from a fella that has worked I/O for longer than I have been alive..: If you can prove some how that it will mess it up I would like to hear it..

There are a bunch of guys on here that have blown out there Cobras and they didn't even do what you did which is probably the worst I have ever heard of. Most under filled because they filled from the bottom and not from the middle hole.

But...its your drive! You can do it anyway you want!