OMC Out Drives Whats the deal

parkerboatman

New Member
Jan 30, 2010
62
Parker Colo
Boat Info
Proud owners of a 250 SunDancer
Engines
5.7 OMC
Ok I have just purchased a 1985 250/260 Sundancer. My question is This

It has an OMC Outdrive. I have looked online and there is people that say it sucks other that say they are great.

Who wants to Chime in and help a Fellow Sea Ray Lover out.

Oh an if its not a good drive setup can it be changed to a Merc set up


Chris:huh:
 
It doesn't have the best reputation. There are some that have had them for years and under a diligent maintenance routine, last quite a long time. The Volvo platform are what the most common retrofits have been performed. I'm no expert by far but I believe they match the same bolt up pattern. I have friends on BOC(Bayliner owners club) so I belong to that site. I see a lot of discussion there of the upgrade to the Volvo drives. You may want to post there too for other advice.
 
I had twin OMC on a 28 foot non SR 1982. They worked OK. The seals kept leaking. In general terms look at the oil in them every 50 hours and change when it gets milkey. Parts were hard to find and the mechanic said you need to be diligent about the zincs. He changed the manifolds out to Mercruiser for 4,000 one year. I ran them constantly at 3800 RPM and put on 100 hours a year for 5 years.
 
OMC closed all its manufacturing facilities in mid Dec, 2000, then filed Chapter 11 on Dec 22, 2000. Eventually, they liquidated their assets and Bombardier (SeaDoo) bought the Johnson and Evinrude outboard rights and product lines from the bankruptcy receiver. No one was interested in the OMC outdrive so it has not been produced since then.

As you might surmise, the OMC outdrive design is dated and the 2 industry leaders, Mercruiser and Volvo have produced far superior outdrives since then. The real issue for owners of older boats is the availability of replacement or service parts and trained technicians.........with shop rates approaching $100/hour and more, you want a trained mechanic and no trainees working on your problems.

Most OMC i/o owners continue to run them until the cost of repairs and servicing to keep them going gets to be more then you are willing to pay.
 
From what I remember, Volvo bought the outdrive rights. I had purchased a 1989 SunBird that had a 4.3l v-6 and OMC Cobra outdrive. It was fantastic. I would put about 75 to 100 hours a year. Never had problems with it. There are some suppliers still around for parts.
 
I know a place that has new OMC cobra drives if you need them
Let me know.
 
Volvo did in fact purchase the OMC outdrive division.

The OMC Cobra is actually a good drive. The downfall and bad reputation can often be contributed to misadjusted shift cables, engine idle too high, and inoperable ESA switches. They require a tech who knows what they are doing when these are set up. When a new shift cable is run, the manual actually requires that a spring gauge be hooked up to the cable to measure the cable drag. I have set these drives up, and when set up properly, they will run just as long as any other drive. Note: If your shift cables are red, they are the updated version.

The typical OMC cobra is a dog clutch model. This can be identified by the flat surface on the top of the drive. The King Cobra is a cone clutch model which is much stronger than the dog clutch. This type of drive can be identified as it has a 'hump' on the top of the drive. When volvo purchased OMC, they continued manufacturing the cone clutch models that they still produce today.

See this site and save every screen that you can. There are several links embedded in the information. Read it all! This information is invaluable and may disappear at some point. The information posted will not make sense until you read it about 5 times. It's complicated, but once you realize what they're talking about, it makes complete sense.

http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/

Hope this helps.

Doug
 
In a 1985 boat you will have OMC Stringer drives not Cobras. 1986 was the last year for Stringers and I think there was some overlap in 1986 where both drives were being used. There is no drop in replacement for the Stringer unless you fiberglass the large hole in the transom and start over. I had an 800 series Stringer in my old '82 and it worked fine. Like any outdrive9especially in salt water like I was) you need to be mindful of the zincs. I have had that OMC apart a few times to do water pumps, seals, and a shift cable, and I can tell you that they are not that complicated. In fact, I actually think they are easier to work on than the Merc Alpha drives I have now. There are special tools required for some jobs, but all drive makers have that issue. I got a bunch of good used OMC tools from a guy on ebay named Werner Wessler. He was a certified tech who was/is liquidating his inventory. He had lots of parts too. You can also find new and rebuilt complete drives and parts from Doug Russel Marine in Mass.
Bottom line, if the drives work, take care of them and they will last a LONG time. I would avould hole shots (going from idle to WOT in one quick burst) as this puts heavy stress on the drive, and I make that recommendation for any drive make.
Any questions just ask.
 
There was some overlap in 85/86, and you're probably right, more than likely he has the stringer model if he has an 1985. If the outdrive is white in color, you have the stringer. If that's the case, disregard my post above.

Doug
 
I will agree with others. It all comes down to maintenance and finding a certified tech to work on them. As with anything, if ya don’t take care of it, it’s not gonna last.

I have one on my boat and have no issues with it. Keep the oil changed or water out of it and keep up on the shifter cable adjustments (as the cables stretch over time) and keep it out of the rocks and it should last a long time. I wouldn't be afraid of them.

For what it’s worth, I just completed rebuilding a reverse rotation Cobra outdrive in a field training course to get my outdrive certifications. With a couple of special tools and the manual I would like to think anybody with technical background could rebuild one.

If I remember correctly the OMC drive was done by 1993. The Volvo Penta Cobra SX took its place. The bolt pattern for the SX gimble housing is the same as the OMC so a conversion is possible without re-drilling or cutting a new hole.
 
Agreed. That would probably be the best route to go should you have a major issue with an OMC cobra.

Doug
 
As someone else noted, in an '85 the drive will be an 800 series stringer drive. That is an entirely different animal than a Cobra, and the conversion, while very possible, is complicated and expensive.

Stringer drives are known for not being particularly reliable. Keep up on the maintenance, and change the gear oil often (like every 25 hours), as they are very prone to water intrusion. This will help.
 

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