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Barry Eller
01-11-2006, 06:52 AM
I have a loud roar in my King Cobra drive. It changes when trimed up or down, with a spot in the middle with no noise. I have no change in noise turning drive left or right. Does this sound like U-Joints?

MOP
01-11-2006, 08:54 AM
The best thing to pull the drive, it may or may not be the U joints. You can get a pretty good rumble from alingnment. Once the drive is off check the gimble bearing, alignment and the joints, also the bellows. This should be done once a season as a matter of practice.

Phil

joel3078
01-11-2006, 10:25 AM
I've been told by a few people now that it is very important to grease the u-joint every year in the king cobra drive. Also avoid tight left or right turn with the drive trimmed way up when it is in gear and spinning as this puts a angle strain on the joint. The king cobra drive (the real one with the top hump in the case) is built like a tank. U-joint is a demanding item however. Gotta give it some love and it will keep you happy.

Barry Eller
01-11-2006, 01:01 PM
I've been told by a few people now that it is very important to grease the u-joint every year in the king cobra drive. Also avoid tight left or right turn with the drive trimmed way up when it is in gear and spinning as this puts a angle strain on the joint. The king cobra drive (the real one with the top hump in the case) is built like a tank. U-joint is a demanding item however. Gotta give it some love and it will keep you happy.
My King Cobra is the big one with the hump for the cone clutch. Is their any way to lube U-joints with our pulling the drive?

joel3078
01-11-2006, 01:39 PM
My King Cobra is the big one with the hump for the cone clutch. Is their any way to lube U-joints with our pulling the drive?

NOPE!
The u-joint is in the upper case casting - gotta split this from the gimble housing. For a start, you have to drain lower unit, take out the oil level dipstick, screw in a big eye-ring, get a cherry picker (motor lift) cuz this sucker is heavy maybe 200-300lbs. If this sounds like a sucky job already, take it in and use your credit card. Much easier! As MOP said, the entire drive unit should be serviced every year. Total bill for yearly maintenance would be a 100-300 bucks depending on the current **** happens factor - aka condition of drive. The king cobra and current Volvo SX drive are pretty close. If you find a guy to service the SX they will may indeed go and do your king cobra. Finding a qualified tech to service OMC is getting harder and harder. On the flip side, for the do it yourselfer, the king cobra is a lot of bang for the buck. Remember a lot of the big cruiser boats from the early 90's had king cobra. This will help you in finding a service tech if ya need one.

Barry Eller
02-14-2006, 05:44 PM
My noise in my outdrive was the gimble bearing, the bellows leaked and allowed water to get the bearing. I had the shop replace U-joints and all gaskets and o-rings in the drive,propshaft seals, shift shaft seals, change fluid and check engine alignment, they even check to make sure the propshaft was straight. It's ready to go. My decision is to decide between watching the Daytona 500 Sunday or running the Donzi. Weather will be the final decision maker. So, it the weather is great, which should I do? Run the Donzi or watch the Daytona 500?

Jamesbon
02-14-2006, 07:52 PM
.... it's supposed to be pushing 80 degrees this weekend in central west Florida, I'd stick with the Donzi thing. You can always catch the races over the radio while sipping your favorite "boat soda" with your feet kicked up on your Donzi dash board. ;)

.... if you need any OMC help, call Rick @ Aqua Tech Marine, his company is tight with the OMC's. (727) 381 3483. Tell'em Nate sent ya...

Cuda
02-15-2006, 07:34 PM
Bryde's Marine in St Pete is also a certified OMC tech. They worked on my very first boat which had an Omc stringer drive. :(

Jamesbon
02-15-2006, 08:04 PM
...I hear good things about Brydes....

Barry Eller
02-15-2006, 08:48 PM
We have a good OMC service center in Pensacola, Wills Marine. Jack Wills is a grumpy old boat mechanic, but he likes me, loves the Donzi. When he first worked on it 2 years ago, he said it was the best riding go fast boat he had ever been in. That was his first time in a 22 classic. He was scared to water test it with the new 502!! I'm going to take him to lunch in the spring in the Donzi and get his heart rate up!!