what to do with a omc king cobra
 

hi guys. last october i introduced myself to the boating world. i bought my first boat. i wanted something with power and small. i ended up buying a 20' four winns liberator do to the lack of funds and its just something to start with and learn with. i do have some questions. i have a omc king cobra outdrive. it is a pain in the ass. when i first got the boat it had some shifting problems (i would lose gears). i out a shift cable in it and i also put a clutch in it. after i put the clutch in it, it was fine for a week or two but then the problem started again. so if anyone has any info on an omc please let me know. and i would also like to know some good ideas to get a little more mph out of this little 20 footer. thanks guys

yesreg,

Try calling (757) 436-2800. That is Volvo Penta, and ask for Andy Sweet. He used to work for OMC and is VERY knowledgable in regards to their products.

Hope that helps,

I don't have time to look up the exact terms - I ran a 1987 OMC king cobra for a lot of years. The cobra's of that time had several recalls on the gears and shift cable. Even after all of the recall upgrades, I always had trouble getting the drive out of gear. I would turn the key off and kill the engine, shift into neutral and refire. OMC used an electronic module that disrupts the ignition during shifting (takes the torque off the gears). As it turned out, the electronic module was defective. After replacing the module the engine would shift fine. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the modules to last very long. After a lot of frustration, and my experience with earlier mercruisers, I eliminated the electronic module and wired the shift switch to momentarily kill the ignition same as mercruisers of that vintage.

Let me know if this helps,

Andy

PS: Don't go to long with a hard shifting condition because you will probably stretch the cable. Drive will pull hard out of gear during acceleration - very bad!!

What year is your drive. I belive the pre-1991 ones had problems like you desrcibe. The 1991 and up are much better and parts are identical to one of the newer Vovo's so parts are not a problem.
Want to buy a 92 26' Liberator with the new drive?

I once had a 1987 211 Four Winns Liberator, but had a 350 Mag with an Alpha drive. Being and OMC, not sure what you can do with props, but the best I got out of the boat on GPS was around 53 MPH with a 21 pitch Laser prop. With the OMC are you running a Ford 351 or a Chevy 350? I know once Four Winns was bought by OMC they used some Ford Packages.

I fell your pain with the OMC. My previous boat had a 1992 Cobra and most of the problems described here. I replaced the shift cable, adjusted it countless times and the problem would always come back. It was dangerous around the docks at times. The shifter would be in neutral but the boat would still be in forward. It's been a few years but there used to be a few articles floating around the internet describing ways to resolve these issues. Other than the shifting issue mine was pretty durable. I ran it hard for 600+ hours without any gear issues.

Good Luck

Ahhhh Memories:p :p I had the 1988 OMC King Cobra on My 4winns 200 Horizon, After the Gear and Shift cable recall, I never had a problem. The only problem I had after the recall was with
shift Module. I did what indyblackhawk did and it was fine.
That outdrive can take a beating when set up right.
I put a 689HP twinturbo motor in it after the wartanty was over in 1991, and sold it with the same outdrive back in 1999.
Yes she flew baby:D:D:D Here is a pic of the motor in the 4winns

Here is a shot of the speedo with almost 3/4 tank of gas:p
I had the one with 1.41 gears. was spinning a 22 pitch prop at 6500 RPM. The looks I would get when the hammer went down:D:D:D:D They would always chase you down to see how this 20' Bow rider just blew his doors off:p :p Lots of fun..

here's the boat

Kanookstr,
I had an 88 F/W Liberator with a NA 540 , dynoed @ 625 hp and 710 ft lb tq I could do the same with my 80 mph speedo but with a 25" Ballistic prop in the low 5000's. Like a Timex , my OMC King Cobra took a licking and kept on shifting:rolleyes: . As a mater of fact the drive outlasted the engine. End of the season one cylinder had 50lb compression , all the rest would pump 150/160:(

Still have the engine:rolleyes:

Yep.... Mine blew the #8 cylinder wall, but thats when it was stock Block pushing 15 lbs boost. I pulled the engine out rebuilt the whole thing using a Bowtie symese bore block. Just before putting her back in, the wife suggested getting a new boat. Thats all that took:D:D:D I ended up selling the F/W with a stock 350 engine, and keeped the Engine to sell:)

Kanook
how did that thing handle at those speeds.....wow!!

You know Twinn29, it would get swirly after a few seconds at 80+ MPH. So I invested in those Sidewinder twin stabilizers by Drew Marine, And it fixed the chine walk 100%. I have been a believer in those things ever sence. Mind you it's not Hydrulic steering, But on a 20' boat it made all the differancs in the world. And besides those 85 MPH runs were always in a straight line:D:D:D I never tried making a corner at that speed;)

WOW, that's pretty insane. My 211 Liberator used to scare me sometimes only doing 53-55. Given I was pretty new to boating at the time, but it was so easy to get it airborne boating on the Long Island Sound. Can't even imagine doing 80 in that hull.....:D

The Liberator hull moves pretty good. I have a 26' Lib with a single BB rated at 275 propshaft and it runs 55 on a light load. Heavy boat. I also have no cracks, bubbles, etc. after 11 years.

Actually Scott72, I bought that boat because back in 1988 4/Winns tested a limited edition 210 Liberator that had a 450+ HP Nascar engine, and they were going to produce about 20 of them. It tested out at 78 MPH and got good stable reviews, But after adding up all the extras. It was going to leave the factory with a $55,000 PRICE TAG!!!! AT THAT tIME THE STOCK ONE WAS SELLING AT AROUND $17000 LOADED. So they desided not to go with it because they didn't think the public would spend that much Money on a 21' 4/Winns. Smart move I think. I know I wouldn't of spent that much, But I new if they can make one go that fast. I new I can:D:D:D
I had saved the article for the longest time, But when I went and looked for it a few years ago, I couldn't find it:(:( It will show up one day in the pile of mags I have saved in the attic:)

I had a 87 King Cobra with a 460 Ford in a 220D Reinell !!!!

Same shift problems !!! Cut the blackbox and wired from ground over the switches to the pur from the coil !!!

460 Ford with 850 Holley (400 HP) 4800 RPM 24" Bravo One gear 1,46:1 63 mph !!

The 460 Ford !!!

The drive !!!

Anybody interestet on this logo ??? I have it for cutting ready !!!! I can send it !!!

thank you so much guys. im very suprised that many of you really owned liberators. right now i have the boat at my marina and they are going to find the problem for me and hopefully they leave me with enough money to put gas in it whens its fixed. thanks again.

Re: what to do with a omc king cobra
 

I have a 1993 Grew 230 with a builtup 454 450Hp 500lbs of torque. I am in the proses of supergaring puting the Hp550and torque approx 600lbs. Will the outdrive handel this power.

Re: what to do with a omc king cobra
 

[QUOTE=blown thunder]I have a 1993 Grew 230 with a builtup 454 450Hp 500lbs of torque. I am in the proses of supergaring puting the Hp550and torque approx 600lbs. Will the outdrive handel this power. At 450Hp the boat would run 64mph on the Gps at 5300RPM. Looking to run when superghared aprox 76mph.?possible.

Re: what to do with a omc king cobra
 

Did you lose forward or reverse???? After many times of trying to solve my problem I found it to be as simple as the shift foot worn to much to push the cone all the way into reverse. Just goes to show ya don't skip the small things.... :D
P.S. I learned when putting a new clutch cone in, lap them in they will last longer. Good luck

Re: what to do with a omc king cobra
 

[QUOTE=blown thunder]
Didn't realize this post was that old.... :eek: :eek: :evilb:

Yes if the drive is set-up correctly it will handle that power no sweat.

Re: what to do with a omc king cobra
 

I maintain my teenagers boat with a Cobra. Bypassed the switches and rigged a NO contact switch at the throttle. Just bump it an the ESA will let it come out of gear with little to no pressure. The switch/cable adjustment is not hard, just seems to take a lot of upkeep even with normal stretching. Use the switch to fire a relay that closes the switch to the ESA. I figure when the ESA dies I will find a way to ground about 3 or plugs from the distributor at random.

Re: what to do with a omc king cobra
 

Old thread and all that...

but... big difference between "kings" and "cobras"
Kings have a cone clutch like a bravo. Cobras (cobra 800) have dogs like an alpha.

The cobra 800 recalled shift cable was black. The replacement is red. Red cable good. Black cable bad.

The red cables don't stretch so much.

The ESA modules are available online for around 90.00 and can be replaced in a couple of minutes.

Once folks have the replacement cable and good ESAs they should be fine.

I have been running 20 year old cobras for three years and have had one cable adjustment.

One nice thing besides the fact that you can't break them with a smallblock, is the water pickup impeller can be changed without splitting the drive. Nice design touch.

Re: what to do with a omc king cobra
 

Ohh... most people think their "Cobra" is a "King Cobra."

There was a graphics package for a couple of years that had the "king" name on the flame arrestor but the drives were actually regular cobra 800s.
In most cases the Kings were matched with the big block fords.

Re: what to do with a omc king cobra
 

The small block "King Cobra" package, is actually called the "350 King Cobra". It's the 270hp version of the 5.7L, with a standard Cobra drive.
Can get confusing!
Fund is right. With the replacement cable (actually it's a complete kit. Cable, bellcrank, small parts, etc), you shouldn't have any shifting problems. In case you didn't know, there was also a replacement spring for the shift assist lever, because the early one was too stiff, and the SA module was not getting activated (hard shifting). The cable adjustment is also critical. It has to be done right.:)

Help with OMC KingCobra
 

Hello I am new here, obviously. I have an 89 Donzi Z-25 with a 460 and a KingCobra. I have had to replace the drive 2 times since I bought the boat a five years ago. I assume that it is related to the hard shift problem everyone else seems to have with these drives. Could someone give me some specifics on the "bypass procedure" that is described here? Also, when I have enough money to replace the drive, is there a way to replace it with a modern Bravo without replacing the engine too? My engine is strong and I don't like the idea of spending $10,000+ all at once to make the boat reliable. I would like to refurb this boat but cannot afford to do it all at once.

Thanks,
Chickendog

If you still have this I would be intersted. I have a plotter. EPS file would be great. Any others?

Chickendog,
Sounds like you have the early KC which wasn't as durable. Does your drive have a humped top or is it flat. The humped top is the later version which is very durable. If you do have the early one, I would upgrade to the later unit. This should be more reasonable & not require the transom work that going to a Merc. unit would entail. Should be an easy swap. You may even be able to use your existing yoke & just swap out the drive itself. I had the later version on a '92 22' Donzi & loved it. No issues. Good luck!

Is the Horizon the open bow and the Liberator the cuddy? I want to do 80+ with a 21' open bow boat too :)

Omc cobra
 

I would love that cut file for thefor cobra logo! Would you mind sending it?
thanks,
John

I have owned a couple Liberators, the most recent being a 1992 221 with the 502 and newer version cone clutch King Cobra, they take a little dialing in but shift great once setup properly.

Mine had a bad ESA module, I unplugged it, lowered my idle to 625-650 and never had an issue... ran like that for 8 years, sold it a few years back and to my knowledge no issues still!!

the boat ran 65 on GPS with out any modifications and a stock raker prop, get on the FB "Four Winns Liberator Owners" forums and learn from the guys, I'm still over there but not very active.

send me a email and I return one with the file.

[email protected]