www.iFourWinns.com

Hi all. This is my first post for my first Four Winns/OMC Cobra. How can this be? I have the 4.3liter Cobra shop manual and cannot determine why. Oil level (cold) is slightly below the full indicator on the dipstick. No other leaks. Shifting is fine. Engine is fine.

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1990 205 Sundowner
1971 Chris Craft Lancer Custom 17 (currently for sale)
1971 BMW 2002tii (sold)
1979 C&C 26 Sloop
1995 Catalina Capri 14

What year and which Cobra? That will help some of us look up the internals.

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1992 Baja 38 Special Twin 502 Mags

03 Stingray 3.0
88 261 Liberator 460 King Cobras
95 Bayliner 1850 3.0
77 Fiber Form 20ft 350/385hp
70 Wescraft 1800 SS 455 Jet

Lead, Follow, or get the Hell out of the Way!

Oops and Thanks! It's a 1990 with the dog clutch (which ain't barking ).

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1990 205 Sundowner
1971 Chris Craft Lancer Custom 17 (currently for sale)
1971 BMW 2002tii (sold)
1979 C&C 26 Sloop
1995 Catalina Capri 14

Can you be more specific?
Gear oil is leaking at the engine bracket (the one the bellcrank is mounted on, with the 2 cables one goes to the drive and the other goes to the remote control?)
Or do you mean where the cable goes into the transom mount?
Really the only places you will see a gear oil leak on a Cobra is either from the propshaft seals, sometimes out of the water intakes (bearing cover in the lower unit) or the gaskets for the drain/fill plugs.
How about posting a pic?

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I would post a picture(s) if I could figure out how to do so. From what I can see, I either have to post a link to a remote webserver or get permission from the site administrator. I do not have a website with which I can associate pictures.

The leak is occurring at the transom shift cable casing guide attached to the engine shift bracket (adjacent the carbuerator where the bracket assembly part #78, pg 15 final edition 4.3 Parts Catalog). Enough fluid has leaked (after one day on the water) to drop the gear case fluid level below full.

I don't dare remove the cable attachment to look more closely for fear of screwing up the proper adjustment for shifting (even though I have the alignment tool).

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1990 205 Sundowner
1971 Chris Craft Lancer Custom 17 (currently for sale)
1971 BMW 2002tii (sold)
1979 C&C 26 Sloop
1995 Catalina Capri 14

There is no way gear oil can leak there, you have another leak, maybe the ignition coil (some have oil in them to dissipate heat) is leaking, or something else. But that can't be from the outdrive.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Ignition coil? I don't think so but I'll check. The fluid color matches the gear case oil (blue-green). Isn't that Quicksilver gear lube? The cable/guide are saturated and is the highest point from which the oil appears to emanate. It certainly is difficult to see things behind the engine in this boat. The shift cable leading to the transom bracket enters a larger diameter tube (1"?) approximately 12" from the bracket assembly at the engine. At this point where the cable enters the larger tube, there is a boot secured in place with a cable tie. I presume this is simply a dust boot and the larger diameter tube facilitates/protects the cable from any kinking. Not fully understanding the connection at the vertical drive, I presume that the shift cable is secured to a linkage at the vertical drive which is fully sealed where it seats.

Having said all this, I discovered that my out-drive will not raise (mysteriously) today. The hydraulic reservoir is full. But I'm beginning to wonder...

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1990 205 Sundowner
1971 Chris Craft Lancer Custom 17 (currently for sale)
1971 BMW 2002tii (sold)
1979 C&C 26 Sloop
1995 Catalina Capri 14

That cable goes into the transom mount, where it moves a bellcrank that lifts the shift rod up and down. At no point does it enter a part of the drive that has gear oil in it. Its gotta be something else.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Thanks for your assertion/confirmation that this could not be so. I will search further and post back.

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1990 205 Sundowner
1971 Chris Craft Lancer Custom 17 (currently for sale)
1971 BMW 2002tii (sold)
1979 C&C 26 Sloop
1995 Catalina Capri 14

Follow-up: I dunno. There does not appear to be the leaking there once was after some further use. I'm wondering if it was cable lube. Still not satisfied and searching for answer. I know that if my grease gun sits on a shelf in my unheated garage, a separation occurs and a puddle of oily lubricant will result. Something similar happens around hub caps on trailer. I'm wondering if it is the same sort of thing.

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1990 205 Sundowner
1971 Chris Craft Lancer Custom 17 (currently for sale)
1971 BMW 2002tii (sold)
1979 C&C 26 Sloop
1995 Catalina Capri 14

Those cables are not normally lubed. The parts of the shift linkage that should be greased are the pivots for the bellcrank on the engine bracket and the ferrule that fits into the load sensing lever. If you're seeing oil there, then maybe someone spilled it changing oil, or it is possible that some oil came up the crankcase breathers and wound up on the cable. Post a pic of what you are seeing.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I don't believe it is from the crank case breather tubes. It's a different color oil for starters. Lube at the bracket is my best guess. See the photos that I've added to: http://netwinn205.shutterfly.com/

Thanks for your interest in helping LouC and others.

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1990 205 Sundowner
1971 Chris Craft Lancer Custom 17 (currently for sale)
1971 BMW 2002tii (sold)
1979 C&C 26 Sloop
1995 Catalina Capri 14

Well that stuff looks exactly like the Mercruiser/Quicksilver High Performance gear lube. I know this because I use it in my Cobra drive, my mechanic recommended it over the OMC hi-vis stuff originally used in Cobras. How long have you owned this boat and was it recently serviced? It looks like someone had a qt of that stuff in the engine bay and spilled some.
BTW, very clean boat for its age. I see it still has the OE starter and the wires all zip tied up on the solenoid like OMC used to do. Mine's on my third starter, they don't last that long if any salt water gets on em...Not to hard to change though, the engine compartments on the older FW like yours and mine, are MUCH MUCH better for any maintenance, the newer ones make starters and manifolds hard to get at.

You really had a BMW 2002 Tii...man those were the coolest cars and I remember when they were new back in the 70s, we were all muscle car heads and along comes this little great performing car from Germany....

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I bought the boat this spring. The previous owner was vague about the maintenance history. He just paid the boat yard to do all the service work that they recommended be done. I guess the good thing is that it was regularly maintained. But as a boat owner several times over, I want to KNOW what was done and when and why and how much, etc. It did not look this way when I got it. I applied personal elbow grease (as I've done for several boats, cars). I WISH I could say I hot-rodded around in my 2002tii! I bought it as a restore project several years ago and sold it because it didn't fit my time. As a kid I remember my next door neighbor screaming down the hill as they came home every night from work in their little tii. I was the only kid that thought that was the coolest car while all my friends thought the muscle cars were the baddest thing.

_________________
1990 205 Sundowner
1971 Chris Craft Lancer Custom 17 (currently for sale)
1971 BMW 2002tii (sold)
1979 C&C 26 Sloop
1995 Catalina Capri 14