Oil Pressure

The oil pressure on the the dash gage is kind of high at wot around 80, I know these are not the truest of gages. The manual says to use straight 30w oil and I've notice the previous owner had notations that he was using 30w racing oil. It also states do not use muti vis oil. The engine is a 1988 260hp. Is there anything else I can use it also says I can use straight 20w if the temps are cooler. I want to find a happy medium somewhere. Thanks for the help

So the previous owner used straight 30 w but says racing oil on the bottle or something ?

30w is 30 w.

I would stick with it cause it is what i use in my 86'

Yeah probably, I'm going to assume that he bought the bottle that had racing oil on figuring it was better stuff. Thanks chief that's what I'll do.

Think I might try a can of Sea Foam in it next spring just to make sure everything is clean.

Ayuh,... Plumb in a mechanical gauge to verify the pressures,....

Ok that would make me feel better to know the true pressure. Do I take out the electric sending unit and plumb the mechanical one in there with hose?

If it's a chevy, the oil sender is in the back near the distributor. Usually there is a nipple or some other plumbing thing that raises the sender above the intake manifold. You can just undo the sender, install the mech gauge, run the engine for a minute to verify the pressure, replace the sender (with a new one) and then recheck the dash gauge. Fords are on the LH side of the front cover, also with some amount of plumbing doo dads. Both should be 1/4 NPT threads. If you have Teleflex you may want to upgrade with Faria.

Thanks for all the help its going to be a while till I get this done but I will post the results.

Checked with mechanical gage this morning and at idle it was at 40 psi and at 1500 rpm it was at 42 psi. That makes me feel better. I hooked up the gage on the dash and at idle it read 60 psi so I know the dash gage is not reading right. So I decided to winterize it. I don't use anitfreeze so I drained the block and exhaust manifolds and pulled the hoses off on the water circulating pump got the water out and then I read my manual to see if I missed anything and it said to pull the plug on the port side of the lower unit housing so I did and the brass nut fell off I couldn't see it. I pulled the lower unit to see if I could get it out and I couldn't find it so I think it went into the exhaust. I'm taking it in tomorrow and have the shop fix it from here. I know they are going to have to split the lower unit and replace the brass nut. When I called the shop they told me that particular plug is not supposed to be taken out so how do you get the water out of that area? When I lower the unit a lot of water came out of there. Or should I just run antifreeze in it next year and not worry about it.

indybleck said:

When I called the shop they told me that particular plug is not supposed to be taken out so how do you get the water out of that area? When I lower the unit a lot of water came out of there. Or should I just run antifreeze in it next year and not worry about it.

Click to expand...

the drive gravity drains. no one ever worries about it - just tilt it down
what manual told you to take that plug out? There's normally a snake emblem glued over it.

Clymer manual page 120 number 13 it states "With the stern drive unit in a vertical position, remove the water drain plug located on the port side of the pivot housing. Crank the engine 1-2 turns to expel any water from the drive pump, then run the drive to its full tilt position and allow the unit to continue draining. When no more water is expelled, run the drive back to a vertical postiion. Allow any additional water to drain, then reinstall the drain plug." There is a Cobra emblem on the starboard side of the lower unit but nothing on the port side. Now I know not to take it out. I can hear it rattling when I shake the lower unit, I'm hoping the shop can shake it out and then put it back together.

wow - that's good example for folks asking about the aftermarket manuals.... bird cage liner... get tweety to highlight the important parts

Amen to that, I should have jsut asked on here about it first. The shop told me I'm not the first to do it, but that doesn't make it any better.

yeah, we call that "the Cobra owners second mistake"

I'm lucky to have a shop that use to sell Cobra's and they still service them and know what they are doing.

First mistake is buying a boat with the cobra.

So far it really hasn't bothered me but this is the first summer I've owned one. The mechanic told me they're not as bad as most people say. I'm lucky to have someone that knows how to work on them, and there is somethings that are different that I have to learn, that's why I'm on this forum. The shop called me last night and said its done, they fished the nut out of the exhaust, changed the impeller along with the lube in the lower unit and put it back on the boat all for $126.00 which I don't think is that bad. I also found out there are a lot of parts and manuals on e bay for Cobras, also recondition lower units. Lots of good stuff there. Saw a orginal shop manual for 85 bucks a little salty but might be worth it, if I keep the boat.

One last post I picked the boat up this morning and the total bill was 168.00 not 126.00. Lesson learned. Once again thanks for all the help.