To: Other OMC Zephr Saildrive Owners
From: A soon to be former OMC Saildrive Owner
I've owned an O'Day 28 with a Saildrive for the past 9 years and despite constant maintainance, I was never happy with the engine's performance. The engine was used primarily to get in and out of a mooring field and running at low revs promoted carbon buildup. Add the fact that the boat has a 20 gallon tank which would last us several seasons and this is a recipe for poor performance.
While the engine hasn't been great, I was living with it by keeping a healthy supply of fresh plugs and other assorted items on the boat until this past season when calamity struck. One of my two pistons is actually bashing in spark plug anode. Inspection by the mechanic after head removal resulted in a prognosis that the engine was "Tired", had endured water leaking into the crankcase through the bottom seal, etc, etc, after which he followed up by quoting a pretty big price to restore the head. Considering that the engine is 28 years old and many of the saildrive-specific parts are hard to come by and expensive should we ever need to replace them ( our mechanic thinks the
exhaust riser, outdrive, alternator, etc are still servicable but would cost a fortune above what we'd have to put into the head to repair), I've decided to move on and repower the boat with a diesel, despite the cost.
So, I now have assorted parts for the OMC saildrive in my garage and the question becomes, what to do with it. Is there any used parts interest in this type of drive out there or should I sell if for scrap?
Linear Mode
