OMC outdrive is the important thing that keeps your boat or any kind of water transport going. Well, naturally, it will lose its capacity day by day. So, one day you will need to change your old OMC outdrive with a new one.

But the problem is the old OMC outdrive model has to match the new outdrive model. For that, you have to know which OMC outdrive you have.

Now, how to tell what OMC outdrive you have?

To tell what OMC outdrive you have, first, you have to find some information about it. Such as, you need to find the model number and the serial number from the identification plate. You will need the model to know its model. And you will need the serial number to differentiate the outdrive.

Now, we’re going to know about this in more detail.

How to Tell What OMC Outdrive You Have?

Well, to know what OMC outdrive you have, first, you have to know about some things. So, firstly, you have to know what is an OMC outdrive.

The OMC outdrive is a very important part of any kind of vehicle that runs on the water. As you already know, because of an OMC outdrive, a boat can move on water.

The OMC Outdrive is also called OMC sterndrive. The OMC outdrive is called OMC outdrive cobra as well. And OMC is the abbreviation for Outboard Marine Corporation. This is what basically an OMC outdrive is.

Now you know what an OMC outdrive is. Next, you’re going to know how to find out which OMC outdrive you have. Because-

Suppose, you are trying to start an old outboard motorboat that hasn’t been used for a long time. In that case, it’s possible that the OMC outdrive of that boat is not working.

Now, as it’s a kind of machine, after a certain time it won’t work properly. So ultimately, you will need to replace the old OMC outdrive with a new one.

For that, you need to know the model and the serial of your OMC outdrive.

That’s why you have to find the number of models and the serial from the identification plate.

Generally, there should be three identification plates for the OMC outdrive. So, you have to remove all of them. Then you will find a serial number and a model number on each plate.

There might be a code for the model number that has three numbers and some letters. It’s the code for identifying the model. From this code, you will know the model of your OMC outdrives.

And you will find another code for the serial number. This code starts with one letter and the rest of it is numbers. And from this code, you will know the serial of your OMC outdrive.

You have to note down all of them. That’s how you can match these codes with the codes of the new OMC outdrive. And you will know whether the two OMC outdrive models are the same or not.

Finally, you know the steps of telling what OMC outdrive you have. So now, you know how to find the model number and the serial number. Also, you know which code identifies the model number and which one identifies the serial number.

That’s everything you need to know for telling what OMC outdrive you have.

Now, if you need to buy a new OMC sterndrive, it’s quite easy to buy a new one. Because there are many OMC sterndrives for sale online.

Here’s some information in this table about the cost of OMC sterndrives.

OMC Sterndrive Types	Cost
OMC upper sterndrive	$2250 – $2340
OMC lower sterndrive	$2350 – $2440

Why Is It Essential to Know Your OMC Outdrive?

It’s important to know your OMC outdrive because your old OMC outdrives model has to match the new one. That means you have to replace your old one with the same OMC outdrive model. Otherwise, your new OMC outdrive won’t work.

And knowing every detail about your OMC outdrive is always not a very easy task. Because the OMC outdrive has a lot of variations. Now, let’s talk about some of these variations.

Different Types of OMC Outdrives

A long time ago, there was an outdrive called stringer to outdrive. But later, the cobra outdrive came out and replaced the stringer outdrive.

But sometimes, people might have faced some problems with the OMC cobra outdrive. For example, the OMC cobra shift adjustment is one of the OMC cobras outdrive problems.

However, there might be some similarities between the OMC cobra and the OMC stringer identification. But somehow, the production of the OMC stringer was discontinued.

There is another cobra outdrive which is called OMC king cobra outdrive. By the name you can already guess that it’s a larger version of the standard cobra outdrive.

Basically, the OMC cobra identification is a little bit different than the identification of the OMC king cobra outdrives.

To understand the differences, you will have to see the OMC king cobra outdrive diagram. Or, you can see the OMC king cobra identification. Then, you’ll notice that the internal components of this outdrive are stronger.

So here are a few variations of OMC outdrive. Now, you can probably guess how difficult and confusing it might be to know everything about this outdrive. Moreover, it will be more difficult to find the same OMC outdrive model if you don’t know anything about it.

How to read the OMC outdrive serial number?

If you, for example, have this serial number: 502BPRAMH, here is how to decipher it.

Take a look at the list of OMC model years:

The model year 1985 KWB.
The model year 1986 WXS.
The model year 1987 ARJ, ARY, FTC, SRC, SRY.
The model year 1988 GDE, GDP.
The model year 1989 MED, MEF.
The model year 1990 PWC, PWR, PWS.
The model year 1991 RGD, RGF.
The model year 1992 AMH, AMK.
The model year 1993 JVB.
The model year 1994 JVN.

FAQs

What Kind of Oil Is Great for An OMC Outdrive?

Straight 30W oil is great for an OMC to outdrive. Because it doesn’t break down that easily. For that reason, it can lubricate things for a long time. But try to avoid multi-viscosity oil. Because it breaks down so easily and loses its capacity to lubricate things.

How Much Oil Can An OMC Outdrive Take?

An OMC outdrive can take 2 quarts of oil. You can use the straight 30W oil for the OMC outdrive as this oil is great for it. Because this oil hardly breaks down and its lubrication power is stronger. But try to avoid the multi-viscosity oil for OMC outdrives.

What Does The OMC Outdrive Lube Do for A Boat?

The OMC outdrive lube will protect the outdrive of the boat. It will protect the gear cases of an outboard lower unit as well. This lube is designed to bear too many rough uses. Even then, it will give maximum protection to the outdrive and also to the gear cases of the lower unit.

Where to find the OMC model number?

The OMC model number is located on the engine itself. It can be found on the side of the engine, near the bottom.

Conclusion

Now you know how to tell what OMC outdrive you have. So, you know which code is for the model number.

You know which code is for the serial number as well. So from now on, you can easily match the models of your new and old OMC outdrives.