115 carb 2stroke 2+2 Is it ok for sking due to hesitaion?

[kube]

I am consideing buying a 17.5 ski bowrider with a 2005 115 carb tin line 4cy hat goes into the mode of 2 cylinders only at idle. Will this be an OK purchase for sloum skiing? I am getting a good deal. I might see how much more $ it would be to switch out to a 115 optimax with fuel injection. I will ski behind it soon appreciate any advice.

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: 115 carb 2stroke 2+2 Is it ok for sking due to hesitaion?

I have the same motor but a 2003 and my older son is about 6'3" and 240 lbs. I will admit it is a bit of a struggle getting him up on a single ski, 2 skis and he just pops up as with the wake board, I'm thinking of trying either a 4 or 5 blade to see if that helps plus I find that you really have to watch the throttle while wakeboarding as it's slower than skiing. If you go too slow you end up falling off plane, go too fast to prevent that and you get all kinds of hand signlas from the wakeboarder d

 

[Laddies]

Re: 115 carb 2stroke 2+2 Is it ok for sking due to hesitaion?

Keep the engine propped for max. RPM and it will help the hesitation if any, in a few cases I know of people going down a inch of pitch to help when skiing

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: 115 carb 2stroke 2+2 Is it ok for sking due to hesitaion?

For skiing involving significant speed, they're fine. But for wakeboarding and beginner skiers, they're absolutely awful! You can get around that by way underpropping to get the RPMs up for slow skiing, but then you have to change to a higher pitch prop for faster skiing. I guess you have to determine if you are comfortablle with the hassle. But if it's just you, just slaloming, and the price is right, you'll be okay.

 

[kube]

Re: 115 carb 2stroke 2+2 Is it ok for sking due to hesitaion?

Thanks for all the words of advise. I will take a shot skiing behind it next Wed and see how that goes. I do plan to upgrade the prop from Al to stainless anyway and will go with a 4 blade or just mod the pitch. Boatin Bob, what pitch and diameter is the prop on your boat. I am kinda leaning now toward getting this boat since I am getting a pretty good deal.

Kube

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: 115 carb 2stroke 2+2 Is it ok for sking due to hesitaion?

Mine came with a 13x19 AL from the dealer and it seemed to be pretty good with a decent hole shot and good top end although I believe these motors have a built in rev limiter and I couldn't get the rpm's over 5300.
Last year I picked up a Ballistic SS 13x19 off eBay and it seemed to improve the hole shot a bit but I lost some at the top end probably due to the unique blade design of the Ballistic. I'm looking for either a 13x21 AL to try or a 4 or 5 blade SS. Boat is primarily used for skiing, wakeboarding, joy riding and a little fishing whenever Dad gets to use it!

 

[MercGuy]

Re: 115 carb 2stroke 2+2 Is it ok for sking due to hesitaion?

I have a 1998 version of this engine that I bought new in 1999. It now has just shy of 700 hours on it.

I was always sort of disapointed in the engine because of the hesitation and stumbling that occured when the 2nd 2 cylinders tried to light up. I talked to a couple of local dealers about it and they all said that it was the nature of the beast and nothing could be done.

When this years boating season started I got bit by a bug to eithe fix it or get rid of it. The first thing I did was a sync and link. I have the factory shop manual and I adjusted all the carbs, linkages, and timing. Much to my surprise the only thing that was adjusted correctly from the factory was the timing. Everything else was just a little bit off.

After the link-n-sync things were better, but it still stumbled when I put the hammer down. After reading this board I changed from an Aluminum 21 inch prop to a SS 19 inch prop.

Holy Cow what at difference !!!! These engines MUST be propped to run at their maximum RPM rating at WOT.

It's like a completely different engine now. The transition from 2 to 4 cyl. is actually sort of nice now, when it kicks in it's sort of like having a turbo charger, the thing just snaps to life !!

Naturally, it will stumble if you run it right around 2K RPM (the transition point), and if you are running just below the transition point and just nudge the throttle a little it will stumble. I believe that is because there is an accelerator pump that needs to pump a squirt of gas into #3 & #4 and the pump needs a quick firm action from the throttle.

All in all I'm very pleased with the 2+2 now, and I'm kicking myself in the a$$ for just believing my local dealers for all these years (I would never believe a car dealer, why did I believe a marine dealer?).

I've always wondered just how much fuel is saved by the 2+2 design, but I guess I'll never really know the answer to that question.

So, sorry Merc & BMC, no Optimax or E-tec in my future any time soon. d

 

[paulie0735]

Re: 115 carb 2stroke 2+2 Is it ok for sking due to hesitaion?

your really pushing the limits with any 115hp and the merc 2+2 has to be the worst for serious skiing. It may get you up but its right at the limit and if you're a serious skier you will never be happy with it. If you really like the boat than look to trade the engine on something designed for the job. If you just playing with 2 skis and water toys than no problem.