1986 Evinrude XP200 Looper not reving?

[Irish916]

Hi folks. I'm a boating newb and I have what I think is probably a basic question. I bought a used 19ft Hydra-sport bass boat with an 1986 Evinrude XP200 Looper. I finally got a chance to get this bird on the water to see what it can do.

Upon wide open throttle, I'm noticing the motor does not push past 4,400 rpm. It pulls very strong up over 4k and I'm thinking there probably is much more RPM bandwidth in the motor, but I'm unclear as to why she's stopping at 4,400 RPM. Feels like I have a rent-a-car with a speed governor enabled. Is this because I don't have the proper prop for my boat?? Could it be due to the way the motor is positioned/trimmed on the boat?

I popped the cover and checked for WOT when it got it back and sure enough she's running the carbs wide open?

If it's a prop issue, what is the best way to determine a prop to provide more mid range power? The evinrude is sitting on a 6in jack plate right now.

 

[jonesg]

Re: 1986 Evinrude XP200 Looper not reving?

Go to the autopart store and pick up 2 tools,
compression guage and spark gap tester.

Remove all sparkplugs, inspect and keep in order.

Do a compression test, write down numbers.

Do a spark gap test, set gap at 3/8th inch, don't try a gap test with a sparkplug it doesn't work.

If its passes we'll look at the fuel feed.

Have you done any maintainance to it, or just trying to run the snot out of it right off the bat

Do you know the service history?
Order the service manual from below. Get your model number.
www.outboardbooks.com

 

[wilde1j]

Re: 1986 Evinrude XP200 Looper not reving?

Beside the things to check above, consider the following as well:

Check that carb butterflies are fully open when throttle is all way up.

Where is the boat (i.e. altitude)?

Motor trim has an effect ... experiment to get best speed / RPM.

Is AV plate covered with water at WOT? If it is, the motor needs to be raised up until the AV plate is no longer covered with water. If you need to come up, you will gain speed, RPM and fuel efficiency.

After you have checked all the stuff provided here and by Jonesg, then experiment with props. As your motor sits now, it is turning way to low RPM @ WOT. Needs to be ~ 5800.

 

[Irish916]

Re: 1986 Evinrude XP200 Looper not reving?

Thanks for the feedback guys.

The boat is used in Pennsylvania....but I'm not sure of the exact sea level we're at here.

Before I set sail, I've done the following maintainance:

I replaced both power paks on each head (one was bad, the other was replaced on principle)
I replaced both thermostats
drained and replaced the fuel in the tank
rank OMC tune-up by following the instructions
put new champion plugs in
cleaned the carbs
drained and replaced the oil
applied marine grease in the appropriate areas.

The motor pulls strong and sounds awesome...albeit at 4,300 rpm WOT. I have pulled the air cover and confirmed at WOT I'm getting the carbs wide open.

I have not checked the water level on the plate at WOT, but I will check that. I did take some general measurements today. Firstly, the manual jack plate is 5in. I think I may have said 6 before. In addition, with motor trimmed down, I measured from the bottom of the pad to the center of the prop. It's approximately 4.5 inches. Is that too deep??? Should the outboard be raised on the jack plate? If so, what is the best way to do this so that I don't mess it up?

 

[wilde1j]

Re: 1986 Evinrude XP200 Looper not reving?

Where is the AV plate relative to the hull bottom? 4400 is STILL WAY TOO low.

 

[Irish916]

Re: 1986 Evinrude XP200 Looper not reving?

The AV plate appears to be approximately 4in above the pad when trimmed down. I'm taking my base measurement off the very bottom of the boat (lowest point) On this HydraSports Hull, the stern is notched a bit, meaning the area where the plug goes in is notched/offset from the actual transom. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it.

Even I was getting severe ventilation, wouldn't that cause the RPMs to skyrocket, or act opposite of what I'm experiencing now?

Here is another symptom I can add. When cruising the lake this past week, I came out of the hole ok. At about 35-40pm, my father suggested I trim the motor out when I told him I wasn't getting any more RPM. Upon trimming the motor out, I wasn't getting any more RPM. In fact I seemed to be porpoising a bit, so I trimmed it back down.

One correction to the subject/original post. The XP200 is an 87, not an 86 as listed in the thread.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: 1986 Evinrude XP200 Looper not reving?

You haven't answered this:

Is AV plate covered with water at WOT? If it is, the motor needs to be raised up until the AV plate is no longer covered with water. If you need to come up, you will gain speed, RPM and fuel efficiency.

 

[Irish916]

Re: 1986 Evinrude XP200 Looper not reving?

Thanks! Next time out there I will make sure I'm double checking that at WOT? Are manual jack plates hard to adjust? I've never done it before, so I'm curious.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: 1986 Evinrude XP200 Looper not reving?

Never owned one, but I think most have a screw or screws to adjust vertical travel. Why not get on the mfgrs website, if you can ID it?

 

[Greg_E]

Re: 1986 Evinrude XP200 Looper not reving?

You've told us what boat and engine you have, but not what prop your running. Post that info, and someone with a similar setup can probably tell you if your in the ball park. If you have the correct prop, then I would start looking at the other the other things.