First day on the water thanks to you guys.

[brokemerc]

Thanks to everyone, after the engine replacement, drive rebuild and multiple problems that you guys helped me repair I was overwhelmed today to spend a couple of hours at wot without a hick-up.. 1995 Bayliner Capri 1854, 3.0 alpha-1 gen-2. Only minor problem is this, if I let go of the steering wheel the boat will take an immediate left hand turn, and turning right is about twice as hard as left? Ideas/recommendations?? It has manual steering. I was thinking of turning that trim tab on the drive to the right,, do you think this may help.. Also at wot I had about 4,800 rpm and 45 mph does this sound about where it should be??

 

[ziggy]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

I was thinking of turning that trim tab on the drive to the right,, do you think this may help.

other way around... if it turns easy to left. adjust trailing end of tab to left.....

congrats on yer good running boat..... geeze my lakes still froze solid around here.....

 

[bigbob_FTW]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

adjust the trim tab on your lower unit. I'm in the middle of a rebuild myself. Hope to be on the water this year. Congrats!

 

[QC]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

Speed sounds great. Yes, drive trim tab. Find a comfortable speed where you plan on running your boat the most and then adjust the tab for that condition/speed. It will never be perfect at all speeds. Just try to get it in a good compromise position . . . There is a good illustration around here somewhere. I'll post it if I can find it. Congratulations!!!

What Ziggy says ^^^^^

 

[Don S]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

This might be the picture QC mentioned.

 

[brokemerc]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

OK,, thanks.. I'll crank her a little left and give it a try.. I'm pretty sure as it sits now it's quite a bit to the right.. Thanks..

 

[mcleaves]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

After you set the tab make sure you use some loctite to set it . Otherwise you'll be buying a new tab in short order. Don't ask how I know.

M

 

[QC]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

This might be the picture QC mentioned.

Yup

 

[imported_TheMan]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

Glad to hear it's running. That is much faster than I ever got in my boat.. I only got about 36mph with a 17p prop. You running at 19?

 

[bigbob_FTW]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

Glad to hear it's running. That is much faster than I ever got in my boat.. I only got about 36mph with a 17p prop. You running at 19?

I have a 19 on my 17' 120 mercruiser and I can get about 38-40 depending on load. I could see you running a 21 with that motor.

 

[brokemerc]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

Not sure what pitch prop is on the boat, I assume (we know what that means) it's the one that came with the boat.. How can I tell the pitch?? Will it be stamped in the prop or do you have to track the part number?? I think I remember reading that the correct rpm's at wot for my boat being 4600-4900,, if so i'm right at the max.

 

[Don S]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

A 3.0L has a WOT rpm of 4200 to 4600, the 3.0LX has 4400 to 4800 rpm.

Run it, and find out the exact WOT rpm you are getting, then worry about pitches and part numbers etc. Using the size prop that someone else uses on their boat will only give YOU insite as to what they have, not what you need.

 

[QC]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

Well pitch probably doesn't matter until you want to change it as you are probably in the right RPM range ASSuming your tach is right. Usually there is a 17, 19 or 21 or something like that at the end of the part number stamped on the hub of the prop. The pitch number may stand alone too, but it is almost always there somewhere. Also, it may have been modified, so let's say it says it is a 17, but it could've been rebuilt to a 16 or so . . .

How are you getting your speed number? GPS or radar are about all that are completely dependable. With that said, my last two pitot speedos are dead on . . . If you get us dead accurate speed and if we trust the RPM we can tell you roughly what pitch you have now ASSuming that we know your gear ratio . . .

 

[brokemerc]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

Ok thanks. I know the boat initially was a 3.0LX,, but after installing the 3.0 out of a 89 searay not sure how that effected the LX rating.. I was just curious how to tell what pitch the prop is. I'm Very satisfied with the boats performance and really don't need any more speed out of it just didn't want it to be over-reving..

 

[Bondo]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

I was just curious how to tell what pitch the prop is.

Ayuh,.....

Usually,...... It's either stamped on the barrel/ body of the prop,....
Or,... More likely,.....
It's cast into the hub, Under the prop Nut.......

 

[brokemerc]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

I was using the boats tach,, and my garmin gps for the speed..

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

You want it to be in it's optimum rpm range, the speedometer is irrelevant........​

 

[QC]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

I was using the boats tach,, and my garmin gps for the speed..

Cool.

 

[brokemerc]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

OK.. I plan on adjusting that trim tab and hopefully I can get a semi nice day to take it out and run it again. Yesterday it was pretty rough on the water so the numbers may change on flat water. Thanks..

 

[QC]

Re: First day on the water thanks to you guys.

Well, if the year model of the engine matches the boat year (maybe not), you have a 1.94:1 gear ratio. That would say you have around a 21 inch pitch which would not be our typical guess . . . Something seems screwy still though as that would indicate 8.5% slip which is too good . . . My guess is that the gear ratio is faster, but don't know for sure. I wouldn't worry too much. If you are making 45 MPH something is very right. You're not on a flowing river are you?