Fixed Itself?

[bhammer]

Okay, so here is a strange one... I bought my 2007 boat several year ago in 2009 and during the water test we noticed that it wasn't making WOT. The dealer changed from a 17" 4 blade to a 17" 3 blade and all was well. I just thought it was how much loaded it was with our large family.

This year when I summerized it, I took it out myself and could easily pass 4600RPM. I just thougth it was the low fuel and nothing stored. Well, as the summer progressed, I kept having to watch the tach because it would go in to protect mode even when fully loaded with gear, fuel and people.

I thought it was strange so I double checked RPM with a shop tach and it was dead on. I also compared against a digital tach and they all lined up +/-50 rpm. I just ordered a new 19" prop and haven't run it since.

Now, what could it have been or be now? I do all the maintenance, winterize (fully) and summerize each year with the same oil, filters and fuel additives. The bottom is always cleaned and I wax each year with the same wax. I changed the plugs 2 seasons ago and they all looked the same and showed a normal run color.

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. Sure as I hit post, it'll go back to the old way of things. Any thoughts?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Fixed Itself?

if its intermittent, it will be hard to find. could be any of the following: bad fuel, chunk of something in the fuel regulator, bad plug wire, bad cap and rotor, bad plugs, stuck exhaust flapper, deteriorated rubber exhaust hose, strong head wind, swimmer stuck on the prop, exhaust plugged with squirrels

 

[bhammer]

Re: Fixed Itself?

And I was wondering where my friend and his pet squirrel went....

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Fixed Itself?

sorry, had to throw the last two in there. intermittent issues are hard to troubleshoot.

 

[spdracr39]

Re: Fixed Itself?

This is a Longshot. Prop hub beginning to spin ?

 

[Maclin]

Re: Fixed Itself?

Does the boat go faster than it did before the extra RPM came in? Or does the engine race but the boat does not go faster?

 

[Don S]

Re: Fixed Itself?

Get your engine hooked up to a scan tool and see what put it into protection mode, if that is what it was doing.

Prop hubs are either spun or not, and they don't heal if they are spun.

 

[bhammer]

Re: Fixed Itself?

Thanks guys for the feedback. I'll look in to getting the ECU scan done as I am baffled. If it was a protection mode, it is one that I have not ever seen or read about before. It has just seemed to have gained an extra 6-800 RPM out of nowhere. First sing of good weather, I am headed out to try out the new prop that arrived from iBoats yesterday.

 

[Don S]

Re: Fixed Itself?

Protection mode typicaly slows an engine down, around 2500 rpm. There are many things that can cause running problems, including little things like corrosion on terminals, or even something like too much oil in the crankcase.

 

[bhammer]

Re: Fixed Itself?

Thanks Don and I would agree about the oil. The cam can foam the oil and cause lifter problems, but you knew that.... When I first got the boat, I looked at the dip stick while it was sitting in the water after about 10 minutes and a couple hours at rest. I noted where it lines up and it stays about (Just below the F mark) the same when sitting in my garage. That's where I put it after I change the oil. I think it's just over 5 quarts.

I generally disconnect and reconnect easily seen connectors at the summerize and squirt them down with LPS Electro. Maybe I fixed something by doing that. This is still probably a good excuse to pick up a Rinda. The wife won't have a clue....

 

[Don S]

Re: Fixed Itself?

I just used the oil level as an example, and the cam has nothing to do with it. The overfilled oil gets beat to a froth by the crankshaft. Thats how the oil gets aerated.
Just get the scan tool, not the computer program. Laptops are a pain on the water and in the sun, you can't read them.