getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

[deepsessions]

I bought my '82 Ranger almost a month ago and bought it knowing it had launch problems. The boat gets on pad but it takes 8-10 seconds with a 19p prop. I thought it would be easy fix by taking the dolphins off and fixing the leak issue. NOT! I've since had my mechanic clean the carbs,take two trips to the water and we still can't figure it out. Tomarrow he is going to put a different fuel pump on to see if that is the cause but we are unsure as to why the plugs are getting fouled a little. I've been told by almost everyone to use a 23p Tempest for my boat,but he is suggesting that he tune the boat to use the 19 since I am running 4 batteries and a deck extension in the boat.

specs are 150 XR2 Merc Oil injected on an '82 350 V Ranger...I can run about 6000 rpm's at WOT but was told to keep it around 5500 max with this engine.

any help is appreciated!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

Has a compression test been done on the engine? If compression is down it simply won't make power but my very well rev well. If plugs are fouling, is it due to oil fouling or fuel fouling? If it's fuel, then its very likely not a fuel pump issue. If its oil, the injection system my need attention. Has the ignition system been checked and spark checked on all cylinders. Thowing parts at an engine is an expensive way to troubleshoot. Tell your mechanic to "diagnose", then "repair". Has the boat been checked for water soaked flotation foam since you did mention a "leak". You may be lugging around several hundred extra pounds of water.

 

[deepsessions]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

thanks Silvertip.

he's had the boat for about 4 weeks now since I've not needed it and I wanted him to take his time in checking out my new/used boat. We've also been waiting and locating new/old parts (steering cables,on board battery charger,used troller,water pressure gauge,used trim motor) did I say this was a used boat? ha he's been great and actually picked up parts for me out of town and comes highly recommended from alot of local tournament anglers.

As for the diagnosing I failed to mention he did fix the leak that the livewell plumbing was causing. The boats been sitting with the plug out in 90-100 degree days for more than a few weeks. So we thought it would be dry by now. As for the compression its 130 even across all cylinders with spark. The ignition has been checked wires/stator etc. Today I spoke with him about battery charger placement (no space) and I opted to pull the oil res out to save space and headache for fear of what could go wrong in the future. Bad move? He'd said he could do the swap out in 20 min. for me and the only downside would be I'd have to mix my gas.

Not sure what else I can add since I am no expert. Is there anything else I should ask him to check out you can think of?

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

As for the diagnosing I failed to mention he did fix the leak that the livewell plumbing was causing. The boats been sitting with the plug out in 90-100 degree days for more than a few weeks. So we thought it would be dry by now.

Once foam is wet, it's wet and stays that way until it is removed.

Personally I would leave the oil injection intact if it is working. If you remove the resevoir, then the injection pump needs to be removed and a block-off kit installed, otherwise there will be bits of pump slamming about inside your motor.​

 

[deepsessions]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

it stays wet? are you serious? so this could very well be the reason my boat is taking so long to get on plane then despite running a little rich? a guy I talked to said take it to a weigh station and weigh it. great idea too bad the boat is about 85 miles from me! (mechanic is 30 miles past where I have it stored)

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

Yea it definitely stays wet. I bought a boat that had been in a very dry barn for two years a while back. I pulled two trash cans FULL of sopping wet foam out of it.

If it has a bunch of wet foam, then you could be carrying around several hundred pounds of water.​

 

[deepsessions]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

Yea it definitely stays wet. I bought a boat that had been in a very dry barn for two years a while back. I pulled two trash cans FULL of sopping wet foam out of it.

If it has a bunch of wet foam, then you could be carrying around several hundred pounds of water.​

are there any solutions?

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

The best solution is to remove the foam. I have heard of people using heat and fans, but that still takes a long time.

I don't know for sure this is your problem; I would definitely weigh the boat to see if this is what is going on. If it turns out to be the problem, then you will have a much different boat once the wet foam is gone.​

 

[Texasmark]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

I'm looking at a '87 Ranger catalog and the specs on the 350V are 17'10", 82" beam, 150 max hp, 1050 lbs approx boat weight. Don't suppose there was a lot of changes in those 5 years. There is a picture of it with a Johnny 150 on it, side view and on calm water, the only thing that is in the water is about 2' of the pad. That suggests 60 mph sort of thing which I believe.

On soaking foam, Forrest was real good about foaming everything but sealed it and in the keel area, from fore to aft was a rectangular tunnel for water to drain into, flow to the back, and all be removed at the transom by the bilge pump or drain plug.

Just how much soaking do you think this boat got?

You already told me what I need to know. Assuming your XRII has the high speed 4 1/4" gearbox, you are running a 1.78:1 ratio. With a 19P (20 for calculations assuming yours is SS and is cupped) and 12% slip (good estimate for that hull, my opinion) @6000 you should be doing 56 mph. So if you are currently running in that area at WOT, your engine couldn't be in too bad a shape......you didn't specify speed.

To drop WOT rpm's and use the 23P Tempest (24) as suggested, and keeping the 12% slip the boat would be up to 63 mph (at 5600 which the book says is the recommended max WOT rpm) but your hole would be worse (maybe....see comments about ported prop).


Sounds like you have extra weight in the transom.

What are the dolphins you took off? Something to help get up and going like trim tabs or a whales tale?

Book says the boat has a pair of 14 gallon tanks which are probably back there too, so if full, that's a couple hundred pounds, plus 50ish for the 4th battery and who knows what for your deck extension. area and you'd expect the hole to be slower.

But if you use a ported prop, you can recover the hole; and proper trim angle is a must. I had a 19P ported Merc SS prop on an '89 115 hp Merc (2:1 gearbox) on a Ranger 680C (foot shorter and 200# lighter than yours) which was also padded which worked real well for a good hole.

I can't tell if the Tempest is ported, but you can contact Merc/accessories/props and ask. Also insure that you know what your lower unit diameter is (4 1/4 or 4 3/4....which is a 1.87:1 ratio). I wouldn't use one on that boat that wasn't.

My 2c,

HTH

Mark

 

[Silvertip]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

Absolutely! There is little to no air circulation in the foamed areas so there is no way it can dry. Perhaps a little surface evaporation will occur but deep down she's still wet. And to complicate matters, there may be trapped water elsewhere in the hull. That my friend, is very difficult to locate and eliminate without pulling up the floor. Debris and disintegrating foam can plug up the small drain channels which prevents those areas from draining.

 

[deepsessions]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

Just how much soaking do you think this boat got?

you didn't specify speed.

What are the dolphins you took off? Something to help get up and going like trim tabs or a whales tale?
Mark

I'm not sure how much soaking the boat got to be honest. The original owner only had it for two months and already had an '83 Ranger. He had basically said he parted mine out for its troller,electronics,and didn't have the time to pursue figuring out the pad issues.

As for the speed the mph tach is broken so I am unsure as to how fast she goes. I can say that she goes about as fast as my buddies 375V with a 150 Merc.

The dolphins were added by the last owner to try and get out of the hole faster. They are basically a pair of plastic stabilizers. I spoke with my mechanic today and he seems to think its not wet foam. He said the engine when trying to get on pad sounds a little groggy and stumbles. He still needs to check the fuel pump. Anything I should ask him about?

 

[j_martin]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

I have a similar boat, a 1988 tracker with an XR4 on it. The prop is a High Five 24p, which has very good bite, but also is vented.

To get a good hole shot, I have to trim the engine until it is actually tucked under, then can it and trim it out for speed. If I leave it trimmed out, it'll fuss, do a transom stand, plow, and eventually climb out of the hole. The R's run about 3 grand while it's doing that. I could see the same setup with a non vented prop having a hellova time getting on plane.

With the vented prop, tucked under, when I can it all hell breaks loose, and she leaps up on plane with a neck snapping acceleration that doesn't even let the bow cover the horizon.

If you're going 60 with that setup, you ain't hauling around much wet foam. It'll do over 50 with a lot of wet foam, though. Get a GPS and check it out.

hope it helps
John

 

[Texasmark]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

Your buddies 375 is the same length, 6" wider, rated for a max of 25 more hp and weighs about 70 lbs more; otherwise the hull appears to be the same. I'd say that if his rig is setup properly there's nothing wrong with yours but porting the prop (getting a ported prop) if you can stay up with him.

While reading John Martin's comment, I remember the 680C I had which had a deeper V (plus pad) than the Commanche sereies, hence more of an arse dragger outta da hole, and I only had 115 hp....but it was prop rated and your 150 I think, came out before Merc changed to prop rating which I think was about mid '85.....if your engine is the same year as your boat which you didn't mention.

So, I would tuck her in (as he...John... does) and hammer down on her. As she was popping out, my finger would be on the trim switch (on the throttle lever) and I was pushing her out, all in one seamless process. This made a nice combination for getting up and going the quickest. Then up about 40 mph the ports in the prop would close off, the engine rpms would drop and we were gone......ports closing is analagous to overdrive in an automobile....same sensation; really cool to experience.

Also why don't you do a good decarb and see if it doesn't get rid of that hesitation coming out.

Mark

 

[deepsessions]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

the engine I believe is an '86 or '87 and isn't original to the boat...as for the de-carbing. It's already been done my mechanic rebuilt the carbs and said they weren't very dirty.

As for snapping the throttle down and trimming up at the same time. I burned up a 1/4 tank doing several runs to see how the boat would respond. The most successful was starting with the trim all the way down and hammering the throttle down and slowly getting bringing the trim up. One thing to note is I fish in a river with a tidal system so getting up on pad against current is almost impossible! with current it takes about 8-10 seconds.

If you were to recommend to me a good ported prop for this boat (remember 4 batteries,3 bank charger,extended front deck,and two big gas tanks) what would you steer me towards?

thanks!

 

[Texasmark]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

Ask Walleyehed. He does testing for Merc.

I'd open a different thread over in the prop section and change the title so folks won't get confused with this one. They don't like double posting on here. Just tell him what kind of boat/engine/prop you have and tell him you want a ported prop (and any other goodies you can get with it) to improve your hole shot and mention that you have 500 rpm you can sacrifice off WOT. Also mention the comment about the Tempest.

I am currently running Ballistic which is a sub of Michigan Wheel Co. and I really like it, but it is not ported but on my current boat I don't need it.

Mark

 

[j_martin]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

the engine I believe is an '86 or '87 and isn't original to the boat...as for the de-carbing. It's already been done my mechanic rebuilt the carbs and said they weren't very dirty.

As for snapping the throttle down and trimming up at the same time. I burned up a 1/4 tank doing several runs to see how the boat would respond. The most successful was starting with the trim all the way down and hammering the throttle down and slowly getting bringing the trim up. One thing to note is I fish in a river with a tidal system so getting up on pad against current is almost impossible! with current it takes about 8-10 seconds.

If you were to recommend to me a good ported prop for this boat (remember 4 batteries,3 bank charger,extended front deck,and two big gas tanks) what would you steer me towards?

thanks!

High Five, 20 - 22 inch

Spools up to about 3 grand, then causes whiplash.

 

[deepsessions]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

talked to my mechanic today and he'd said he has a Merc High Five 21 that he's gonna try next week.He also said the front isn't water logged cause he could pick it up with one arm and a bad back.

 

[ronnieboy]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

hi deep, i have a 374vee commanchee 1988, with a 150 mariner mag 2 (xr4) i can launch in 30 feet and all out in a hundred, i strongly recommend a turbo 2+2 4blade stainless in 19 pitch, i turn 5800 to 6000, and 62 mph, you can do this loaded or not loaded, lots better than laboring the motor. still runnin my remote oiler on the motor, but i use ringfree and seafoam religiously, good luck ron

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

talked to my mechanic today and he'd said he has a Merc High Five 21 that he's gonna try next week.He also said the front isn't water logged cause he could pick it up with one arm and a bad back.

Generally the front isn't where the water gets trapped. Having more weight in the rear is going to create more of a lever effect, making the front that much easier to lift. Think of riding a see-saw with someone that outweighs you by 100 lbs; you're going to have a much easier ride going up than your heavy buddy is!
I would really check the back of the boat for water; may not be an issue, but if it is, you don't want to be carrying that extra 500 or so pounds around with you.​

 

[walleyehed]

Re: getting on plane with my 350V Merc XR2 150

I would be sure and check all over (under) for water intrapment, no doubt....as for props, I don't have much use for the high-5. Yea, it's a good hole-shot prop but thats about it. The 2+2 Turbo would be a decent choice depending on how much venting you need and "possibly" a Turbo Fusion...this prop is showing excellent plane-times, mid-range and good top-end. We've been playing a bit with the Rangers and the Fusion and it seems at this point it's working well on the boats with high power to weight ratios. With the lift the 350V needs, the 2+2 may be the better choice based on the test data I have at this point.