Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

[farginicehole]

I did a search and read a few old threads about this engine. I just found a boat for sale nearby that has one of these, supposedly with extremely low hours. I haven't gone to look at it yet, but can anyone please tell me what to look out for? I would definitely want to check the compression, but am not sure what the numbers should be for this particular engine. I have an '89 150 XP, but this is probably a completely different beast, right? Just wondering if there are any other big "red flags" I should be on the lookout for? Thanks very much in advance for any advice!

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Oh man! A 4.0 liter V8 -- very cool motors. Talk about torque!! The V8's are a world apart from V6's. Just make sure its set up like a V8 not a V6. The rev limiter on a 300 is at 6700. You want to be as close to that as possible. If its set up at 5500 youre leaving a ton on the table. <br /><br />Fuel pressure is their lifeblood -- literally. No primer bulbs, no 90 degree fittings or bulk head connectors and 3/8" ID hose. <br /><br />Look for compression to be no more than 15 lbs different hi to low. Make sure it has Champion plugs in it. <br /><br />What kind of boat?

 

[moderator1]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Dhadley is the man you want to answer any questions you may have for this engine...he knows them well.<br />He'll be along sometime..

 

[moderator1]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

See.....he types faster than me....

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Lol! I cant believe I "hunt-n-pecked" faster than anybody types.

 

[moderator1]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

I'm a slow-goer, DH....you beat me there everytime.

 

[farginicehole]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Thanks for the replies, guys! I'm going to go check it out sometime this weekend. I'll let you all know what my impression is of the rig (it's on a Crestliner Sabre fishing boat) and if I'm going to proceed with checking the engine out in detail. So I'm guessing a 2-stroke V8 outboard is a real gas guzzler, right? Doesn't matter much to me, as I would be mainly trolling on Lake Michigan using a smaller kicker anyways.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Cool. Keep us posted.

 

[surprise]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Oh yeah, it will like the gas a whole lot. A buddy and I fish a 25' HydraSport WA with the 300 V-8 out of Hatteras. It does a little better than 1 nm/gal, but not much better. I still think the prop and set-up need to be changed, but it is a great running motor. Don't be worried about the funny clicking noise it makes at idle, it comes from the power steering. How big a boat is that Crestliner?

 

[farginicehole]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

It's the 24' (24.5'?). I kind of wonder if it is rated for a 300, but so far, I can't find much info on the internet about this older '89 model. My mother has an early '90s Crestliner Eagle, which seems to be a pretty well-built boat as far as I can tell. This Sabre has a big bracket(?) on the transom that the motor is mounted to, as opposed to having the motor "clamped" and bolted directly to the transom. I hope to get a chance to go check it out tonight or Saturday sometime.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Great! So its a bracket boat. Very good. I'm sure the boat will handle it. We used to race a 24 Cigarette with a V8. When you go for a test ride go with your gut feeling. You'll know right away whether you like the boat or not.

 

[surprise]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Hope the boat has a GPS, or that you take a hand-held unit with you. Will be interested to see what kind of performance you get. Look at the prop, if you don't mind, and give us the specs on it, if you can.

 

[marinemech1]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

there are 4 strokes out there today that eat almost as much fuel as that 300<br />they are good engines, if boat speed is approaching 80 mph you may want a nose cone. also be sure prop is torqued to 80 ft/lbs and tighten fasteners on a regular bases.

 

[farginicehole]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Hi guys. My wife and I went and took a look at the boat this weekend. We're in southwest Michigan, and if you saw the weather, it reverted back to winter with snow and rain! Anyways, the boat was a LOT rougher than I was expecting. This is a Crestliner Sabre, which is a 24' aluminum Great Lakes style fishing boat with hardtop and cuddy cabin up front (not a performance boat like it sounds like most of you have ran these engines on). A lot of it is cosmetic, but the guy hasn't used it in years and apparently hasn't had it covered up well as the floorboards all need to be replaced. Anyways, it was spitting rain and snow, so we didn't try firing up the old motor. It looks to be in very good shape and he says it has 40 hours or less on it - the story goes that they didn't use the boat due to health problems. I want to go back and run it, and hopefully get the boat into the water to see how everything works (and to get a better idea of what else needs work to see how much I would be willing to pay!). I believe the prop was a 14 1/2 x 18, and a 3-blade stainless. I asked the old guy how it performed, and he said he had the rig up to about 55 mph at about 3/4 throttle. This is a lot faster than I expected for this style of boat, so I guess I'd have to see it to believe it. I'll keep you all updated if I get a chance to run the engine and/or put it in some water.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

If the motor hasnt ran in a while I'd sure clean the carbs before I started it. Dont want to stick a piston.

 

[farginicehole]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Good point. Are you talking totally disassembling them to clean them, or some other quicker/easier method? He says he ran it last season, but just in the driveway on the muffs. Thanks for the advice and info!

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Depends on how much of a chance you want to take. If he/you want to be protect the pistons as much as possible, then a complete carb job would be the way to go.

 

[farginicehole]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Hmmmm, I see. Maybe leaving the choice up to him would be a good indicator of how well he's maintained the engine (not very well, if the rest of the boat is any indicator!) over the years? <br />Again, I really appreciate your time in replying, Dhadley! I would post a pic or two, but it looks like you need to have a website to host them.

 

[farginicehole]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Well, just to update, it sounds like I'm probably going to get a chance to see the engine run this weekend. They tell me it was ran last season, and one of their friends that will be involved claims to have built and repaired 2-stroke engines, and feels the risk is fairly low. I'll keep you posted. . . .

 

[farginicehole]

Re: Questions about '89 Evinrude 300 XP

Well, they sold the boat while I was waiting for them to call me back to say they were ready for me to come see the engine run. Guess some guy stopped by and bought it right on the spot, or so the story goes. Oh well, no big loss as it's kind of fun looking for boats. . . . plus, it will give me more time to devote to debugging my '89 150XP! (with help of you guys here, of course!) Thanks!