WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

[oneathefaintest]

I'm very new to boating but me and my girlfriend just spent all of our money on a 1991 Celebrity 180 4.3L. Last week we got it in the water for the first time, first of all when you start going the bow goes way up and even when I put the trim down the boat will not plane. After going wide open for about 5-10 minutes the boat will start to pick up speed and plane out but even then we're only going about 25mph. It was just out of winter storage so someone said it could be bad gas, so I drained all the gas and put about half tank of 91 octane premium in it and it didn't help at all. So then I put all new plugs in it, thats not the problem. On top of the carburator there's a butterfly valve that seems like its stuck open, out on the water I took the air filter off and watched it as I gave it gas and it doesn't move at all, is that supposed to open and close with the throttle? Any help would be much appreciated, we dont have a whole lot of money to take it somewhere but i'm willing to do whatever I just dont know where to start. Oh the prop is 14X19, everything sounds good though it idles beautifully theres no knocks or anything like that.

 

[Bondo]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

but i'm willing to do whatever I just dont know where to start.

Ayuh,... Welcome Aboard,...

Try the Adults Only section at the top of this forum....

 

[oneathefaintest]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

Yeah I was just hoping to get an idea of what it most likely is , I think i'll try marking the prop with marker to see if its slipping first that seems like a likely cause. Is the butterfly valve on top of the carb just a choke? Or is it supposed to move with the throttle cable. Right now its stuck wide open if its supposed to be moving maybe the engines getting too much air all the time?

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

that is as you stated. a choke plate, and at operation temp should work as yours is.
are you going by the speedometer on the boat or a gps?
if your using the boat speedo you might not be getting a accurate reading

 

[oneathefaintest]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

Yeah i'm going by the boat spedometer, but it feels like about 25-30mph and thats with the throttle wide open. You can tell its way too slow, its a 6cyl 4.3 and I dont think I could even pull a wakeboarder out of the water right now. Like I said for the first 5-10 minutes when you push the throttle all the forward the bow goes way up and you're doing about 10-15mph, eventually it will plane out and get going 20-25? Is prop slippage a common cause of this? Also the oil seems a bit too runny, and inside the heads where you put engine oil look wet in there and smells like gas, could that be piston rings??

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

sounds like a oil change and compresion test are in order
you might have a little condensation in the oil if its set a long time but i would be concerned with any moisture in the oil
you will have the best luck going to the adults only as bondo said. there are a lot of things you will need to check and its tough to short cut if you dont have a good idea of what your prob might be to start

 

[xltier]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

what is your rpm at full throttle.should be around 4200-4500-give or take a little.does it seem to rev up ok in nuetral.possibly wrong prop or someone installed a lower unit with wrong gear ratio.just some thoughts.

 

[WizeOne]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

what is your rpm at full throttle.should be around 4200-4500-give or take a little.does it seem to rev up ok in nuetral.possibly wrong prop or someone installed a lower unit with wrong gear ratio.just some thoughts.

...or heaven forbid, you're carrying a ton of water below the floor. But really, as xltier almost says, without an rpm report, we are just ******* in the wind!

 

[cooter2506]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

Yeah we eed to know the wide open rpms you have now but trust me go thru the WOT issue in the adult only section at the top of this page and I mean go thru it all that WILL tell you what your problem is.

 

[oneathefaintest]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

Well the tach is broken on the boat thats one reason we got it pretty cheap so I dont know the rpm's of the engine. If it helps it revs up fine in neutral, but on the water it just seems like the engine isn't working hard enough. One thing I found today checking the oil is that it doesn't feel thick enough and it smells a little like gas!? Maybe piston rings are bad could gas mix with the oil and be a likely cause for the loss of power? I just can't believe that because the engine sounds really healthy at idle and when I put it to full throttle it doesn't sound bad. I'll try my best to go through the WOT checklist, this boat has been sitting for a year or maybe more. Someone mentioned today maybe the float in the carb is bad from sitting so long? I'm starting to regret buying the darn thing in the winter when we couldn't test drive it, but we were just so excited. Kick myself in the A@#. Will a compression test be the best thing to figure out whats causing this?

 

[oneathefaintest]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

Also when I filled all the fluids b4 taking it out, the manual said the lower unit gear oil shouldn't be milky brown, well mine was kinda looked like....light chocolate milk?? Whats that mean, could it cause this power loss?? I'm really sorry, i'm trying to explain this I know nothing about. I have a good understanding of how a motor works but past that i'm a dummy. I'm sure that makes it difficult for you guys to help. I just want to find the top most likely causes for this kind of thing because I dont have a lot of money to go down a list of possible issues. I know I know, I shouldn't have a boat if I dont have money to pour into it haha. I'll use it like it is if I cant fix it, we can go 25mph up river and just float all the way down lol.

 

[WizeOne]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

..... If it helps it revs up fine in neutral,

It doesn't.

Without a tach, you're just ******** in the wind. First step? Get one. Nothing else makes any sense until you do. Milky outdrive fluid is not causing your undefined delimma. Keep using it as it is, and you may well do some real damage.

 

[deerslayer303]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

if the motor is screaming at wide open throttle and the bow is still up in the air, you need to make sure the out drive is going all the way in the down position. If is trimmed up any at all it will cause the boat's bow to go way up in the air and take the boat literally FOREVER to plain off.

Did you take the trim cylinder locks off so it can go all the way down, they look like RED sleeves?

Lastly my vote is a DIRTY CARB.

 

[oneathefaintest]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

Yeah I checked that, the trim is working fine goes all the way down. I'll start with the carb then, looking down inside the carb thought it looks really really clean. If I took it apart would it be pretty noticable what the problem is or should I just use carb cleaner while its running?

 

[oneathefaintest]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

Lastly my vote is a DIRTY CARB.

Thank you , I know it could be a number of things thats causing this power loss...but there has to be just a couple that happen most often. Thats where I want to start, I think the problem is from the boat sitting for too long because I talked to the guy who owned it before me, he said it ran great before he traded it and he always kept up on routine maintainence.

 

[Bondo]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

or should I just use carb cleaner while its running?

Ayuh,... That's Not how a carb is Rebuilt,....

 

[oneathefaintest]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

Wouldn't I just try cleaning it first? Then if that doesn't work get a rebuild kit? I could just drop a whole new engine in it and skip all the detective work.

 

[krisnowicki]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

It doesn't.

Without a tach, you're just ******** in the wind. First step? Get one. Nothing else makes any sense until you do. Milky outdrive fluid is not causing your undefined delimma. Keep using it as it is, and you may well do some real damage.

as wize one stated before putting the drive underload agian you need to address the milky outdrive oil problem. Milky oil comes from water and oil mixing and emulsifying.

 

[Robj]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

You have a few problems you need to address:

Milky oil in outdrive means water is getting into your drive. Fix it before you ruin the drive.

Gas smell in oil, could be caused by a number of things. You need to make sure you do not have fuel leaking into the oil. Check you fuel pump to make sure the diaphram is not leaking fuel into the crankcase. Assuming it is a mechanical pump.

Do a proper carb rebuild. And you will need a carb rebuild kit, or the carb gaskets at the very least.

It is also probably time to do the maintenance items, tune up, water pump and bellows change.

Nobody said boating was cheap.

Have a great day,

Rob.

 

[WizeOne]

Re: WOT but only going 25mph HELP ME PLEASE!

....I could just drop a whole new engine in it and skip all the detective work.

sure gonna cost a lot more than a tachometer!