97 Venom 200 miss under load

Jeff6278

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Aug 17, 2017
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4
Hey guys, new to the forums. Recently squired a new to me 97 Ranger 518 with a 97 Venom 200 on it. Boat itself is in really good shape for 20 years old aside from some cosmetic and minor mechanical issues. Motor seems to be in really good shape and I've put a little work into it getting it running well. I've cleaned out the carbs, redone some fuel lines, new plugs, minor stuff like that. It idles good and revs up good, starts with little effort, goes into gear fine, and will even get up on plane pretty quick. Issue I'm having now is that as it approaches plane and once it's on plane, it begins to miss. This happenes as it tops 30-35 mph according to the speedo on the dash, and I'd say 3000-4000 rpm. This happened the first time I took it on the water and every time since. As long as I keep it around 30 mph it runs fine. Now I'm no speed freak but I know a 200 hp motor should be pushing this boat way faster. I've run about 15 gallons of premixed 50:1 gas mixed with some sea foam and no change. Have double checked everything I can think of and still doing it. Any suggestions or things that I might not have thought of?? Any help is appreciated.
 

jakedaawg

Rear Admiral
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Messages
4,275
If you are saying that top speed is 3-4000 rpm then yes, you have an issue.

Compression test and open air gap spark test before further use. You do not want to run this lean.

When you cleaned the carbs did you install kits and were they OEM? cheap kits do not work in these.

Did you clean the throttle bodies?
 

Jeff6278

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Joined
Aug 17, 2017
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I have not had the timing checked. If this continues I'm going to take it to the boat mechanic in town and let him do some tests. When I cleaned the carbs I did spray the throttle bodies down with cleaner. The kits that are in them are in very good shape so I sprayed and cleaned them really good and put them back in. It only does this under load. I can rev the engine in neutral to 6k easily. It only happens under a load. One other thing I will mention is that this boat has likely not been run for two years if not more and was likely stored outside as well, so I don't know the conditions of its storage, but judging from the condition I received it in I'm sure it wasn't great.
 

Jeff6278

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Aug 17, 2017
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Indulge me please... How would I do that?? And im assuming his is something I have to do on the water...
Also, without sounding too ignorant, what is the part right next to the fuel pump with the small red lever?
 

jakedaawg

Rear Admiral
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Messages
4,275
That would be the primer solenoid. Red lever would be inline with body of solenoid lengthwise for normal operation.
 

clemsonfor

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Sep 19, 2005
Messages
1,011
Cylinder drop test is conceding a timing light up to each cylinder one at a time and seeing if one "drops" out when the miss occurs. See if it's not fireing. That wild indicate an ignition issue. If it does not have compression it will still fire just not ignite properly ot at all.

At idle you can also pull one plug Witmer off at the time and see if the idle sound/speed changes. If it does that cylinder was fireing, if not it was not firing before you pulled wire. Use caution here preferably using an insulated glove and pliars unless you don't mind getting shocked.
 

Jeff6278

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Joined
Aug 17, 2017
Messages
4
jakedaawg thank you. That's exactly what I needed to know.

Ok guys thank you for the info. I will give the things you suggested a try and see if I can dig deeper into this. I appreciate all the help. If there's anything else y'all can think of please let me know. I'm going to try and do a cylinder drop test this weekend and see how that goes. Will keep y'all informed.
 
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