i just bought a 1989 capri 1950 with the omc 2.3l, we checked the engine out of the water for leaks and to make sure everything was in working order, and it all seems to be, so we dropped it in the lake and and what a dog, the motor looks new, with no oil leaks or water the temps stayed at 180 on wot the top speed was 35mph trimed with the 13 1/4 x17 prop checked with gps, but it took forever to get on plain, only had 3 ppl in and a half tank of gas. whould i be looking for and engine problem or a prop sizing issue. in the long run i would like to see 45mph. luckly my neihbor is a mechanic so i can have him look at it but it runs perfect, idals smoothsound great. also my tach like to do its own thing so ill be checking that today, im not sure were to start after reading so many threads
After the tachometer is up and running, WOT rpm is important.
The propeller is sized to limit the maximum rpm of the engine.
WOT specs may be on the valve cover, or go the the adults only thread and download the Mercruiser manual for the engine. Match the propeller to get in the range for WOT.
i'd start with a compression test to see if ya got something to work with, then move on to a minor tune up and see where that leads ya before i'd start looking into a repower...
The boat is under powered, but it could be something as simple that you are trimed wrong. When you come on plane, trim all the way down. Also you can place some people in the front of the boat. For top speed, trim up.
If you change props size, you can either improve top speed of hole shot. Smaller pitch will improve hole shot, larger pitch will improve top speed. Becareful not to over rev your boat is you change props.
okay im going to have a compression test done tonight, i already downloaded the omc book from that section but my motor is the ford so i dont think the the merc one will help. i just tore into the tack the wires had a little corsion so i cleaned them up, right know the tach reads 6500 at wot but itdoesnt even start to work until half throttle, and as far as ive read in other post thats the factory prop size, and i did have it trimmed, (up to recently 6yrs in uscg small boat coxswain BM3) so i can drivem just not fixem
From what I remember(sold those boats back then), the 2.3 liter was only available in the 1750 model. the 1950 model came standard with the 3.0 liter or the optional 5.0 liter. The 1950 with the 3.0 were dogs, slow to plane and a top speed in the mid 30s. I would assume that someone has replaced original engine with the 2.3.
ive looked around and found several other 1950s with 2.3, bayliners crule joke i guess. i fixed the tach so im heading out in the morning for some test runs im also bring some other porps to test i found that wot should be 5200 to 5600rpm. now im think of getting some smart tabs and and a new cuped prop and ill do the motor over the winter i post the runs later
new boat with a few questions
Linear Mode
