1996 Rinker with Mercruiser 4.3 lx drinks alot of gas.... what can i do to help?

I got this boat over the winter. I test drove it and with 3 of us in there we went about 42mph. After rehab to the floor and seats over the winter, now it will only go about 37mph at 4600rpm. I had a delay in take off of about 3 seconds and I found, thanks to iboats, the accelator nozzle were clogged. I cleaned them out and ran some seafoam through it and now it take off great. Well, still not sure were my speed went , but this weekend I went out and plugged the kids on a tube and rode around the lake. After about 3 1/2 hours my 20 gallon take was empty. That seems like alot and considering all lake dont have gas pumps, that could be a problem. I havent tuned it up yet, but it idled so good that i havent go to that yet. Is this gas usage normal?

Re: 1996 Rinker with Mercruiser 4.3 lx drinks alot of gas.... what can i do to help?

thats about right after high speed runs and pulling tubers which is extra friction.6 gallons/hour for some fun is what it costs.running smoothly and pulling well is all you can ask.maybe time to just ease off the max revs to 3000 keeping on the plane and economy will double

Re: 1996 Rinker with Mercruiser 4.3 lx drinks alot of gas.... what can i do to help?

5.7 gallons/hour = 22 litres/hour... I have an 4.3MPI engine, and I'm using 22l/hr at about 17 knots... without pulling tubes ect.. I'd say that's pretty good going. If you REALLY want to use lot of fuel, get a V8...

Chris....

Re: 1996 Rinker with Mercruiser 4.3 lx drinks alot of gas.... what can i do to help?

It needed a tune up. I gave it a complete tune up. One of the plugs had no gap. It ran 10 MPH faster and of course better gas mileage. In the tune up process I found it is a v6 with 180 HP instead of 205 HP. This time it ran 43 MPH on rough water.

Re: 1996 Rinker with Mercruiser 4.3 lx drinks alot of gas.... what can i do to help?

My carbed 5.7 running 4600 rpm will pull a 15 gallon tank dry in 1.5 to 2 hours. Pulling a tube can kill 15 gallons in 1 to 1.5: cruising around for three days at 2000 rpms or less can use 30 gallons. Water is friction, the higher the speed, the more it drinks!

Re: 1996 Rinker with Mercruiser 4.3 lx drinks alot of gas.... what can i do to help?

I have a 1995 Baja Islander 188 that is 19' foot long and weighs about 3000 lbs. It has a carbed 350 Mag or 5.7 and it and I burned 6 gallons in it today in a little over an hour without pulling anything. I also have a 1992 19' aluminum Starcraft with a 4.3 non LX that weighs about 2000 lbs. Its does considerably better than the Baja, but I would say your fuel milage is about where it should be.