VP 5.7GS PEFS SX Slow speed for RPMs

[dlatshaw]

Muc, thanks for all info. To be honest I was starting to lean towards just taking it to the marina but after reading what you wrote I'm going to try swapping the oil. It's been a couple weeks and I cannot recall if I had full power in reverse but I think I did.

Another detail that came to mind is that at one point after it started to act up it felt like something caught and I had full power again for a second. Then it just went back to only being able to do 20 mph.

Yeah I try not to dig too deep of a hole for myself when it comes to working on mechanical things. In an earlier life I did a lot more mechanical engine work and things to my vehicles but lately being an IT geek I don't have time to wrench like I would like. so I try to stop before I think I'll mess something up. I am going to learn how to remove the outdrive, that seems like something I can and should learn how to do. But I don't have the tools to pull the entire motor to try and swap the coupler if that's what the problem is.

Back to the problem at hand The other symptoms you described I can't say for certain I've experienced them. This is my first boat that is an IO and everything seems way different than my past outboard boats.

I've only had the boat for 3 years. The previous owner claimed not to know how to work on things and he had a friend who helped him work on the boat. Love to meet that friend in a dark alley . When putting a new starter on the boat standing on my head reaching around the bottom of the engine I saw a Jasper sticker on the bottom of the motor. So not having a maintenance history I don't know if his buddy swapped out the motor which might not be a bad thing but the more I dig into this thing then the more bad things I find.

Even if it ends up being the clutch I'm going to take it to the marina maybe in the fall. The scag has a big crack in it so at some point they hit something pretty hard. I want somebody with an experienced eye to look over it and tell me whether there are things that need to be done.

so once I get the oil changed we'll let you know how things go.

 

[dlatshaw]

I've changed the outdrive oil and filled it with Volvo brand oil. Bought an entire case. Had it drain for a week, been to busy to go boating so left it sit and drain.

Took her out yesterday and planned on just driving around backwards for 10 minutes. However, while leaving the no wake zone (wish other boates knew what no wake means! an idiot drive by us launching in the no wake zone doing about 30mph.) we didn't notice any of the previous vibration. Got her up to speed with no problem!

Only ran for a minute then I stopped. Put it in reverse and ran backwards at about 1200 rpm for 10 minutes. She ran fine the rest of the time we stayed at the river.

Other than when my alternator belt broke. Had one of those variable length belts on board. If you don't have one get one. Took about 5 minutes to put that thing on since you can open it up and put it back together. They only work for a temporary fix, It wanted to fly apart over 2000rpm. Going to keep one of those and a new one of each belt on the boat from now on.

So I'm going to change the oil again as advised. I didn't make any other changes to the boat other than removing the prop to inspect the hub for cracks.

I find it weird though that we didn't have the same experience right away. Is the Volvo oil magical/

Maybe there was something wrapped around my prop last time we were out and though I didn't see it when I check on the water, maybe it worked its way lose while idling back to the ramp.

Or maybe we just got to the clutch glazing before it got too bad?

Either way, i'm only going to run Volvo gear oil from now on in this boat.

Anyway, thanks again for your help. Here's a pic of the boat in case anyone sees me on Lake Clark or in OBX.