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  1. Rick Stephens

    Prop Contacts Trim Tab Only When In Gear Not Neutral

    Carve a hunk off the tab before you break something.
  2. Rick Stephens

    I Lost Reverse

    The way to tell is pull the drive and test shifting by hand on the brass shoe. Takes just minutes to pull a drive, worth every one of them to confirm or deny your suspicions.
  3. Rick Stephens

    Engine dies after 30 seconds of running

    Apparently no cats. May be a horsepower or C.I. thing. Kind of like my Bobcat that has a 90 H.P. Kubota motor that is tier 4 without any obvious clean burning tech attached.
  4. Rick Stephens

    Engine dies after 30 seconds of running

    Wow. Mechanically meets none of the standard 'starts then quits' scenarios. Does it splutter and kick then die? Or like the ignition is turned off? Have you pulled the fuel water separator and dumped contents into a clear glass container to check for anything but gas? Have you pulled the...
  5. Rick Stephens

    4.3 Engine coupler issue?

    One other thing, it is possible that the issue is off center splines inside the coupler nose. You may need to stick the alignment bar in the coupler, or a short piece of 1" OD something, and indicate the that instead of the coupler nose.
  6. Rick Stephens

    4.3 Engine coupler issue?

    Since you have a magnet mount dial indicator, clamp a piece of angle iron across the transom plate motor mounts and stick the indicator there. Then spin the motor with the starter.
  7. Rick Stephens

    4.3 Engine coupler issue?

    That doesn't seem sane. I've heard of, never seen, a coupler where a rotten transom 'hung' the motor off the coupler and forced it out of center. Takes a long time with it parked and not run to do that I bet. I'd call your coupler good with zero deflection... That said, where was the huge...
  8. Rick Stephens

    7.4/Bravo - no hot start

    First thing is take a spark gap tester out with you and test to see if you have spark or if some component is hot and stops working. Personally, I would automatically purchase a high quality carb kit and do a thorough clean and replace needle valve (where quality really shows in a kit). Make...
  9. Rick Stephens

    Squeezing more from 5.0L 220hp

    Seems strange you're not getting more RPMs out of the TP 17p. With an older boat, getting a weight will tell you whether you have any water logged foam. Doesn't take much to make her a dog.
  10. Rick Stephens

    Squeezing more from 5.0L 220hp

    Also, have you ever weighed the boat?
  11. Rick Stephens

    Squeezing more from 5.0L 220hp

    Did you go from a 3 blade 19p prop to a Turning Point 17p 4 blade?
  12. Rick Stephens

    Squeezing more from 5.0L 220hp

    There is a review from way back in '99 of that boat hitting 55 MPH, but - they will have done that at new weight with no water logging and little to no gear. And their test boat had a 6.2L 320 HP motor with a 15 pitch prop at 4900 RPM.
  13. Rick Stephens

    Squeezing more from 5.0L 220hp

    Welcome to iBoats. First thought is, big heavy boat, lots of stuff in it, minimum HP motor for that size boat. And then, too steep pitch on your new prop making it borderline lugging. Addressing each of those: Your top speed isn't all that off from what you'd expect from a 5.0L in a 23+ ft...
  14. Rick Stephens

    Gear ratio in lower ?

    Every part is the same except the two gears in the upper.
  15. Rick Stephens

    1995 4.3 liter mercruiser

    You will need a couple things to get a starting point, which is locating the new mounts. Merc doesn't have installation drawings before 1996 any longer, but I think I can attach that here for your motor. Next is building a simple jig that you can hold to your transom plate and determine mount...
  16. Rick Stephens

    outdrive swap ? alpha 1st gen what can i use ?

    Strip it all out and swap everything, motor to prop. Unless you swap the wiring harness as well, there likely be a couple missing things in the old harness you will have to deal with.I did a similar swap and it wasn't all that hard. And was a lot of fun, the end result especially.
  17. Rick Stephens

    outdrive swap ? alpha 1st gen what can i use ?

    The internal gears are the same strengths, if that is what you mean. There are improvement to the GenII. Much better water pump, as an example. To switch to a GenII you will need to replace everything behind the transom, from gimbal housing to propeller.
  18. Rick Stephens

    outdrive swap ? alpha 1st gen what can i use ?

    '83-90. No can do on '91 and later GenII drives.
  19. Rick Stephens

    1988 4.3 ltr engine starter wiring

    However, that is not what he asked.
  20. Rick Stephens

    1988 4.3 ltr engine starter wiring

    I fired my 4.3L up sitting on blocks of wood and with a 1 gal gas can, a garden hose to the thermostat housing, and a battery with jumpers. It is so easy as to be ridiculously simple. And is so much better than checking your work after it's in the boat. In fact the reason I mentioned it, still...
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