1994 Johnson/162 Lowe Boat MPH

[loweboater]

Good afternoon guys,

I was out on the water yesterday and was curious as to how well this boat/motor combo would run. I downloaded an app on my phone for MPH, and tried it out. It registered the boat maxing out at about 26.9 mph. The boat is a 1994 Lowe 162 Panfish with a 1994 Johnson J40ELE (stick steer). No power tilt/trim. I have the stock prop on it, 11 3/4 x 17p, and outside of replacing a power pack, I have not done any adjustment to the motor. I did notice that when I immediately pushed the throttle lever down the boat began forward (good thing), but as I continued to push the lever down, no speed/rpm changed until it was almost 3/4 power. It's not a big deal b/c all I use it for is fishing in the lakes of Upstate SC, but was just curious as to what others may think?

 

[Bosunsmate]

might be slack in the cable, i use to have one like that
you could watch what happens with the linkages in the motor as you move the throttle, the timing base should move early on, sounds like you are just going from neutral to forward at the beginning and then nothing happens on the throttle side

 

[Chris1956]

OK, a 40HP motor on a 16 foot boat. Your speed is not all that low.....Is the bow plowing water? Tilt the motor up a hole and retest speed.

 

[loweboater]

OK, a 40HP motor on a 16 foot boat. Your speed is not all that low.....Is the bow plowing water? Tilt the motor up a hole and retest speed.

Thanks Chris! I did notice when I first accelerated the front of the boat rose up rather high, then evened out as I gained speed. The speed is fine for me, I was more curious as to what others thought. I will check the cable for slack and watch all linkages to be sure everything is going smoothly.

 

[lmuss53]

You can look down the carb, (with the boat not running of course) and see if the throttle plate is rolling all the way around to parallel when the throttle is in the wide open position. That will tell you that the motor is actually in the wide open position.

If you move the trim pin up and the bow stays up too long for you, you'll need to drop it back down. The lower the boat is trimmed the faster it will get on plane, but then the lower it will ride in the water. You can move it in or out a little to find the spot that works best for your all around boating needs.

16 foot vhull with a 40, 27 mph doesn't sound too bad. My brother gets about 21 in a 15 foot vhull with a 30.