4 Cyl mercruisers...

[bishop1976]

Re: 4 Cyl mercruisers...

Funny enough the old 4cyl's might become more popular if they can be found. With Gas prices going into the stratosphere the few mechanical correctable nuances just might not be so economically reprehensible. So far I am happy with mine and my father in law owned one for years without issues.

 

[heyttown]

Re: 4 Cyl mercruisers...

I went from a 16' ft Aluminum boat with a 28hp outboard to the sea ray with the 3.0lx....Its got plenty for what I want to do with it...If I wanted a go fast boat I would buy that...Im out for the water sports and leisure cruise.... Only problem I have had with the 3.0 is some run on(which seems pretty common with 3.0,at least alot of threads on here with it) But that is normally on a heavy day of stop n go water sports...

 

[oops!]

Re: 4 Cyl mercruisers...

i didnt read all the posts .......

so please forgive me.....

my 02 cents....


had a 69 ray 190....same boat.....(its now a 24 footer)

4 banger was great....couldnt kill it.....super gas milage......

great engine....a real work horse......

didnt pull a beginning 250 lb skier outta the water....(2 skis)

but pulled everything else.......if i wouldda downsized props for the job it woulda....!!!!

i went to a 4.3....good motor....42.mph (gps)...2 people.... loaded...21 pitch...(over propped)....think i coudone a mile or two better

the 6 is better than the 4....but not much......

now im goin 383 stroker.....but im nutz........

4 banger is fine for small lakes...average use....
bigger lakes....tougher use...4.3.........
stupid stuff....5.7 or better

cheers
oops

 

[NHMike]

Re: 4 Cyl mercruisers...

Was just looking through posts and saw this one. Wanted to throw my $0.02 for the perspective buyer. I bought an '07 Stingray 185 with the 3.0 in it. It cruises along just fine with 2 adults and 3 kids in the boat. Pulling a tube, pulling up a skier has never been a problem.

Buddy of mine has a '96 Sea Ray 175 with the same engine in it....again, no problems pulling up a skier. The heaviest one was me at 210lbs, while 3 adults and 4 kids were in the boat at the time. We also got him up on one ski with no problems.

 

[JustJason]

Re: 4 Cyl mercruisers...

67 Caravelle 16 footer runabout... 2.5 120HP merc pre alpha....
4 in the boat and my butt on a board behind it and it does fine.

 

[Wotam]

Re: 4 Cyl mercruisers...

>"If you can't reach the rated rpm at WOT, then you are lugging the engine and it (the engine) won't live very long."

Readin' it backwards Don... maybe I said it backwards. What I was meaning to say was that I can't run WOT with the 19" prop as it will over-rev.

One thing the 4 banger won't do worth a damn is pull up a big guy on a slalom (single) ski. It's done everything else I've asked it to.

 

[JustJason]

Re: 4 Cyl mercruisers...

It's not that it won't....
Maybe its more like its not propped according to your usage requirements.
Throw a 5 blade on there and you'll pull 2 pigs and a cow.
You can't have both top speed and towing/loading usage out of the same boat/engine package.
Maybe it's the same case here.
Sure a 6 banger or better will help.... but with what you have... concessions in top end performance may be in order here.