Top Speed Of Our Boat?

[sphelps]

Well there ya go .. If there’s room at the slip then let it run while you get stuff loaded to burn more fuel .. But-on the next trip if your close to empty , better bring a small can of fuel with ya just in case you run out .

 

[LuvBoating]

The Quicksilver stuff will tend to clean the carburetor and the combustion chamber. It may help the engine, but will not cure 3 year old gasoline.

You might notice some smoke out of the exhaust, but 1 or 2 bottles on a 1/2 tank is not that much, so the effect should be slow and mild.

It is interesting to me that you've had this boat for a while (8 years) and don't know the maximum speed and RPM at WOT. Have you ever run it at WOT?

You got a new engine (longblock) in 2016 . . . was it a larger engine than was there originally? or the same size engine (5.7)?

Have you ever run this (new) engine up to WOT? If not you may be looking at a more complicated situation. :noidea:

Getting rid of the old fuel is about eliminating possibilities and variables. It may or may not be the problem related to the limited speed/power of the engine. It certainly is the first thing to eliminate though . . .

So, you suggest that we put 1/2 of bottle of Quicksilver Engine & Fuel Cleaner into the 1/2 tank of gas, right before we put the boat on the water this next Tuesday? I just wasn't sure if mixing this Cleaner with the old gas will make the Cleaner work as good as it would next Spring with 3/4 tank of new gas in it.

Bought the boat in April 2009 and never had it at WOT. Actually, when we had our other boat here in Colorado, we never run it at WOT either. Just never gave it a thought about running either at WOT for any reason. Going 23 mph on the St John's River in Jacksonville, Florida was plenty fast enough for us. 23 mph was not WOT.

The new block (small) was installed in June 2012. Same size block as the original and same size engine (5.7). During the following years, up to now, have never run the engine to WOT. Never thought about doing it. Going 28 mph on local lake here was fast enough for us, but did try to get it go faster, but it wouldn't.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I restored the suspension and transmission of my 1973 Opel GT when living in an apartment. I stripped the engine and suspension down in the garage unit I was renting and chemically cleaned it in the bathtub with some really really strong aluminum cleaner that ate the drain in the tub. then I took the parts to work to paint them on a weekend. I ran the transmission case thru the dish washer prior to assembling it on the kitchen counter

what does living in an apartment have to do with boat maintenance?

 

[LuvBoating]

I restored the suspension and transmission of my 1973 Opel GT when living in an apartment. I stripped the engine and suspension down in the garage unit I was renting and chemically cleaned it in the bathtub with some really really strong aluminum cleaner that ate the drain in the tub. then I took the parts to work to paint them on a weekend. I ran the transmission case thru the dish washer prior to assembling it on the kitchen counter

what does living in an apartment have to do with boat maintenance?

How many years ago did you rent that apartment? Apartment complexes today have policies against doing any vehicle mechanic work on their property and definitely no boat work. No place to park a boat here in our complex. There is also a policy, at our Boat/RV Storage, about doing any kind of boat work there. There are no "barn" size storage spots at our Boat/RV Storage. All boats are outside, just like ours.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I break the rules. It helped that I friended the apartment manager and helped him pull the motor on his mustang

 

[Scott Danforth]

your needing a location for about 30 minutes to drain your stale gas. your not doing a full restoration of the boat

 

[GA_Boater]

It's time to get rid of the boat. You aren't enjoying it.

 

[tpenfield]

So, you suggest that we put 1/2 of bottle of Quicksilver Engine & Fuel Cleaner into the 1/2 tank of gas, right before we put the boat on the water this next Tuesday? I just wasn't sure if mixing this Cleaner with the old gas will make the Cleaner work as good as it would next Spring with 3/4 tank of new gas in it.

Bought the boat in April 2009 and never had it at WOT. Actually, when we had our other boat here in Colorado, we never run it at WOT either. Just never gave it a thought about running either at WOT for any reason. Going 23 mph on the St John's River in Jacksonville, Florida was plenty fast enough for us. 23 mph was not WOT.

The new block (small) was installed in June 2012. Same size block as the original and same size engine (5.7). During the following years, up to now, have never run the engine to WOT. Never thought about doing it. Going 28 mph on local lake here was fast enough for us, but did try to get it go faster, but it wouldn't.

No, I thought you were asking about doing that now before your last day out in the boat to see if it makes a difference. ???

I was thinking you would be adding 1 or 2 bottles of the Quicksilver stuff to the 1/2 tank . . . That's about 27 gallons for your boat. (right ?)

Your call . . .If you want to wait until you can run the old fuel out of it and use the Quicksilver on a tank of new fuel, that's fine too, certainly better.

I don't think you will be able to diagnose the engine issues until next year.

You will want to have both new fuel and be able to run a fair amount of fuel system cleaner through the engine. Then get back to your original question of how fast should the boat go (40+ mph :noidea: ) and what speed you are actually getting on fresh gasoline and a clean carburetor.

Then you will have a clearer picture of whether the engine issues were merely due to old fuel/gummed carburetor, or something else . . .

It is a process of elimination.

 

[sphelps]

So, have never run the engine to WOT. Never thought about doing it. Going 28 mph on local lake here was fast enough for us, but did try to get it go faster, but it wouldn't.

Do you think it may have gone faster if you would have given it more gas aka WOT ...
Or am I missing something ... :noidea:

 

[tpenfield]

Do you think it may have gone faster if you would have given it more gas aka WOT ...
Or am I missing something ... :noidea:

He (LB) said he tried to give the engine more throttle, but it was a no-go. Would not go any faster.

 

[LuvBoating]

It's time to get rid of the boat. You aren't enjoying it.

Actually, with the amount of money we have put into this boat, we really, really enjoy it. We treat it with "tender loving care" and my wife cleans it the same way. We love our boat!

 

[LuvBoating]

Just don't know how much good the 1/2 bottle of Mercury Quickleen Engine & Fuel System Cleaner will do with old gas in the tank. I'd think the Cleaner would do much, much better job using it in mostly new gas next Spring. I mean, running this "excellent reviews" Cleaner with old gas. Sure doesn't seem like much "cleaning" would be done.

 

[Scott Danforth]

then do all the proper maintenance to keep it.

 

[LuvBoating]

then do all the proper maintenance to keep it.

You mean things we can't do or have done? Like, having tank emptied. Only way we can even semi-empty the rest of the gas is to run it around local lake several times, like we've been doing. Like, having the carb re-jetted? Can't do that when the marine service doesn't do that. And, any other marine service here won't even touch a boat as old as ours.

So, all we do is what we can do and what the marine service will do.

 

[GA_Boater]

I'm going to answer your original question. 28 MPH. When it drops to 20MPH, maybe you will work harder for someone to work it.

I have never looked for boat service in Colorado, but you can't tell me no one will work on your boat.

 

[Scott Danforth]

You mean things we can't do or have done? Like, having tank emptied. Only way we can even semi-empty the rest of the gas is to run it around local lake several times, like we've been doing. Like, having the carb re-jetted? Can't do that when the marine service doesn't do that. And, any other marine service here won't even touch a boat as old as ours.

So, all we do is what we can do and what the marine service will do.

find a different marine mechanic. there literally are thousands of them in the state of Colorado

 

[LuvBoating]

We have a marine service we have taken our boat to AND, believe it or not, the only one around here that do work on old boats like ours. Ours was the oldest boat (1992) that that our last marine service would work on (in northeastern Florida.

We have called the other marine services around us and got “we don’t work on that old of boat.”

 

[sphelps]

There probably just swamped .. I live in j-Ville where you left from . My etec was on a waiting list for a month before they could service it ..

 

[GA_Boater]

The boat is 28 years old but the motor is only 8 years old.

 

[PITBoat]

Bought the boat in April 2009 and never had it at WOT. Actually, when we had our other boat here in Colorado, we never run it at WOT either. Just never gave it a thought about running either at WOT for any reason. Going 23 mph on the St John's River in Jacksonville, Florida was plenty fast enough for us. 23 mph was not WOT.

The new block (small) was installed in June 2012. Same size block as the original and same size engine (5.7). During the following years, up to now, have never run the engine to WOT. Never thought about doing it. Going 28 mph on local lake here was fast enough for us, but did try to get it go faster, but it wouldn't.

WOT is about more than just top speed, actually. I generally use WOT to get up on plane since it's fun and the bow is blocking your view for a shorter time (just a few seconds if that), then back it off to where I want to cruise (by looking at the tachometer, not the speedometer) before it tops out on RPM or speed. Then periodically cross-reference the RPM with speed (along with scanning the other instruments) and draw conclusions about how the boat is performing, how is the wind and load affecting it, is it trimmed correctly, etc.

I did a quick check last weekend by running at several different low RPMs to see where it would come up on plane. It came up at 2,500 but might have at a lower RPM if I had waited a little longer. That RPM equates to probably a little over 20mph. Between 3,000 and 4,000RPM my boat (19-20', 4.3V6) gets about 1mph for every 100rpm. Below that range it gets a little less and above it, it gets a little more (mph/rpm). I've seen 45mph (GPS) on a good day, with existing imperfections (prop condition, imperfect carburetion, etc.). Yours ought to do that easy I'd think (as Scott D and maybe others already said).

I remember though, at 16 getting ahold of what had been the family '70 Pontiac with a 350+hp 455 and thinking it had probably never been floored since my parents rarely drove like that. I took care of that real quick and enjoyed that car. Give me WOT once in a while. Or every single time (just not top speed runs every single time).

Some people are born to care about this stuff, and some don't really give a hang since they have other interests. I have kids in both camps.