Waterlogged Hull?

[legacycycles]

Is there a surefire way of knowing if the boat is wet or not?
This is project boat for me but today i finnally got in the water to check leaks and performance. Well i dont have any leaks but the boat wouldnot come on plane. Engine would turn 2500rpm or so.In neutral it revs fine. I came home done a hot comp test and 125 was the lowest the highest being a 135psi.So i feel like the engine is ok. The boat sitting the water is only drawing like 4 inches in the rear so it dosent seem heavy but im not sure. If i get on the back deck the boat will drop sevreal more inches though and im only 205lbs. The floors dont need replacing so id hate to rip em up for no reason. Any ideas?
the boat is 20ft 1993 vision bass boat with a 115 2stroke zuki.

 

[legacycycles]

Re: Waterlogged Hull?

By the way prop is a 13x17 alum.

 

[drewpster]

Re: Waterlogged Hull?

Call around to your local marinas and ask if they can check it with a moisture meter. It may be a challenge to find as they are not used as much as they used to be, but I bet somebody has one. I would be surprised if that is the problem though.
You could also put the boat in the water and weigh your tow vehicle with the trailer at a truck stop, then re-weigh it with the boat loaded. that would give you the boat's weight. Call the manufacturer and find out its dry weight or find it on the internet.

Even wet the boat should plane unless it really heavy. I bet you have an engine problem, not a weight one.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Waterlogged Hull?

One thing you can do other than drill holes and check for moisture is to have a marine surveyor use high-tech gizmos to check it for you.

Not sure about all the details but I've read where they can measure moisture without compromising the hull.

2500 RPM is not enough to plane many boats depending on the setup, so it could very well be a fuel delivery/throttle/etc issue of some sort.

 

[legacycycles]

Re: Waterlogged Hull?

Ill have to check into that moisture thingy. Ive checked throttle linkages and the butterflies are opening fully,The engine isnt missing it just acts like the throttles arent opening.
Is there some sorta of saftey rev limiter on these zuks that might cause the 2500 rpm limit? Even loading on the trailer the engine dosent rev past that.
I even trimmed way up to the point that the prop was allmost out of the water but that did nothing.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: Waterlogged Hull?

Lega,

Definitely an engine issue. That motor should rev to 5000+rpms. Sounds like an ingnition problem/breaking down under a load. Check the Suke engine forum above for some answers. Need to sort the engine problem first before looking at the boat.

 

[oops!]

Re: Waterlogged Hull?

this is a motor problem.....
but to assure your self of moisture/waterlogg........weigh the boat

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Waterlogged Hull?

Make sure you have NOT spun a prop? Or is that a potential problem with that type motor??

I'm just sayin...

 

[oops!]

Re: Waterlogged Hull?

woody...

even with a bad prop he should be able to pull more than 2500.

geez bud....im still in shock about TD

 

[legacycycles]

Re: Waterlogged Hull?

Thanks guys,Im gonna pull the carbs tomorrow and go through them. Im thinking maybe some main jet issues.Ill probaly weigh the boat as well.
Ill keep yall posted when i figure it out.

 

[legacycycles]

Re: Waterlogged Hull?

Update on problem.
There were actually a few issues i found that was causing the issue. What i found was the throttle was only opening about 3/4 of the way,and there is a oil flow switch coming out of the tank that was bad,which limits the rpms of the engine. Once i got all that straight the boat comes on plane fine.
Thanks for the input guys.