Greetings,
Our family, excitedly, bought our first boat. It was used w/120 hours on it and the previous owner really seemed tedious about the upkeep. It has a merc 5.0 220hp running a high five ss 23 pitch prop. When I got it the high five had three of the vent plugs removed(supposed to increase hole shot). I am 215 pound slalom skier so I expected the engine performance to get me going pretty easily. Some other lighter skiers and myself found it really sluggish first couple trips out. I plugged the holes on the prop and this did improve the sluggish starts and it planes quicker(more solid water I presume). However, with only a regular five person load(2 small kids inc.) it still holds at around 3900 rpm and tops around 40 mph WOT. It does not seem to be misfiring and feels strong throughout a session on the lake but I think these numbers are really off what they should be.
When I bought it the owner said he had only used 91 octane and never had any problems. It had sat several months(previous owner had a severe injury) before I bought it so I have been filling it with 91 each trip out and trying to run it as much as I can. I feel if I keep running it at this low rpm the plugs may foul, if they haven't already. I also don't know if the 23 pitch would have this much effect on the performance with such a normal load. Gas, prop changes, tune-up?
At any rate, before I take it in to the local shop if anyone could give me some direction on performance or mechanical solutions I would appreciate it.
Thanks for reading a novel from a newbie!
Our family, excitedly, bought our first boat. It was used w/120 hours on it and the previous owner really seemed tedious about the upkeep. It has a merc 5.0 220hp running a high five ss 23 pitch prop. When I got it the high five had three of the vent plugs removed(supposed to increase hole shot). I am 215 pound slalom skier so I expected the engine performance to get me going pretty easily. Some other lighter skiers and myself found it really sluggish first couple trips out. I plugged the holes on the prop and this did improve the sluggish starts and it planes quicker(more solid water I presume). However, with only a regular five person load(2 small kids inc.) it still holds at around 3900 rpm and tops around 40 mph WOT. It does not seem to be misfiring and feels strong throughout a session on the lake but I think these numbers are really off what they should be.
When I bought it the owner said he had only used 91 octane and never had any problems. It had sat several months(previous owner had a severe injury) before I bought it so I have been filling it with 91 each trip out and trying to run it as much as I can. I feel if I keep running it at this low rpm the plugs may foul, if they haven't already. I also don't know if the 23 pitch would have this much effect on the performance with such a normal load. Gas, prop changes, tune-up?
At any rate, before I take it in to the local shop if anyone could give me some direction on performance or mechanical solutions I would appreciate it.
Thanks for reading a novel from a newbie!
