johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

[Mel85CJ]

Okay, we are going tonight to go look at a 1988 Johnson 88SPL outboard to replace our 1987 E40ELCUD - Evinrude VRO outboard (40hp) in our 1985 pontoon boat.

Will there be much issue with making this swap?

the VRO was a direct oil injection? Will we have to be mixing the fuel/oil for the 88SPL?
Right now on the boat there is a seperate tank for oil. There are regular external fuel tanks.

Will the controls be the same?

Will I be running into any other potential problems? The guy says it is not power trim & tilt, which is fine because the current motor is not also. He has a 1984 90hp Johnson also that has power trim & tilt (and I believe it is a VRO), but he is asking $400 more for it.

Thanks
Melanie

 

[ezmobee]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

The controls will be the same. You will have to pre-mix your oil in the SPL. The lack of power TnT will be a pain in the butt with that big a motor. (Been there, done that). Adding TnT is a roughly $400 endeavor (give or take) so his upcharge on the other motor is fair.

 

[DargelJohn]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

I'm surprised that it does not have TnT. That's a heavy motor...

My '96 Johnson 88SPL has TnT.

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

i think some specials do come with T&T. The special motors are premix..which I prefer, all my vro units are capped anyway. T&T not real important on pontoon boats though. but it is better to have it.

 

[bob johnson]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

I wouldnt call VRO..."DIRECT OIL INJECTION"!!! The fuel pump mixes the oil prior to the carbs!!!

so you can hold onto the oil tank and sell it with your 40 HP motor ...IF you sell it.

TNT is worth its cost...unless you moor your boat in 5 feet or more of water and NEVER encounter water shallower than 4 feet in the body of water you boat in!!!!

I see many pontoons that are moored with their motors down all the time

my buddy had an 87 88 special on his pontoon!!

good luck

bob

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

Agree with Sparkie. The factory parts list shows that engine both with, and without the trim system. May have been an option for the dealer. Possible that the engine you are going to look at might have trim already on it...

 

[Mel85CJ]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

Well, we went and looked at the motor last night. It is in excellent shape, and you can tell it has low hours. The guy we are getting it off of is a Evinrude master technician who used to work at a boat shop, and is doing repair / sales of outboard motors at his home shop while he is getting ready to open up his own actual shop not located at his house. We committed to getting the motor and he is going to replace the impeller on the water pump for good measure, and do a good checkover on it and have it ready for us this weekend. It comes with a 30 day warranty.

He said that the idea of the SPL at the time (this guy was in his mid/late 50's) was that it was more of an "economy" motor, cheaper than the VRO motors and was available with or without the trim & tilt. This one was one without it. It does have a hydraulic cylinder to assist with tilting the motor up, which.. considering we were used to tilting the 40hp motor up without any assist, I am guessing (hoping) that it will be about the same effort to tilt it up when not in use as the old motor.

I think he said the prop was a 13x17? (sound right)? We are gonna get the motor on the boat and evaluate the prop based on the RPMs, as mentioned on here, and confirmed by the seller, the motor should be at about 5500 RPM WOT... I talked to my husband and he said it should be no problem to replace the prop once we do the evaluation and see what change (if any) we need to make.

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

sounds good...most pontoons use about a 13 pitch prop..a 4 blade prop would do better than a 3 blade, you can get an aluminum 4 blade here at iboats for around $100...yes WOT should be around 5500 RPMs

 

[bob johnson]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

id ask him to switch the prop out for a 13 3/4"( dia.) X 13P or 15P right off the bat, and then go from THERE...it is highly unlikely that the 17 will be close....but the 15 or the 13 will!!

the tilt assist is nice....you should be fine with that....it isnt a performance boat that you need to be playing with the trim all the time.

bob

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

make sure when you mount the motor that it does not stick too far down in the water..You may want to try mounting it in the bottom holes first and see if it gets any cavitation..the higher you can get the motor the better. you can also play around with the tilt setting on it till you find the sweet spot.

 

[rolmops]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

It is very important to have tilt &trim on a pontoon because dependent on where people sit and how many people there are on the pontoon you will have to change your trim quite often.

 

[Mel85CJ]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

Thought I would give an update.

We got the motor installed and took it out on its first outing yesterday!

This is on our 24' pontoon boat.

With just me and my husband on the boat we were running about 22 mph and about 4,000 rpm maxed out.

With a full load (7 adults and 5 children), we were running about 16 mph and about 3,500 rpm maxed out.

The prop is still the 13x17 that was on there.

Any advise on props? Trim?

Here is a picture of where we mounted the motor...

 

[ezmobee]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

Definitely get it propped to so that you can hit the recommended WOT RPM range with a typical load. That's probably 5500 or so for that motor. Otherwise you're lugging it and damage can occur. (that's about where my knowledge ends so I can't recommend a prop).

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

those RPMs are way too low. You never posted the model number of your "new" motor. you posted this for your old motor 1987 E40ELCUD..Your new motor should have an L in about the same location as your old one if it is a 20" shaft..if it has an X it is a 25" shaft. I cannot tell by the pic what it is. But it does appear to be hanging mighty low. You need to get a 13 pitch prop..that 17 is way too big. this has already been addressed in post # 8 and 9.

 

[bob johnson]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

from the water line on the pontoons, id say you are about 4" too low!! and you will need at least to go to a 13 pitch prop!!!!!!!!!!! you are way way low......you will ruin that motor with that prop you have!!

its like always trying to get your car going from 2nd or third gear from a start!!!


th height of your motor isnt as important as the rpms you turn when you have the throttle maxed out!!


a pontoon boat isnt made for eeking out every last bit of performance!!!! but you need those WOT rpms to peak around 5500....with a light load 5000 or 4800 is OK with a full load!!

and the too low lower unit will only cost you speed and gas......

good luck


bob

 

[Mel85CJ]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

Thanks for the replys.

We fully anticipated that we would need to be purchasing a new prop, but wanted to get it in the water and see what the RPM @ WOT would be before ordering one... and the picture I put so you could comment about where it is mounted. (this forum makes the pictures small and you need to click on the pictures to make bigger) I appreciate the input, which ended up being just about what I expected.

I realize someone suggested in post #8 and post #9 about using a 13 pitch prop.. again, I didn't want to just go order one and put it on and it NOT work out and not be able to return it. We thought it was prudent to put it in the water see what the RPM was THEN order a prop and get it on the boat. The boat isn't used everyday, so we will have the opportunity to get it in. I also apologize for not putting the engine model on my last post, but I thought it might be easy to figure out it was the 88SPL.

Thanks for the input, we are gonna order a 13 pitch prop and move the motor up.

Melanie

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

only reason I requested the model number was to determine shaft length...so what is it??

 

[Mel85CJ]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

The motor is is a 1988 Johnson 88SPL

 

[bob johnson]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

The motor is is a 1988 Johnson 88SPL

thats not the model number!! ha ha

the model number will say the lower unit shaft length and if the unit has tilt trim, and maybe some other misc options

the model number is on the stern bracket probably and goes like: J88MSLCCC or VJ88MSLCCC...actually after I looked it appears they only made those two models...and no xtra long shafts( i guess that doesnt preclude someone from adding a 25" shaft though!!!)

bob

 

[Mel85CJ]

Re: johnson 88spl vs. evinrude vro

Well sorry, I don't have the model number

I didn't realize there were variations on this motor

The boat is now in Maryland and not just in our driveway any longer so I can't get the model number until we go back there in a couple weeks (when we planned on changing the prop)

I think I found the answers anyways, sorry to bother everyone with my stupdity

Melanie