48hp evinrude slow....problem?
 

i recently purchased my first boat. it is a 16' fiberglass bass boat
(1976 kingfisher) and has a evinrude 48hp spl on it. model is E48ESLCCC
which is a 1988 model. I took it out today for the first time and
thought it to be a bit sluggish for a 48hp outboard. my gps said that i
was travelling at 7 mph at full throttle with myself and wife aboard. I
was wondering if this is a normal speed for a 48hp motor. if not, what
are some suggestions of things that i could check on the motor?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

nihilum wrote:
i recently purchased my first boat. it is a 16' fiberglass bass boat
(1976 kingfisher) and has a evinrude 48hp spl on it. model is E48ESLCCC
which is a 1988 model. I took it out today for the first time and
thought it to be a bit sluggish for a 48hp outboard. my gps said that i
was travelling at 7 mph at full throttle with myself and wife aboard. I
was wondering if this is a normal speed for a 48hp motor. if not, what
are some suggestions of things that i could check on the motor?

any help would be greatly appreciated.


Your OMC 2 cylinder "looper" will run surprisingly well on just one
cylinder so much that it would be hard to tell you are missing at idle.

The obvious answer here is that one plug is likely not firing.

Check the plugs. If one is soaked in gas, or bone dry (the other of
normal coloration)that's the one. Switch them. Start it up and see
which cylinder is now firing by a second plug inspection to narrow it
down to the plug, the ignition, or the carburetion(each cylinder has
it's own carb on that engine).

A 48SPL on the 16' should do 28-31 mph with a 15" pitch prop at 5000 rpm.

Rob

trainfan1 wrote:
nihilum wrote:
i recently purchased my first boat. it is a 16' fiberglass bass boat
(1976 kingfisher) and has a evinrude 48hp spl on it. model is E48ESLCCC
which is a 1988 model. I took it out today for the first time and
thought it to be a bit sluggish for a 48hp outboard. my gps said that i
was travelling at 7 mph at full throttle with myself and wife aboard. I
was wondering if this is a normal speed for a 48hp motor. if not, what
are some suggestions of things that i could check on the motor?

any help would be greatly appreciated.


Your OMC 2 cylinder "looper" will run surprisingly well on just one
cylinder so much that it would be hard to tell you are missing at idle.

The obvious answer here is that one plug is likely not firing.

Check the plugs. If one is soaked in gas, or bone dry (the other of
normal coloration)that's the one. Switch them. Start it up and see
which cylinder is now firing by a second plug inspection to narrow it
down to the plug, the ignition, or the carburetion(each cylinder has
it's own carb on that engine).

A 48SPL on the 16' should do 28-31 mph with a 15" pitch prop at 5000 rpm.

Rob

hmm... this prop says 11 3/4 - 17 on it. is this the correct prop for
this boat? also i noticed that when you try and shift into reverse the
motor just accelerates and produces a clicking sound at the shift
lever, but does not shift. It seems that there is way to much cable
coming from the motor to the shifter as there is a complete loop of
extra cable inside the rear compartment where the gasoline is stored.
Can you get shorter cables coming from the motor to the shifter, and
could this be the problem with the reverse shift?

thanks

how would i check to see if the prop has become seperated? sorry if
this is a stupid question, but as i said this is my first boat so bear
with me...

You really need a tach to make sure the boat is running the proper amount of
rpms and everything is working properly.
As for the shift cable - too long only means that it may be hard to shift
but won't hurt anything and is definetly not worth the cost of a new cable
and replacing it. Cables come in 1' increments.
There is an adjustment on the engine. Where the shift cable connects to the
engine there is a thumb wheel. Put in reverse with engine cut off. Spin
the prop with your foot and slowly turn the thumb wheel until the prop
engages solidly. Now shift to forward and verify a solid shift to forward.
If it won't shift solidly to each position and spin free in neutral you
either have a bad shift cable or a bad clutch dog from running it w/ a bad
cable/bad adjustment.

As for the prop. Take a scribe or something and mark the hub and the prop
in a straight line. Run the boat and then check to see if the line has
moved.

A 17 pitch may be a little big for a 48sp on a 16' boat. But no way to know
for sure until you get a tach.

--
Tony
my boats and cars at http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com

-
"nihilum" wrote in message
oups.com...


trainfan1 wrote:
nihilum wrote:
i recently purchased my first boat. it is a 16' fiberglass bass boat
(1976 kingfisher) and has a evinrude 48hp spl on it. model is E48ESLCCC
which is a 1988 model. I took it out today for the first time and
thought it to be a bit sluggish for a 48hp outboard. my gps said that i
was travelling at 7 mph at full throttle with myself and wife aboard. I
was wondering if this is a normal speed for a 48hp motor. if not, what
are some suggestions of things that i could check on the motor?

any help would be greatly appreciated.


Your OMC 2 cylinder "looper" will run surprisingly well on just one
cylinder so much that it would be hard to tell you are missing at idle.

The obvious answer here is that one plug is likely not firing.

Check the plugs. If one is soaked in gas, or bone dry (the other of
normal coloration)that's the one. Switch them. Start it up and see
which cylinder is now firing by a second plug inspection to narrow it
down to the plug, the ignition, or the carburetion(each cylinder has
it's own carb on that engine).

A 48SPL on the 16' should do 28-31 mph with a 15" pitch prop at 5000 rpm.

Rob

hmm... this prop says 11 3/4 - 17 on it. is this the correct prop for
this boat? also i noticed that when you try and shift into reverse the
motor just accelerates and produces a clicking sound at the shift
lever, but does not shift. It seems that there is way to much cable
coming from the motor to the shifter as there is a complete loop of
extra cable inside the rear compartment where the gasoline is stored.
Can you get shorter cables coming from the motor to the shifter, and
could this be the problem with the reverse shift?

thanks