Way2slow

DFI motors use a lot less oil than carbureted NA motors, so the oil requirements are a lot more critical. I would never run anything but the manufacturer's recommended oil in any DFI motor, if you care anything about the motor. I'm sure some are thinking BS, they've run such and such cheap brand and never had a problem and good for them, I won't.

I use a pair of the same 6-light LED A-Jay posted but mine have a mounting bracket and are mounted under each side of my back bumper. On the 24' pontoon boat, I mounted a couple on the back of its trailer and use the reverse wire for that locks out the brakes to backup to power them. That requires using a five-wire plug made for that. It gets used a lot by my granddaughter and her husband for night fishing and where the ramp is, there's pretty sorry light. I will say, I did have one of our locals finest try to give me a hard time backing out of a parking spot at the mall one night, trying to say they were too bright and blinding. I was polite with him and agreed to try adjusting them down some, while thinking the whole time "what an AH" and left them just like I had them.

Sounds like someone needs to find a mechanic. I would be p****d if I paid someone (which will never happen) to rebuild a carburetor and they told me the needle seems to still be sticking after they were done with it. That's one of the main things the dumb*** is supposed fix. That's another one of those cases where they don't know how to rebuild a carburetor, which there are tons of "mechanics" (I use that term loosely) that don't. They know how to take it apart, put a few new parts in it and put it back together, a 10-year-old can do that. There's a whole lot more to rebuilding one that. The first thing is knowing how it actually works, which orifices do what and how to clean and inspect each. There's a whole more to one than air just passing through the venturi and pulling some gas through with it. I actually heard one of those dealer "mechanics" telling a customer the fuel pump pressure squirted the gas through the jets into the engine, and it was squirting too much and flooding it out.

I guess there's some that don't use mirrors to back. With my neck, I have to because I can't turn my head more than a few degrees. Short trailers with short tongues are the worst but still very doable with just mirrors. I have a 2500HD pickup that has the turning radius of a semi, and a short utility trailer I can't even see behind the truck when towing it. When backing I just watch for when fender starts to come into view in the mirror, I instantly make a small correction. It's a little zig-zagging but it gets it where I want it.

Never needed or used them with glass boat that have a riser hull. The bunks worked just fine. Drive it on the trailer and it pretty much sits there while I get out and put the wench hook in. On a steep ramp, it might slide back some but not enough to create problems. However on a flat bottom or semi-vee bottom aluminum boat, that's a different story. When the current or wind has back end is trying to go sideways on the trailer before you have time to do anything, you learn to appreciate the guide bars or side guides real quick.

Just PVC is probably not going to work, they are not strong enough and probably break off the first time you bump them. The ones you see that look like PVC are usually a piece of PVC slide over a piece of steel tubing. If you want to try, make you some steel brackets with short pieces for steel tubing sticking up and slide the PVC on them. Drill a hole through them a stick a long 1/4" bolt though them to keep the PVC from bouncing off. Of course for the time and effort put into making the brackets, it won't cost but a few dollars more to make those short pieces of steel tubing long pieces. I guess you've never had to load it where there's current or a cross wind, or you would have put them on before your next trip.

I'm not an aluminum guy. Ride quality is a term I've never associated with an aluminum boat. If you have always used a good riding glass hull, I think it will take an attitude adjustment to step into most aluminum boats. However, if you want each trip to cost you less, that helps offset the dislike of the ride quality. As for gauge aluminum, a lot has to do with the size boat and quality boat you are looking at. When you start getting below 0.095" thick metal and pop riveted hulls, you are down entry level, bottom feeder models. When looking at the one-piece mold formed hulls, you are in the upper-class hulls. Like the old saying, buy cheap, get cheap, so buy as good as you think you can afford, and you might be willing to keep it and not regret giving up your glass boat.

Does the prop turn freely by hand? If it's rubbing or snug to turn by hand, sounds like it's not the right prop for that particular motor and it's going to deep on the shaft and binding down against the motor housing. It should turn free and easy with the prop nut snugged down. MinnKota makes bunches of different props, and it has to say it suitable for your motor's model number.

It's important an engine is not running below the recommended minimum water pressure. It's easy to do if it's too high, especially in turns or worn water pumps.. If you start playing with engine height, a pressure gauge is a must. Most all water-cooled engines require a pressurized cooling system to prevent hot spot from forming. (pressure raises the boiling point of water) These will create steam and push the water out of the block. I don't know what the four stroke motors require but the two strokes were usually 10 to 16 psi. Yamaha and Mercury were usually on the lower end of that and the old OMC's were on the higher end of that. The alarm doesn't go off until it's already hot. the gauge can let you catch it before that. Things happen, like one time I was cruising along at 4,500 rpm and noticed my water pressure was zero. I immediately stopped and raised the motor. A frigging loaf bread wrapper someone had thrown away had wrapped around the lower unit and blocked off the intake ports on both sides of the motor. One thing I should mention. Letting a motor sit for long periods of not being used is actually more damaging to the water pump than regular use. The rubber hardens and develops a memory, so it doesn't flex out against the wall of the pump as firm as it should to maintain good pressure. Three years is about as long as you should run one.

I think Pee Hole or Pisser is the most common terms used but it's actually the visual indicator. Depending on the make and size motor, there can be a delay, but probably not a minute. Larger motors hold several gallons of water in the exhaust chest part of the block and it has to fill with water before it start coming out that hole. Whether or not the thermostat is open has little affect on how long it takes. It only prevents water from leaving the block, that hole is ported before the thermostat. There are air bleed holes cast into the block so trapped air can't prevent the block from filling with water. As mentioned, Dirt Dobers love ready-made holes to lay their eggs and if you don't keep something stuck in in when parked, they will plug it. Your water pressure gauge should be your main indicator. If you don't have one and your boat is large enough to have a console, you should add one. Water pressure gauge, tachometer and voltmeter (to make sure it's charging) are three must have gauges on any boat as far as I'm concerned, and on a pontoon boat or boat you can't see the motor/midsection, a trim indicator.

Yea, several tons and almost 450 square feet of boat, and probably not two square feet of ever touches the water when it's flying, and it is actually flying above the surface of the water.

That was my first question I asked Tony Mulherin with Miss Halmark Homes the first time I saw it, how the hell do you get it on and off the trailer.

Catt, most people can't imagine just how big those boats are until you can get up close and personal to one. Back in the early 70/71 friend of mine got into racing with those things. His was the Miss Hallmark Homes. When he started, he thought he was rich. It took about a year for him to lose his business and go bankrupt. I think he lost three boats in that first year. That was back when they were still running Allison and Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engines. I can't imagine what it cost to put one of those things in the water today. That's how I met Bob Lipton who tuned my props for me, he was the one that tuned Miss Budweiser's, Miss Halmark Homes and props and a ton of other boat racers for years. I only mentioned the fastest boats I've owned, I've seen tons of hydro-rocket's that had no problem running well into the 100's and even 200. The fastest one I've ever driven was a friends STV at 134.6 mph. He loved fast boats but was too scared to really fly the hull on that one to see how fast it would run, so asked me if I would. That was 20 years ago, I wouldn't do it now.

I've had a number of boats that ran in the 70's or faster with two people and gear. My first really fast boat was back in the late 60's/early 70's was a 16' Alison with two Mercury 135BHP racing motors on it. It was timed at 83mph. My first really fast fishing boat was back in the mid 80's. It was a 15' ProCraft I put a 200 Mercury on, the boat was only rated for an 85. I ran it like that for about a year before I stepped up to and 17' boat, modified that 200 and ran it a couple years. Never knew how fast they ran but easily in the high 70's with two people and gear. Fast enough to scare the crap out of anyone that was not expecting it. My best, most stable boat was the 20' Javelin R20DC I sold last year. With my 325hp modified motor it would GPS 82mph with two 200+ pound men, gear and 30 gallons of gas. Even with the 225 Ficht it ran in the lower 70s.

A couple of thoughts come to mind. The timer base/cam is adjusted too far advanced and someone adjusted the cam follower that opens the carbs to compensate. That beginning of that cam arm should completely clear the follower. I think there is an adjustment at the motor where the tiller connects that is used to just the low speed, make sure it's not all the way in. Also at the pivot of the tiller there is a gear, make sure someone has not put it one tooth off. I would back the cam follower completely off the cam and make sure the butterfly in the carb is completely closed, throttle plate touching venturi. If it still revs too high, look at undoing the linkage from the tiller to the timer base and see if you can goofball it the timer base, pushing the cam clockwise and try it again. What we are trying to do is isolate the cause. If neither of those help, we're back to an extremely lean condition or ignition. If it's not turning more than about 2,000 rpm, it's safe to run it for the next test. Anything more than that and it's possible for it to go into runaway. With it running, take a can of WD40 and spray the base of the carb, intake, hoses, case halves, basically the whole intake side of the block. If there's a vacuum leak, the WD40 should pin point it by causing it to do some serious smoking and change rpm. Also, if the carb has adjustable low speed jet, check the presets on it. I don't remember it. If someone tried to adjust the carb on a hose and not in the water, that could be way off. It has to have the back pressure sitting in the lake causes to adjust the carb.

OK, I didn't realize they still made that motor in 2000, so that throws everything in the previous post out the window, none of that applies to the two cylinder. That also complicates things a little. What would be considered the timer base is that same plate with the cam action that opens the carburetor, so there is no way it can advance without opening the carburetor. So, with that said, it leads to believe a serious vacuum leak or something in the ignition. Something is causing a serious lean condition. This is one of those situations where I almost need hands on and a little head scratching, trial and error. One thought comes to mind if someone has previously worked on it, they might not have the timer base in right.

Maybe I can help you. I've never worked on this model or or any 3cyl 25hp Johnson so I can't get real specific but I should be able to guide toward the things you need to check. First, take the air silencer off and look at the butterflies in the carburetors, make sure they are fully closed and the cam mechanism that opens and closes them is not holding them partially open. When the throttle is fully in the slow position, there should be a very small gap between the cam and the roller/follower. If not, something in the tiller or the fast idle stop adjustment is holding them open. If that is good, then you probalby have a problem with the timer base linkage not pulling the timer base all the way back. On top of the throttle linkage on the side of the motor, there should be a linkage connected to it and going back under the flywheel. This linkage connects to the timer base and is what advances the timing as you give it gas. Most motors, the first 20% of the rpm comes from just advancing the timing so if it's not fully returning, it's going to idle extremely high, even if the carbs are fully closed. That is usually a ball and socket connection so you can pop it off the linkage, pull it forward and see if that stop the high idle, in fact, it may not idle at all if it's all the way forward. NOW! don't just start adjusting linkages to try and fix the problem. All that stuff has to be synchronized together. There are little alignment arrows that have be right and all three carbs adjusted the right point of opening when they are. You will need to do what is referred to a link and sync and you should find you a manual that tells you how to do that if you have never done it. If it's not right, you can have all kinds of rough idle problems and acceleration problems. Usually on the Johnson, just to adjust the idle speed, you don't do it with the stop screws, that timer base linkage is usually adjustable and you adjust that for the proper idle speed. Using the stop screws throws off the synchronization that I just mentioned had to be just right.

Mix a concentrate of baking soda and water, keep cleaning every 10 minutes or so and after each cleaning wet it down with that concentrate again. When you don't see any white foam showing up, let that last wetting with the concentrate stay in there to dry and you should be good. If you are using multi-battery trays, I know some trays don't give you room to use battery boxes, but the cranking battery should have been in box. Always use boxes if at all possible. It sounds like you didn't have that battery on a maintainer and it discharged enough to let if freeze. That will bust one in a heartbeat.

I can, but I ain't around. You made a good choice in bypassing on that motor. I personally would have no problem, because I know them well, but at the at the same time, while Bombardier made significant changes and upgrades to that motor when they bought OMC out, the early ones still have their share of problems and all of them require a lot of special attention that most users don't know about and most are too lazy to do. That motor does not like being stored for more than a couple of months without being run (they don't do old gas every well) and doesn't like to be hammered down on a cold start, that can make them do bad things.

Are you sure you did not connect the meter leads backwards? The only time I've ever seen a battery have reverse polarity is when it was almost fully discharged and the charger was connected to backwards and charged backwards. I've seen this a few times but I have never seen a battery just reverse polarity on its own. I assume it has a multibank on-board charger so I don't see that happening unless someone connected the charging cables to that battery backwards and not real sure you could do that with getting some smoke from a fully charged battery. In a series connection, I'm not sure how you could get any voltage from them if one is backwards. Never tried connecting one backwards to see what would happen, and probably not something I would want to try. It's like sticking multiple batteries in a toy, put one in backwards and the toy does nothing.

My crystal ball is not working but a voltmeter or multimeter and knowing just the basics of how to use it will let you identify what and where your problems is.

Tennesse Boy is right, there is a whole bunch of BS in HenryPF's post. It's all about making the numbers favor a certain company's product. First off, a 70Ah group 27 is about the bottom of the line size battery. Good group 27's are typically 105Ah, 27TMX_Trojan_Data_Sheets.pdf (ctfassets.net). A lead acid battery can easily be discharged to 25% charge without damaging the battery. The only thing deep discharging below 50% does is reduce the cycle count. Lithium batteries are on the same advertisement hype as spiral wound AGM batteries. 10 years of experience running them with RC planes and helicopters has taught me is will still be a long time before I spend the money or trust them enough to run in a boat.

Yes, AGM's can be laid on their side or stood on end. I don't have the documentation to prove it, but somewhere in the past when I was messing with these things on a daily bases, I was told when mounted that way, it reduces their capacity approximately 10%. Some of the electric pallet jacks I worked on had them mounted on end so they so they could make the battery box narrower.

AGM require less maintenance. They generally have a longer cycle count (service life) but will not have the Reserve Minutes/Amp Hour capacity of a similar size flooded cell battery with service caps on them. With both AGM and Maintenance free batteries, they have to reduce plate size to make room for the glass mat material in AGM or extra electrolyte in maintenance free non AGM batteries. The less lead in the battery, the less capacity the battery has, and the lighter the battery will be. AGM's are a little more sensitive to the charging voltage and maintenance float voltage but unless you charger is extremely old, it's probably suitable for AGM. Now, with all the said, I usually don't buy AGM trolling motor batteries because of the reduced capacity. Don't let the higher MCA/CCA miss lead you. That means absolutely nothing when used as a deep cycle TM battery. That's stickily just extra ump it has for cranking the big motor. You want to look at the Reserve Minutes (RM), the higher that number, the more run time you will get on the TM. If it does not list the RM, then look for the higher Ah capacity.

At least he stayed in boat. A friend of mine let his friend drive his 98-mph Shadow VT200 and when he chopped the throttle like that, it threw him through the side of the body. He survived with some broken ribs and a big hole in the side of friend's boat. Now, the shadow VT200 is a very light hull layup, and weighs less than 1,000 pounds for a 20' boat. Like I said, it's basically an instant about face.