232 Captiva Cuddy Prop Question

chasferg

Hi All,  I have a 96 Captiva 232 Cuddy with a 5.7L Alpha 1 drive.  The prop on the boat is a 14.25"  20p  SS.  The boat's top speed is 45mph and the wot rpm's are 5500.  I noticed that my engine spec states 42 -4600 wot rpm's.  Using Mercury's prop calculator, they suggest a 14"  23p prop.  Could that be right?  Seems like an awfully big increase.  I'm afraid the boat won't be able to plane off.  Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.

KYSEAN

Sounds more like your tach is way off. If those numbers are correct, you'd need to go to a 24 or 25 P prop.

halifax212

I'm at 14.25 x 19  4 blade also purchased based on the Merc calculator. Boat rpm 4500 WOT

Cableguy Greg

When I had my 98 232cc with a 5.7L Alpha One, I had a 19p 3 blade prop and my WOT was 4800 RPM.

mheitman23

Im running a 19p 4 blade ss

chasferg

Thanks KYSEAN, I have wondered about the tach but not sure how to verify it.  Seems right based on idle speed and acceleration.

chasferg

Anybody else care to offer what size prop they are running with the same configuration?

chasferg

Thanks all, I did get my hands on an optical tach today and verified my boat tach.  It was dead on at idle, 2000 and 3000 rpms.  I checked it out of the water without the prop engaged but that shouldn't make any difference.  Now I wondering if my prop may be slipping some on the hub.  Maybe its time to just buy a new prop.  Mine is a 3 blade ss but is roughly 18 years old.  At least I won't waste money on a 23p.  Thanks Again!

sflippen

Just an FYI, You can also chage the outdrive gear ratio in addition to changing props