concerns with new 260

MIKES342

It is a new 2013 260, with 6.2 liter bravo 3.  It has a generator approx full tank of gas, 20 gallons of water. 4 adults on board.  Still breaking engine in with approx 6 hours on engine.  Haven't gone to wide open throtle yet waiting for tne 10 hours  on engine first.

Problem need trim tabs all the way down and engine all the way down.  takes a while to plane.  Once it planes need to keep tabs at leas half way down. 

 If I get around 4000 RPMS it starts to porpoise. Inless I lower the trim table and get the engine trimmed all the way in.  I thought the larger engine would solve these types of problems.

Any Ideas Oh yes no other weight other than life jackets on board.

Black_Diamond

Sounds like it might be over propped?  My 342 (350MAG Bravo III's) was a friggin dog with a load of fuel and 4 adults, finally ran it alone with less fuel to get a good WOT rpm number, sure enough too low, went from a 24P to a 22P.  Sucks a bit more gas now but planes quick and is way better for docking.

MarkB

I'm no too surprised. With a full tank of gas and water and a generator you have major load at the stern. Where were the adults sitting and what size are we talking? Why you are able to go to wide open throttle it will get up quicker but it's not going to be a cigarette boat.

Also note you should not go to WOT until after 20 hours of break in.

MIKES342

Mark only have 6 hours  I havent opend her up but concernd witht he porposing at around 4ooo rpms.  I wont be able to tell until the engine is broken in and I can do a WOT to see what the rpms are.  A lttle disappointed.  I had a 270 with a 350 mag and it preformed excelent.  Now Ihave a boat a little shorter and not as wide I thought it would be ok.  I am going to call the dealer tomorrow. 

ruwallydog

Agree that I wouldn't have suspected any issue with that load and the bigger engine. Hopefully it just needs tweaking...keep us informed.

brianluck

Bigger engines add more power but also more weight to an already heavy stern, try different gear placements to help balance

MIKES342

Called the servce department He want me to open it wide open for a minute so see what the WOT is.  He also said on the  cover for the air intake it will tell what the WOT should be for that engine.  6.2l

Capt_Steve

Hey guys...I'm going to get Randy to weigh in on this as well. Mike...like Al said, the selling dealer should be the one to test at WOT if that's what they're suggesting. 

MIKES342

I had WOT at 4800 rpms canvas up except stern was removed.Also the center isenglas rolled up. 1/2 tank of fuel mabe 10 gallons of waterand had the center isenglas open. two people on board.  It is a 6..2 with genny.  However I need to use trim tabs to keep the bown down.  The operating range is 4800 to 5200 RPMS.

Do I need to put more weight in the bow.  Will this help?   This is a 2013 that has 6 hours on the engine.

I need full trim and engine trim to get her to plane.

The Dealer is Happy Days Boating in Port Clinton they have been accomadating but I thought I should get better performance than I am getting.  My 270 with the 350 did a much better job than this one. so far.  Hopefully something simple can be done so I can take at least 4 adults out on a cruise.

Black_Diamond

Sounds like you are about 200-4000 rpm short? If so, over propped by 2" of pitch. I think WOT is ~5,000 rpm. Can make a huge difference.

MIKES342

Al when you are metioning "Stick" are you refering to the outdrive indicator?  Also what isa wdge that you mention to add to the tabs?

Would it help if I added weight to the bow under the front cushion of the v berth?

If I get a proper with a lower pitch will that help.  It will give me higher RPMs.  It was inland lake virtually no chop almost flat

Black_Diamond

Mike, I think the stick is the spacer at the outdrive drive trim connection. It's a half moon shaped part and should be in towards the boat (outdrive trime pin away from the boat.)

Michael T

BMike, Black diamond is correct you remove the nut, bolt and s.s. washers at the end of each of your drive trim "rams" on the newer B3s the hole into which the bolt fits is elliptical. There is a grey composite shim that can position the bolt fore or aft. It makes quite a difference where it is placed. This is a job you can perform yourself. It would be easier to have a friend help you but I did it with both of the 350 Mags on my new EC 310. I felt I needed more "negative" trim and, as Al said, moving them gave me a a fair bit more. Bottom line with a full fuel load, a full load of gear, 30 gallons of water and a 1/3 full waste tank the boat planed much faster and did not even think of porpoising at 3600 rpm. A big difference. Yes, you will have to balance your loads side to side and fore to aft. You have a sweet ride that is really trailerable the small trade-off is that you have a shorter running surface that will take a bit of time to balance. Thankfully you got mthe 6.2 bvwith its wicked torque curve. You'll be fine once you get it trimmed and balanced! 

MIKES342

does anyone have a picture or sketch of what you are talking about.  It sounds like a simple thing to do.  I appreciate everything you guys are doing to help me solve my problem.

MIKES342

Mike T

Are you talking about the connections closet to the transom or the other connections at the other end.. by doing this does it cause anything to wear out quicker or is it just a normal adjustment ring.

Michael T

Mike, it is the bolt, washers and nut that are at the end of the rams AWAY from the transom. Changing the "shim" for want of a better word will cause no problem whatsoever and was designed by Mercruiser for just that reason. P.S. I tightened the nuts until they were snug then asked the Merc tech how many inch pounds of torque to apply (darned if I can remember the number now - but you should be able to find out easily) got out my torque wrench and did a final tighten. The whole thing took at the most 15 minutes per drive - I have two 350 magnums. Get a friend to help, as once you remove the bolt holding the two trim cylinders you will be holding the weight of the drive. I put a piece of carpet under the skeg in case I let the drive slip. That way the skeg wouldn't get a chunk knocked out of it. I can't remember, but you may be able to see by looking at the cylinder ends where the shim is. I'm pretty sure that if the shim is at the front of the hole (towards the transom) you have more -ve trim and if its at the back of the hole you have more+ve trim. As soon as you remove the pin you'll know for sure. Before you begin why don't you call Mercruiser HQ customer service - they're great guys! 1-920-929-5000 give them the year and serial number of your drive and the year and make of your boat. I bet, with that, they can tell you what position the shim was in when it left the factory and what trim that indicates.  Hope this helped a bit. If you need to change the shim you can do it for sure. If a tech does it at your marina/dealership you should not have to pay for more than a half hour's labor.

MIKES342

I tried looking at different manuals and can't seem to find the shims.  A picture or schetch would be worth a 1000 words if someone could help it would be greatly appreciated.

TikiHut2

A merc doc on moving that ram shim on the aft end of the ram connection was in the old archive. Maybe Boomer or MVN has it somewhere. Re-read what BD and MT said. It's very simple to move and a normal drive adjustment for improved performance out of the hole.

I wouldn't ADD any weight to the boat but as MT said weight distribution is a key. Stow gear fwd instead of aft if at all possible. It was a huge help in our 270 as I wrestled with our boats personality and trim preferences in the beginning.

It'll all come together once you tweak the trim and learn the nuance of the boats ability.

Michael T

Hey Mike, the shim(s) are about the length and diameter of your middle finger (yeah that one) and/are probably obscured by the washers at each end (outer end away from transom) of the trim ram(s). As soon as you take the nut off and slide the bolt out the two washers and the trim rams (and the drive) will drop away and you'll see the shim. I looked for a daigram in my owner's amnual but couldn't find one (sorry). From your posts I am sure that you can do this easily. The only info you might need is the torque setting to retighten the nut (although I have seen many techs just retighten it to feel). Do place a carpet under your drive to avoid chipping the skeg. Two people is way better. Maybe one of the former RBO mods (gurus/geniuses!) can find you a link or diagram. Seriously, you can do this! MT

bat32

If the boat is that new I wouldn't be messing with anything.  Back to the dealer and let them figure it out.  That is the point of buying new.

Black_Diamond

If you are out of the water, this whole thing is less than an hour to do both, maybe even faster.  Note you do have to take off both black plastic caps and both nuts off the shaft connecting the rams at the drive end.  The shaft is stepped down for the threaded portion and a washer is on either side of the ram connection.  You might need a soft mallet or some wood to tap the long shaft out.  Once you have one ram off, you will see the 'quarter moon' looking spacer, it needs to be TOWARDS the boat.

Look at this: http://www.tsgmarine.no/deler/manualer/drev/bravo/2%20Removal,%20Installation%20and%20Adjustments.pdf

 

Spacer looks like this:

 

 

MIKES342

Thanks so  much.  I reqally appreciate your efforts in this matter,

Michael T

Nice going BD - that's it. Mike - Remember the piece of carpet. MT 

MIKES342

Ok heres where we are with this one.   I had a 22 inch or it could have been a 22.5 hard to see in the water.  WOT still 4700- 4800  42 mph.  Terrible at plaing with 2 on board.  Dealer just sent me a 20.5 in prop set I will install sometime this week depending on the weather lots wind and thunderstorms passing thorough.  I have my fingers crossed.  not looking to top end speeds just want to be able to plane with 4 to 5 people on board and enjoy my boat.  Rinker suggested the prop so hopefully it will be the correct one.

I keep you all posted until this is corrected.

Black_Diamond

That rpm range sounds about right.  I bet the 20" set will make you happy.  Amazing what 2" will do on a prop (avoiding any funny comments here!).  I went from 24 to 22 on my 342 and it was night and day, I had the same issue with 4 adults on board forget about getting on plane.

MIKES342

Were you able to get 300 to 400 RPMS?  . 

I do not know what props I had on my 342 but I never had a problem getting it on plane. 

I received the props this afternoon and I am planing on installing them tomorrow.  I was relly excited but really hoping this  will take care of the problem.

Thanks for the information

 

Black_Diamond

Yes, picked up 400rpm. Now even with full fuel/water and 5-6 adults on board I get up on plane nicely. Docking is way better too, slowed her down nicely.

MIKES342

I took of the 22.5 propset and installed a 20.0 propset.  Took it straight to the marina without check out the performance because of a major storm front came through willcheck it out later this week.

The nun for the forward prop was near impossible to remove,  I used the mercruiser tool and needed a impact air gun to get it off.  It is a lock nut with plastic threads toward the ends.  It was nuts is this normal to remove the large nut.  I couldn't believe.  I even checked to make sure it wasn't cross threaded.

Anyway it is on and I am anxious to test the new props out.  Oh yes they are provided by Rinker.  They have been great fixing a few of the problems I have encountered.

 

 

Black_Diamond

I think people over torque them, they should be 'stiff' to remove once you break the torque loose.  First time I removed mine it was a battle they were so tight.  When you reinstall make sure to fill the spines with the right grease (blue stuff from Mercury) before you install, keep it off the threads.  I wipe grease on the bronze tapered washers too and on the shaft where the seal meets it as a bit of insurance.