Rinker 242 Fiesta Vee Not Planing

Coolweld

I need advice, I have purchased a 2000 242 fiesta Vee with the 5.0 L Mercruiser and Alpha Drive. My wife and I have done extensive work to the boat and motor to make it seaworthy. We decided to take it out for our first trip last evening the engine idled ok, however when I throttled up the RPM's stayed at 2600-2700. It should be able to easily go to 4400 RPM. Could it be a Prop issue? timing issue? 
Its been a project boat for the last three weeks, any advice would be very welcome.

Stodge

Assuming you've already done a tune-up.  I'd make sure the outdrive is all the way down and if you have trim tabs you may want to put them down and see if you can get her up on plane.  Once she's done plowing she should get to higher RPM.

Willhound

Are you getting any beep codes? If the engine detects a fault it may be running in guardian mode which limits RPM. It could be a previous issue that you've fixed but the code hasn't been cleared.

Coolweld

 Outdrive all the way down and bow planes adjusted..still held at 2600 RPM, I am unsure of codes, how would I know or reset for that matter? thanks for responding.

Coolweld

Also Wondering if anyone knows the factory size and Pitch of Prop?  This could be a contributing factor as well, I believe. 

pistole

Can it rev unloaded to higher rpms?

Handymans342

When the boat is on your trailer get all the numbers on the props and report back

Coolweld

yes it revs to 3000 easily on idle....under load 2600. we tried a new prop tonight...same effect....found out the old one was a 16" 16 pitch...tomorrow I will try a 15" 15 pitch...gonna change spark plugs tomorrow. did notice a strong smell like engine was flooding while cruising at 5 mph......gonna keep trying.

Handymans342

15 pitch does not seem right

Coolweld

I can try another 16 “ with 16 pitch I guess. I do not believe the propeller is the issue, kind of stumped.
So far no luck with going over 2600 rpm , going to change spark plugs and probably rotator and distributor cap today...if that fails we’re Going to have to hire the marina guy soon. At $130 per hour that’s gonna Hit hard.

Handymans342

You should be somewhere around 22 pitch I would think

aero3113

Check that your exhaust flappers are in place. There's a chance that they can brake off and block the exhaust passage. 

Coolweld

Thanks I appreciate it a lot.

04FV270riverrat

I would definitely check plugs/timing. My cousins 242 had shorter plugs than recommended and it wouldn’t go at all. We swapped em with the right plugs and ran great. 

Coolweld

Ok  Great News.  Went to the Marina on Friday with Parts in Hand...New Distributor and Rotor(Had to buy new screws separate) New Plugs and Seafoam. Installed the new Distributor and Plugs Saturday, Load Tested the Batteries Both came out as weak (10.4 V Cranking & 10.2 V Deep Cycle) Installed New Batteries, started Engine and sprayed the seafoam into the Carb. We untied the 242 and headed out the Channel. We cleared the channel bouys and I slowly open the Throttle........BLISS.... it accelerated as fast as heck and we quickly came up on plane.  It was our very first trip in our Rinker, Wow what a feeling. Thanks to all for your input..Finally a Forum that works   

aero3113

Awesome, great news!!

pistole

Awesome!

Handymans342

Coolweld said:

Ok  Great News.  Went to the Marina on Friday with Parts in Hand...New Distributor and Rotor(Had to buy new screws separate) New Plugs and Seafoam. Installed the new Distributor and Plugs Saturday, Load Tested the Batteries Both came out as weak (10.4 V Cranking & 10.2 V Deep Cycle) Installed New Batteries, started Engine and sprayed the seafoam into the Carb. We untied the 242 and headed out the Channel. We cleared the channel bouys and I slowly open the Throttle........BLISS.... it accelerated as fast as heck and we quickly came up on plane.  It was our very first trip in our Rinker, Wow what a feeling. Thanks to all for your input..Finally a Forum that works   

You are not off the hook yet. We need speed and RPM at wide open throttle. 

Dream_Inn

Nice to hear you got her up on plane and running.  Now, I agree with Handy, we need some numbers!

Coolweld

Ok Handyman, I will do. we could not go WOT last evening as weather did not permit. I will get those for you within the next few days. I am thinking I should be around the 4600 RPM mark.....not to sure about mph. I will let you know as soon as I find out.

Coolweld

I also forgot mention that we changed our prop to a 15-1/4" Inch & 15 Pitch. Malary from Rinker emailed me and told me the boat originally came with 16 " & 16 Pitch. Not much of a change but the boat seems to like it. 

Coolweld

Tried again last night. Max Rpm 4000, speedometer is broken not sure of speed as I left my Garmin home. Motor also seemed to be temporarily bogging down briefly as well. Will continue to update.

aero3113

Did you guys replace the fuel filter? I didn’t see that stated above.

Coolweld

Yes about three weeks ago with the water separator, I will check again tonight. I am wondering if the timing Is our due to the rotor and distributor cap change?

mtchll_jones

I have also just purchased the same boat/ motor and did not like the 3 blade 15x15 that the previous owner installed.  While on plane it was exceeding max rpm's but did not want to stay on plane below 4000 and took way too long to get on plane. I am thinking about switching to a 4 blade 16p alpha 4.  Let me know what you come up with. 

Coolweld

All is well, I took the boat for an 2 hour run. It came up on plane quickly about 18 mph...I trimmed out at 3300 rpm which equaled 24.5 mph...raised it to 3600 rpm speed was 26.8.
on WOT it’s rpm was 4100 speed was 32 mph. My tachometer is sticking so I am unsure of the exact reading. The only way to be sure would be a tach on the motor while running. 
It ran smooth for two hours. There was nothing in the new filter. I suspect the motor had just sat too long(4 years). The prop is awesome 15-1/4” with a 15 pitch,  it’s the Mercury Black Max. Our old prop was so chewed up it had to go. 
I am thinking of doing a timing check just to be 100% sure the boat is running optimally. If anyone has a link I’d be willing to learn. 
Thanks again.

reneechris14

The more you run it the better it runs. Glad to hear it running optimally.

mtchll_jones

Glad to hear you are up to speed. Out of curiosity do you know the gear ratio of your outdrive?

Coolweld

I believe it is 1.47

mtchll_jones

That is odd mine is 1.84, I would have expected the 1.62 on both.