Motor spraying a vee of water straight up

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tomme boy

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Well I was able to take my new to me boat out the other day for a short ride. It is a Lowe 1440M with the short transom. I have my motor back from being fixed and needed to get it out to try it out. The motor is a 2013 EFI Suzuki 15 hp. I have had nothing but problems with this thing sense day one. It ran good but this boat must have a lower transom. It is spraying water straight up from the lower end in a V.

I am guessing I am going to have to raise the motor. I have a jack plate I built on my other boat. I may have to rob it off of it. I also tried out a new prop. I custom ordered a Power Tech 4 blade for this motor. All I can say is this baby grabs a lot of water. I had to go up in pitch as they did not have a casting to make the 9" I wanted. Going to have to get a tach for the motor to see were I am at. I was running 21 mph so that was not too bad. Well it was 21 up river and 22 down river.

Has anyone had any luck with those tini tachs on Ebay? Or can I run a regular tach on the motor?

It is going to be a little while as the river is froze up again and it will be about a month before it really opens up. So I have a little bit of time to do some adjustments.
 
I use this on my 1994 Johnson 50/35 jet. No problems with it whatsoever, other then when I first hooked it up I ran the cable near the power pack and other electrical components of my motor. They interfered with it and gave some funky readings. Once I moved it to the other side of my motor all was good. I extended the cord about 6' or so, so I could mount it right next to my controls. Just used some left over tinned marine wire I had laying around. Now it has about a 1 - 1-1/2 second delay, but works fine for what I use it for which is adjusting idle speed and keeping an eye on my WOT rpm's. It also seems to be very accurate.

https://www.amazon.com/KEDSUM-Tachometer-Stroke-Outboard-Mercury/dp/B00ACDP6YU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425042183&sr=8-1&keywords=tiny+tach
 
It planes fine. Under full speed the last 1/4 of the boat in in the water and is not hopping at all. If I raise it to the next higher pin it will start to porpoise. Next week I am getting my new 45lb Edge trolling motor. So maybe with that and a battery up front I can go to the next pin. Right now it has a deck up front and that is it.
 
The 4th blade is going to slow you down. 3 blades are generally faster, but the 4 blade generally planes faster/holds plane at a lower RPM and runs higher on the transom before blowing out. Sounds like you may be able to get away with raising the motor a good bit.

Not a fan of Powertech on a 4 stroke. Most are just too aggressive, IMO, as the 4 stroke engine generally needs to develop RPM to make power. Some motors are more sensitive to "lugging" than others.
 
I also have a 3 blade Solas stainless in a 9" pitch. That is next on the testing. But I am having a problem here with hard water. Going to be a while before it softens up.
 
If you're sure the engine compression is good the next step should be to adjust motor so it's perpendicular and height so the cav plate is just visible at plane. Then put a tach on it. That will tell you what prop you need.
 
Sounds like something is not lined up correctly = is there anything else hanging off the back of your transom? How high or low is teh motor in relation to the bottom of the hull?


Is your hull level on the bottom or does it have a lower point a few feet in front of the stern?
 
Cavitation plate is 2" below the bottom of the boat. No pictures are needed. The water comes up and hits the upper cavitation plate and that is what is causing the spray. I have had to raise motors before. Just not this much.
 
I had the same problem with my 1959 Crestliner with 25hp Johnson.
I did not want to raise the motor and go through all the jack plate
and risers so I "temporarily" fixed it with a splash guard.
Works fine for controlling the water spray. But I am quite sure I am
not getting the full operation with the motor being 2" too low.
 

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I don't have anything like that on the bottom. There is also NO hook in the bottom either. Pretty sure it is just a case of the motor being too low.

Won't be able to test anything till the ice goes off the river right now. The next time it is warm enough I am going to take the jack plate off my other boat and bolt it up to try it out.
 
do you think that splash guard came with the boat ?
my motor is 2 - almost 3" too low and threw a LOT of water into a rooster tail.
I installed this metal plate myself and it fixed the rooster tail.
but, I think I would get more out of the motor if it were properly aligned as it was designed to be.
LOL ice ? I cringe every time I hear it.
Hope you get on the water soon.
 
Well I have been getting out a few times in the last couple of days. I put a jack plate on that I made a couple years ago. I have the motor about a 1/2" below the bottom of the boat right now. With the SS SRT 4 blade Power Tech 10" pitch, I am getting 25 mph. It is still spraying water up, but nowhere near as bad. It has a little bit of steering torque on the handle. This motor does not have a torque tab on the lower to get rid of it so that is a no go. I also put the new 45 lb edge foot control motor on the bow. I had to lower the motor one pin to stop the porpoising. I am pretty sure it is at the very upper end of the rpm's that it is suppose to be at. But until I get a tach???? By the sound of the motor it is not lugging.

I also tried the 3 blade Solas SS 9" pitch prop. I ran this 1" lower than where I have the 4 blade at. It breaks loose really bad and is hitting the rev limiter trying to plane off. I tried to lower it an inch lower and it still did it. I have been having this issue sense the first time I have had this motor. This is the 4 boat I have had this on. But also the first time trying the 4 blade. The 3 blade I was able to get to 24 mph. But if you let off the gas at all, it would start to blow out and hit the rev limiter. I tried to raise and lower the jack plat and also the pin on the motor. It would do the same thing. The factory aluminum prop bites better than the Solas SS. I do not recommend this to anyone. I have had 5 of these props for other motors and all of them were great. But this is also my first 4-stroke too.

So for now, I am happy. I still have some more work to do to the boat. Seats and bases, livewell. so if I can keep it a little over 20 I will be happy
 
Yes to the ebay tiny tach. Only 10-15 bucks & work well. The one i got has. tach-hour meter -service reminder .come on down to Ga. Fishing is freat now.
 

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