1985 184 Bass Boat

[DieselDood]

Hey Folks!
I'm kind of new around here. I used to have a one year Skeeter SK1700. I hit a rogue wave at 45 and cracked the hull.

One of my club members had his old Champion sitting beside his garage. It had been sitting there with a broken steering cable and low compression for the last 5 years.

It had the same motor as my Skeeter. So when Insurance showed up to tow away my Skeeter, they got a blown motor and broken steering cables.
4 hours of pressure washing....and a ton of elbow grease I've got it as a nice running unit.

Some how magically I had my freshly rebuilt 150/185hp OMC, hot foot, and Hydraulic steering.

When I was bringing it back from the dead, I found a Mouse condo in the right rear corner of the boat. Sadly they chewed some of the wiring. So intermittently the Tach works.... the front tilt/trim switch doesn't function...fuel gauge doesn't read... etc.

So... this winter it's going to get a full polish, new padded front deck, and carpet, and I plan to rewire the whole boat.

Does anyone know where I can find a wiring diagram for this boat?


Also.... With 2 people, full fuel, full livewell, full tourney load... I only get 50mph. Now it's tough with the intermittent tach... but last time the tach worked, by myself, 23P 4 blade I saw 50 but only 4600rpm. 23P 3 blade I saw 5200rpm but only 48mph.
Why do I have excessive slip with a 3 blade prop? I've ran, 21, 23 and 24 3 blades and all show 22%. The RPM does change according to the pitch, so I do believe when the Tach is working it is accurate

[pmgoffjr]

Lots of moving parts here.
Jack plate or no?
If no the motor needs to be in 2nd hole up.
Nothing hanging off the bottom.
Right prop is worked 24 raker.

[DieselDood]

Lots of moving parts here.
Jack plate or no?
If no the motor needs to be in 2nd hole up.
Nothing hanging off the bottom.
Right prop is worked 24 raker.

I just installed an 8" manual Jackplate. I have it currently set to 3.5 Prop to pad.
I have a 24 Raker, but it struggles to get out of the hole with just me and a full livewell. I fear that if I add another guy I won't get on plane. The 23 3blade is also a Raker. The 23P 4 blade is a Balistic.
Mutual friends of the old owner and I have said he struggled to get on plane with 2 guys and full load with the 24P Raker.

If I send the 24 out to get reworked, what kind of work am I looking to have them do?
Thanks!

[pmgoffjr]

You gotta run it to see what it does. From there the prop guy can make the correct adjustments.

[ChampioNman]

The 23 P Raker had to be worked to the odd pitch, they only come in even pitch sizes. Original motor on my 89 201 was a 150 GT and could spin a 24 P Raker nicely. May want to make sure that motor is healthy. Unless them rats ate thru the engine harness the tach should be working.

[DieselDood]

The motor is healthy. The Mice did eat through a couple harnesses (front tilt trim doesn't work, but the shifter switch works) that I plan to fix this winter.

The motor:
3.5 bore OMC V6. Bored and has .044 Wiesco pistons.
89 Stator, timer base and Flywheel for the 35amp charging system.
8500rpm CDI packs
1 5/16 carbs with 33 idle, 31 mid, and 61 Main jets.
Compression stone cold at 40 degrees (last test) was 100psi on all cylinders. (Was told that is pretty normal with the weisco pistons as they warm up, expand, and compression will rise)
Timing 4 at idle 25 at WOT.

I'll take a look, but I believe the 23 raker is factory stamped as such.

The 24 raker doesn't want to get out of the hole. Once it starts to plane out the motor RPM's get to about 3000, and then it blows the prop out and I have to feather the throttle through it, once it hooks back up it runs out ok. But with 2 guys, full fuel, tourney load of tackle, and full livewell I suspect it won't actually get on plane.

The 23P 4 blade Ballistic is what I'm running right now, that has OK holeshot. It will plane with a full load as listed above, but it struggles and fully loaded I get 50mph.. BUT... I've seen 55mph with me, full livewell and almost empty on fuel.
The 23P 3 blade seems to be good out of the hole, but the top speed isn't as good.

I just don't understand why ALL the 3 blade props I have, have 20% or more slip.
19, 21, 23 or 24 are all 3 blades and are all high slip.
the 23P 4 blade is 7-8% slip.

[pmgoffjr]

You’re to high for the prop you’re running
Start moving down 1/4” at a time until you lose speed and then back a click.

[DieselDood]

This happens from 3.5" P to P all the way down as low as my jack plate goes.

That was my initial guess as well due to leverage, but it didn't help. When all this started I had no Jack plate and I was really hoping that by adding the jack plate it would get the prop into clean water and it wouldn't slip as badly. That doesn't seem to be helping either.

[pmgoffjr]

There are fixes.
To test, just roll up some duct tape and stick it in the vent holes from inside out and see if that helps, if it indeed does, then just JB weld that vent hole. Might be one, two or all three, every combo is different.

A GOOD prop guy can add some tip cup that will make a big difference to your cavitating, I've never seen a raker that didn't need a loving touch put to it.

3 1/2" is probably too high anyway, the OMC won't run the same height as a merc or yamaha.

Or you could just have dud prop, if that's the only prop that blows out, then that's your answer.

[DieselDood]

Great advise!

Ill give those a try!

I need to find a good prop guy local

[pmgoffjr]

Really good prop guys are rare. As in really rare.
We can recommend two, Mark from the prop page here, or Josh at Steve's prop on lake fork.

[pops slowdog]

Dood, it’s scary (sic) and I hope it ain’t so for you.. My ‘85 17’6” fish and ski has/has hull blisters where it sits in the trailer bunks. Easy to check, just jack the boat up with a floor jack and a couple 2 X 4’s. If you have them, prolly a little waterlogged. I never fixed mine, just added enough horsepower to get to 74/75 mph (gps).

Before I found those, in the early years ( no GPS available) I could get between 63-65 with my Xr2 150. Clocked with different cars running beside the 2-mile bridge on Lake Tawakoni. Not much difference in weight between yours and that one.

ChampioNman is the OMC guru and Pat the setup and speed guru here. Those guys, as well as many others here, will definitely get you going. Enjoy-Great Boat.

[DieselDood]

Dood, it’s scary (sic) and I hope it ain’t so for you.. My ‘85 17’6” fish and ski has/has hull blisters where it sits in the trailer bunks. Easy to check, just jack the boat up with a floor jack and a couple 2 X 4’s. If you have them, prolly a little waterlogged. I never fixed mine, just added enough horsepower to get to 74/75 mph (gps).

Before I found those, in the early years ( no GPS available) I could get between 63-65 with my Xr2 150. Clocked with different cars running beside the 2-mile bridge on Lake Tawakoni. Not much difference in weight between yours and that one.

ChampioNman is the OMC guru and Pat the setup and speed guru here. Those guys, as well as many others here, will definitely get you going. Enjoy-Great Boat.

Great to know!
I have had mine up a little bit because when I got it home I wanted to make sure the carpet on the bunks was ok. I didn't see anything abnormal at that time. I'll check it again though.

Adding power... well... I'll have to find a 235hp set up to achieve that. Right now in my area, they are hard to find. At least I haven't been able to track any down for the last 2 years. Sadly I think all the 235hp Crossflows are dead or dying. I've been trying to find a higher HP looper as well and haven't had any luck. To many people didn't premix their oil and killed them.

I'm going to try and pull the whale tail off too and see if that helps.
I was told there is a guy that does great prop work not far from me, but he doesn't advertise. He can be quite slow, as he does it on the side for fun, but apparently he really knows his stuff. I'm going to reach out to him and see what he has to say. In a couple weeks here he can have all winter to do his "magic". Hard water season is almost here in the great white north.... one advantage... I can rewire, recarpet, and a few other projects and don't have to worry that I need the boat for a tourney that week!