Triton TR185 with Merc 200 EFI

[lilred]

Hello all! Im a newbie here searching for your input. I have an '03 TR185. It had a 150 XR6 that met its fate when the oil injection failed. She ran pretty good with the XR6, no jackplate and a Tempest Plus 23P. I could get to 60 (gps) at about 5800 rpm then she'd chine walk line crazy and eventually blow out the prop kicking the aft end of the boat to right and scare the poop out of me. Anyway, I located a wholesaler who did not have a replacement 150 but had a Merc 200 EFI. I don't fish tournaments out of this boat so I said what the heck. Also had a him ad a 6-inch JP for an additional 100 bucks. This motor, from what I've been told has the 2:1 gear ratio rather than the 1.87 or whatever on the XR6. My hope was to get close to 70 mph. Im still running the 23P and can reach 5800 rpm but only getting about 63 with the propshaft approximately 4-inches below the "pad" or v i this hulls case. I've only opened it up for short periods (10-15 secs.) due to having ran about a tank full with double oil. So, does it sound feasible to get 70 mph with this setup?

[lilred]

Well I'm gonna go run it again. Just got the H2O pressure gauge installed.

[ANG]

Well your going to need a taller prop (more pitch). With that gear ratio you can turn a prop much easyer. You may need to look at a 26 tempest.

[lilred]

Okay thanks ANG. Well I re-measured motor height confirming the prop shaft to be 3 - inches below the pad. The h2o pressure gauge Ininstalled was a teleflex bought several years back but never used and still in packaging. Pressure was surprisingly low, about 5-8 lbs. cruising at 3-4 rpms. Best was 12 lbs. at 5800 rpm which was hard to get without excessive trim and cavitation. I lowered the motor approximately 3/4" and this made one heck of a difference. Of course pressure was up and I turned a lil over 6000 rpm before backing off since red line is supposedly 5800. Speed was up to about 63-64 mph on Lowrance gps. This motor was originally on a Ranger running a 25 Tempest plus which I will try next weekend. My mechanic didn't want to put it on until after break in. Once again I don't expect to run much faster due to this hull not having a conventional bass boat pad or stepping forward of the transom.

[mdtritn21]

I don't think the 200 efi had a 2:1 ratio just a 1.87 unless the lower is real old or a replacement. That boat should have the same hull as a 186 which is stepped. Might be a Vortex hull. Since it wasn't rated for a 200 it should do 70 but you'll need a larger prop. You should be able to use a 25" if it's a 1.87 and a 26" if it's a 2.0 ratio.

[Tom Rollins]

2.5 liter 200hp efis have 1.87 gears. If you want the motor to live a long life keep the water pressure at 15+ psi.

[6BOOMER]

Be careful I don't think that boat is rated for a 200 hp.

[bobothewizard]

I had a 04 186 and i thought it was only rated for a 175 max.

[ANG]

Yes your max rpm is at 5800 but that is mainly for the oil injection. If it has the oil injection i would not go over 5800 for very long. If you have to mix the oil in the gas and the oil injection is removed you can run it at 6000 rpm all day. It has a limiter at 6200 rpm.

[lilred]

Old thread, same boat I'm tinkering with. Can this hill run through the chine walk safely?Tr185
20150811_150635.jpg20150811_150646.jpg

[lilred]

Old thread, same boat I'm tinkering with. Can this hull run through the chine walk safely?Tr185
20150811_150635.jpg20150811_150646.jpg

[mdtritn21]

If it's chine walking you still need to learn how to drive it and your prop to pad maybe too low.

[lilred]

Okay yeah I just need more running time. I now have hydraulic steering, maybe that'll help. But it's been awhile since I could play with it. I'm a little disappointed it doesn't have a pad like some boats, but then it does have a good ride in a chop. And it's confusing, I see people talking about not being able to trim enough, needing trim extenders and I could swear I've trimmed too much. Having the ass end kick out to the side at 60ish on gps was scary. We'll see, but I'm hell bent on touching 70!

[jarhead175]

Stop trying to push the nose into the sky. If you go watch videos of fast boats (Alison, Stroker,Bullet) they run very flat when at speed. Second keep in mind you have a over rated boat (illegal in my state) that your pushing past design point your only going to go so far before it goes very bad. If you want to run 70+ go buy a boat that is made to run 70+.

[VH5150]

The boat is rated for 175hp max.

[lilred]

Stop trying to push the nose into the sky. If you go watch videos of fast boats (Alison, Stroker,Bullet) they run very flat when at speed. Second keep in mind you have a over rated boat (illegal in my state) that your pushing past design point your only going to go so far before it goes very bad. If you want to run 70+ go buy a boat that is made to run 70+.

Good point! And yeah it was probably a bad idea when I agreed to let the mechanic put the 200 powerhead w/EFI. Cowling still says 150 XR6 but I probably couldn't insure if I wanted and it may make it difficult to sell together. Love the boat though and there are numerous posts on here from people who want their boat to go just a little bit faster. Maybe I'll just fish! After getting to them at almost 70 MPH!!!

[jarhead175]

The power head changed but the serial number is the same insurance won't know the difference unless you tell them. I ran a over rated Yamaha for years.

Come up on your jackplate a 1/4" per run till you start to lose water pressure or lose speed. Once you see one of those two happen you have gone too far drop back to the previous setting. Being a Triton it's going to walk nothing you can do but learn how to drive it correctly. Seat time will help but a lesson from a experienced driver will save you a lot of time and frustration.

Once you get the motor height close than play with the prop you will have to fine tune the height a little for different props but not much. Spend the money and get a prop that has been worked by a good prop guy like Mark or Steve. Most new props out of the box are turds. Tell them your setup and what you want they will be able to get you there faster than trial and errors.

[jarhead175]

The power head changed but the serial number is the same insurance won't know the difference unless you tell them. I ran a over rated Yamaha for years.

Come up on your jackplate a 1/4" per run till you start to lose water pressure or lose speed. Once you see one of those two happen you have gone too far drop back to the previous setting. Being a Triton it's going to walk nothing you can do but learn how to drive it correctly. Seat time will help but a lesson from a experienced driver will save you a lot of time and frustration.

Once you get the motor height close than play with the prop you will have to fine tune the height a little for different props but not much. Spend the money and get a prop that has been worked by a good prop guy like Mark or Steve. Most new props out of the box are turds. Tell them your setup and what you want they will be able to get you there faster than trial and errors.

Make sure your getting 100% open throttle and your tach is reading correctly. With s 23p you should be hitting the rev limiter. On my 175 efi I had a 24p tempest+ that ran 5900 and a 23p to pull tubes/skiers with that would hit the limiter with little effort. That 200 should be already there.