3 year check up looking good...with easy questions

[JR19]

I often get "wordy" when describing something so if you don't want to read all my ramblings just skip to the last sentence .

Everything looked good on my 3 year checkup. When I arrived at the service counter to pick up my boat they went over the print out with me. There was a couple numbers that grabbed my attention but I was assured there was nothing to worry about. The thing that stood out the most was my max rpm was 6196 Then they pointed out that was only for 16 seconds and I had only been over 5800 rpm for a grand total of 116 seconds. This was when I was prop testing and obviously the prop I tried was too small. I remember the day I was testing the prop and as I recall I backed off right at 6K. You can't cheat the computer so I must have went to 6196. Which brings a questions I will ask at the end. I have whopping .08% in the 55-5800 range which is a little over 1 hour out of 137 hrs. I need to let her eat more often I had 40 some % at idle which does not surprise me because I am anal about letting it run long enough for the thermostats to open and I give it a cool down idle on long runs. Also I do a lot of shallow water fishing so idling in and out of areas for 1-200 yards is common for me. I don't recall the exact rpm numbers but there were three ranges in the 3-4K range that added up to 40 some %. This would be my running on plane from spot to spot. So roughly 80 some % of the time I was idling or running on plane. 1% I was WOT. I was assured the numbers looked great.

Another thing that surprised me is my motor had 1390 ignition starts. I done some rough estimates with a guess at how many days a year I fish and divided that into the hours on my motor and I start my motor about 15 times every time I go fishing. The overall engine run hours were 137 if my memory is correct. I am trying to recall numbers from memory. I have the printout but it's in the boat. Anyways another thing that surprised me was the computer (as I understand it) has another timer that keeps time anytime the key is on. It has something like 220 hours. Which really puzzles me because I have never left the key on.

I had two overheats and both were within a few minutes of each other at the 35 hour mark. I remember fishing a heavy mud line the day it happened. I flushed the motor on a hose when I got home and never had another overheat after that. I had 3 no oil which really caught my attention because I was only aware of one. At the 115 hr mark I filled my oil tank. My very next trip I had a no oil alarm unloading the boat. I immediately shut it off. I squeezed my oil primer bulb hoping it was just air in the line from the tank. I don't know if that was it or not but I have never had another no oil since then. I enquired about the other 2 no oil faults because I only knew about the one. I was told this was probably done during rigging and I had nothing to worry about.

I am very anal when it comes to my boat motor. I ran a Ficht for 15 years to 900+ hours. It was still running like a scalded dog when I re-powered with my E-TECH. My goal is 2000 hours on this motor since it has a better reputation that my Ficht. Now it's time for my questions.

Per: rule #1 E150HSLAAB...Does my motor have a rev limiter? If yes what does it take for it to kick in?

[SEAHORSE]

around 6200 rpm

[JR19]

Computer shows I was north of 5800 for 116 seconds and north of 6100 for 16 seconds with a max of 6196 rpm so around 6200 must be closer to 6199 ...not trying to be a smart ass just poking fun I do appreciate you input.

[jc2bg]

Very interesting report. Everyone should look at one from time to time.

I post on here frequently when certain E-Tec questions come up. Since you mention idling and “frequent” start cycles, I’ll contend that your usage in those areas could be considered on the low side. Throughout the year, but especially in the spring, I fish several areas with literally miles of no-wake. I also employ a milk-route style of fishing that involves hitting a lot of little spots in the shortest possible span of time. Last year, I was having a little trouble with my 250 H.O. fouling spark plugs, so the dealer ran an engine report for me. Like you, I forget most of the exact numbers, but below 1200 RPMs was easily 90%, and on one day I started the engine 69 times. So when low-speed issues come up, let’s just say I have some experience.... And of course we have bass boat owners who start their engine 3-4 times a day and run wot 75% of the time. Such disparity keeps our forum moderators hopping!