I know I haven't posted here much but I do lurk a lot. I also know that some of you have followed my story over on the classic mako site. So I thought I'd share my experience here and maybe give a little back to this board. Just to bring you up to speed, I have totally re-worked my 87 Mako 254 to include a new/full transom, bracket, deck mods, new paint inside and out, new non-skid, new electronics and digital gauges (Lowrance), new wiring, new batteries, freshwater washdown, etc. And of course, the pride of the entire project - a pair of 2007 ETEC 175's
I did 98 percent of the work myself. Untold hours and lots of blood, sweat and tears spanning an 8 month period and my Mako 254 project finally splashed down successfully just yesterday (may 7th).
I was a bit nervous about what to expect considering I was going from a notched transom with single 250 to a full/bracketed transom with a pair of 175's, but to say that I am pleased would be the understatement of the century. I simply cannot believe the difference in ride and comfort. She runs like a raped ape and feels much more solid and comfortable than she ever has before. My fears began to evaporate as soon as she slid off the trailer. I was really worried that she was going to squat too much, that the scuppers would be underwater, etc. The fact is that I could hardly notice a difference in the attitude of the boat at rest. I'm not even going to have to adjust the water line on my epoxy bottom paint.
The 175 ETECs fired right off with just a touch of the key. They are so quiet at idle that I honestly had trouble hearing them running. They are super smooth and smoke free as well. Running 19 pitch BRP Rebel props, they absolutely threw the boat on plane. Even though the ETECs require no break-in, I still took it a little easy for the first hour or so. She would plane off at somewhere around 3,000 rpms. At 3200, she was running around 22 knots. At around 3700, she was running around 28 knots and burning around 7 gph per side. I touched 42 knots at around 5,000 rpm and still had a tiny bit of throttle left. I couldn't put the throttles to the pins however because of the positition of the dual key switch. The starboard shift lever would contact the starboard key and shut down the engine. I'm going to have to either re-locate the key switch or move the throttle back slightly to stern. Please don't hold my feet to the fire on rpm/speed/fuel burn numbers just yet. It was a bit snotty offshore yesterday which made it tough to get accurate readings. I will update the numbers, just as soon as I get a chance.
Even though I had a little throttle left, I don't think I would've reached the desired WOT rpm range. I think I'd have gotten somewhere around 5100-5200 max. In speaking with my mechanic, we believe that the engines are buried a little too deep on the transom though. So, we are going to raise them 2 holes and re-evaluate.
With the exception of the nav light and the saltwater washdown pump, ALL of the electrical systems came to life right on cue. The Nav light had a blown fuse or else it would've worked as well. The saltwater washdown pump, I'd simply forgotten to connect one of the leads to the switch on the back of the switch panel. Considering that I had completely re-wired the entire boat, it was pretty satisfying to only have those two minor issues to deal with.
I was having way too much fun to even think about taking pics and I won't be able to run her again for about a week. So you guys will just have to wait for your boat porn just a little longer. I think you'll like what you see when the time comes though.
In a nutshell, the ETECs are simply bad to the bone.
Now I'm off for a few's to celebrate.
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. I put together my Procraft a few years ago and can definately relate to the first ride jitters.
