Top End Loss

[Sheperd80]

2008 Triton 19x2, 225 ProXS, 26p Tempest Plus
1B520053

Hey everyone. With my injectors replaced and idle issues apparently resolved i decided to test this boats performance and compare to when i first bought it almost a year ago.

Ive seen the high and low results at similar conditions, low 60s water temp, 60s to 70s air temp. But the lower performance has persisted through a variety of conditions seemingly unaffected.


>Before: driver only, light load
WOT 5850 rpm, 70 mph

>After: driver and passenger, tourney load
WOT 5400 rpm, 62 mph


My tourney load is what id consider pretty modest. 14 rods, maybe 15 large and 10 small plano boxes, a small toolkit, rain gear, etc. Light load was maybe 8 rods and half as much tackle and gear.

Regardless of conditions it will get around 5400 rpm. No faults showing on vessview. Havent had a chance to test without a passenger.

Is a typical tournament load and passenger enough to drop performance that much? I understand "typical load" is subjective but it seems like a huge drop to me.

Thaks for looking.

[lpugh]

Inspect/replace compressor belt, check belt tensioner with in lb torque wrench (70 in lbs before it reaches the stop
Inspect carefully for under cowl water leaks (white residue) as it may cause belt to slip
check available voltage from all coils (Should be able to jump a .625 air gap to ground)
Inspect plugs and check compression, use a camera or bore scope to inspect for turned sleeves on all cylinders
Check fuel/air pressures including the low pressure at VST on the water while problem is present
Have computer history scanned and post data here for analysis
Drain and inspect lower unit lube to be sure no issues are present there

These steps should locate the problem in most cases assuming not a problem with boat, setup or prop

[Sheperd80]

Ok thanks ill start going through all this.

[Sheperd80]

Ive checked compression, air and high and low fuel pressures. Dont have the numbers in front of me but everything was in spec at that time. Ill check the rest soon and report back, thanks

[lpugh]

Ive checked compression, air and high and low fuel pressures. Dont have the numbers in front of me but everything was in spec at that time. Ill check the rest soon and report back, thanks

Must be checked on the water at WOT

[EuropeanAM]

Have there been ANY (and I do mean ANY) changes in boat setup or loading? These items often compound to drastically affect performance:

-Trolling Motor or equipment ATTACHED to trolling motor

-Graphs changed or added

-Stacking Brackets to accommodate multiple graphs

-Bow-Mounted Batteries or GPS Equipment

-Jackplate

-Power Poles

-Battery Changes (ESPECIALLY removal of AGM or Lead Acid Batteries)

Don't overlook the other items Leon mentioned, especially the belt and tensioner spring test.

[Sheperd80]

I added a 2nd talon recently (boat had one when i bought it). Replaced a wet cell battery with larger agm. Replaced fortex with ghost.

No doubt i gained some weight, but i saw this performance drop before any of those changes. And it hasnt gotten any worse with all that added weight.

[Kb444fishing]

just one thing to throw a 26 tempest seems a little large for a 225 i ran a 25 and lately went with 24 fury i really like.

[lpugh]

just one thing to throw a 26 tempest seems a little large for a 225 i ran a 25 and lately went with 24 fury i really like.

Yep 24 Fury or 25 tempest then get it reworked for peak performance

[JOE54]

^^^^^^+ 1 + leakdown and bore scope cyls or cyl drop test on lake at wot to isolate low cyl , gotta have a foundation to build on

[Sheperd80]

I decided to replace plugs since they were run with the bad injectors. Ran spark test as recommended, all coils good. Compressor belt appears in great shape, still waiting on in/lbs toque wrench for that test. There is some white residue inside at the back of the cowling.

Reduced my load some and hit the water with no passenger and got the same result. I had some nice flat water to make some long runs. It seems no matter what i do it just hits a wall at 5400 rpm regardless of load, passenger, conditions, etc.

Willing to trying other props but this boat has run 5800+ rpm with this 26 tempest.

So you're saying i should run WoT with the upper cowling off and gauges in my lap to do these tests? I get a pretty big wash over the cowling when i come off pad, even if i do it slowly. Come to think of it that wash is coming in higher than it used to. Maybe I'm running rear-heavy with an added talon and an upsized battery? But again, i saw this performance drop before adding those things.

[JOE54]

NO SIR im not on the water cds /G3 testing can be done with cowling ON routing of test leads so cowl can be latched , never run that engine with cowl off , this test is to determine non working cyl

[smoken86]

I have no doubt the 225 will turn a 26 tempest on that hull. I do know that prop will drop performance quickly if anything happens to it as I run the same one. I would be curious on the last time the fuel filter and or bulb has been changed. It seems to me like you may be either not getting full throttle or not getting enough fuel.

[JOE54]

same boat ?same engine model ? same load ? same set up ? same altitude ?

[Sheperd80]

Fuel filter is fairly new, checked yesterday and it looks good, no debris in vst.

Primer bulb and all fuel lines were replaced earlier this year.

Tested belt tensioner, consistently breaks 70 in/lbs about 1/3 of the way through.

[EuropeanAM]

Have you double checked to make sure you're actually achieving 100% (FULL) WOT?

From the FAQ: Hotfoot Adjustment/Setup

[Sheperd80]

Thanks Don i went ahead and followed the steps in that thread. The engine throttle stop is set to about 1/8" gap. My hotfoot stop however was leaving a much larger gap over 1/4". I adjusted the hot foot to match plus a quarter turn, and am now getting that 1/8" gap.

Seems i can tighten both a bit further but didnt have time to pull the vst today.

Will water test tomorrow.

Im curious though. The hotfoot stop screw was locked down tight. Not sure how that wouldve changed since i first ran this boat at higher rpm months ago. Maybe still something else going on.

Next week ill be getting history printout and some tests done.

[EuropeanAM]

Throttle cable can stretch over time.

[Sheperd80]

That makes sense. Took it out yesterday and saw around 5600 rpm and 66 mph before the chine walk kicked in. Not bad for tourney load and a full tank of gas. It definitely still had some power to spare. I think the chine walk may be kicking in earlier than before because of imbalance. Adding the second talon definitely has it leaning starboard pretty hard, but 90% of the time i have a passenger which solves that.

[JOE54]

engine may be lil low on height can add to chine walk , strange that talon would cause lean my tr 21 only leaned on hole shot , upper 70 mph + one hand light light load , with or without TALON , hole shot lean can be adjusted