Hello from UK 215 ec owner

IOW BOB

New Member
Jul 8, 2017
10
Uk
Boat Info
1998 searay 215 5.0 mercruiser
Engines
5.0 mercruiser
Hi from the sunny Isle of Wight which is off the south coast of the UK ..

We bought our searay a 1998 215 express cruiser in may this year .

It's been a tough start to what we hope will be a long ownership .

We've had a few breakdowns and alarms going of but hopefully it's finally all sorted .

I've replaced both manifolds and risers because the starboard one was partly blocked with a thick muddy/ rusty substance
Replaced the thermostat at the same time .

It is a 160 thermostat and engine sits at 170 once warmed up .

Then serviced it and fitted a fuel separator
Also replaced the oil presure /fuel pump cut off switch as this became faulty

Then I had a power steering leak which was a bugger to get to ..

And 3 Weeks ago we had an over heat alarm when under load .
So I pulled it out of the water and pulled all the outdrive off replacing the bellows , gimbal bearing , trim sensors , impellor , water hoses etc .

So it's all back together and running well .

Only issue I'm having is it won't rev above 4000rpm but at the moment that's not a huge issue .

At what temp do the overheat alarms usually go off at ?
Mine went off at 175 or could it have been low pressure ?

My aim is to have it reliable first then worry about performance
 
Last edited:
Welcome to CSR! There's a wealth of information here.

What if you disconnect the linkage from the carb, will it rev past 4000? There might be something restricting the cable from fully engaging the linkage.
 
Hi and welcome....

You don't say what motor and outdrive you have. If you have the 5.0 or 5.7 you are not too far off of what wide open throttle (WOT) should be. You may just have the wrong prop. But before we go down that road let me ask....has the engine been tuned recently, does the throttle open all the way, is the fuel old, is the bottom of the boat clean, do you have a lot of extra gear on board making the boat heavy.

If you can provide answers to these questions we can assist a bit easier.

Shawn
 
Thanks for the replies
Boat was lifted cleaned and anti fouled while The outdrive was serviced.

I've not tried revving on the spot so not touched carb linkages .

Carburettor was stripped and cleaned when we first got her trying to cure a running issue that turned out to be the coil failing .


It has a stainless 3 blade prop .
Doesn't have any real extra weight onboard other than a few beers in the cabin ..

And the fuel is new
We've done maybe 10 hours since it went back in the water after outdrive repairs .

She's a 5.0 v8 with alpha 1 gen 2
 
what pitch is the prop?......I had the same boat previously but with a 5.7 engine.....the original prop on my boat was a 21 pitch 3 blade stainless steel.....not sure if the 5.0 engine would have used the same pitch prop but that should be easy enough to find out from the owner's manual or from Sea Ray if you don't have a manual.....

I know that boat EXTREMELY well and will be glad to try and answer any questions you may have.....

cliff
 
Only issue I'm having is it won't rev above 4000rpm but at the moment that's not a huge issue

When you say "rev" do you mean throttling while not in gear or while you're on plane? As Shawn said, if you're on plane at 4000 RPM, you're not that far off WOT, if you're just throttling the engine while in neutral that's not right.
 
4000 rpm on a plane appears to be the limit .
Won't get any more than that no matter what you do with the trim ..

I have not tried throttling /revving on the spot
 
I'd go back to your original assumption that it's not a huge issue as 4000 RPM is pretty close to WOT for that boat.
 
I would go down one size in pitch. Assuming all else is well, and it sounds like it is, that should get you where you need to be. Better yet....do you have a Prop Shop somewhere close by. I would go see them and make friends.
 
20170819_191453-1-1.jpg 20170819_191453-1.jpg
all I can tell you is this is what the prop looks like .. don't know anything about pitch etc
 
View attachment 50461 View attachment 50462
all I can tell you is this is what the prop looks like .. don't know anything about pitch etc

That's the main reason to find a local prop shop and make friends. Somewhere on the hub of your prop should be numbers stamped in the metal. It might show, 15x18 as an example. The first number is the diameter of the prop and the second is the "pitch". The pitch is defined as: the distance in inches that a propeller will move forward through the water, without slip, in one full revolution. If your prop has too much pitch it will prevent your boat's motor from reaching the maximum recommended RPMs at wide open throttle (WOT). It would be like driving your car in 5th gear at slow speeds. The motor will be "lugging".
 
Hi IOW Bob,
I can't add much to the thread but thought I would say Hi as we have an Express Cruiser at Universal Marina up on the Hamble. We'll keep our eyes out for you whilst on the water.
 
IOW BOB
your WOT is very impotant and yours should be as close to 4800 as poss .its better to be able to slightly over rev as you can control that.You cannot control the excesive load you are putting on that engine by being over propped.Its a bit like going up a steep hill in car towing a trailer and not going down a gear or two_One of the prop suppliers will help you but you need the prop you are running now for the numbers from it so they can work out what you need.To gain 800 rpm you need to go down about 4 from the pitch number or maybe a smaller diameter,ask the prop people.

Dont rev that engine at max revs out off the water if you dont know what you are doing .
Check the throttle plates in the carb under the flame arrester /air filter are fully opening .

all the best john
 

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