200BR 205HP 4.3 v6 with a 19p prop. Slow to plane

K

KansasCity200BR

New Member
Jul 9, 2009
14
Kansas City North of the river
I am hoping someone has a solution to this problem. My 1989 200BR is very slow to come on plane, and will barely go 30mph at 3,000 rpm. Runs real smooth, just very sluggish. I do have a car caburetor on it, but I had this problem before i put the carb on it. The original carb was stolen while it was stored. I have also replaced the electronic module in the distributor and it has a 19 p prop on it. I know the sea ray website says it should have a 13.75 x 21P prop. I purchased the boat several years ago, and have never had it running any better than this, so I can't tell you what has changed. The previous owner said it needed the electronic module and that was the reason they could not use it.

If you have any insight into this please let me know.

Thanks,
 
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I have a friend who is working on the sea ray and we are going to share usage. I actually don't have anything to tow it with right now anyway. I tow my 18 foot jetboat with my cavalier.


He found a problem with the crusty fuel line today and thinks it is blocking some flow. I will update when I know more.
 
Repairing the fuel line didn't help. The most we can get out of the 200BR is 3500 rpm and 35 mph. The motor runs smooth and we can't figure what could be causing the low rpm/speed.

Anywone with an 89 200BR, please tell me what speed and rpm you run.

Thanks,
 
You are trimming up to get higher speed/RPM and trimmed all the way down for hole shot, correct?

There's been quite a few threads recently with similar problems. I would suggest using the search function. It can be a bit tedious, but you'll find a lot info pertaining to your problem. It's quite possible the answer you're looking for is already in another thread.
 
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i have an '89 200BR wti the 4.3 v6. honestly i do not know what prop i have. top end for me is 5,000 rpm and about 47 mph with 4 people and two big coolers. 4,000 is about 34 mph trimmed up.
 
Here is an update: The boat is water logged: weighs 4160 lbs. No improvement in performance yet. We tried taking the gas cap off at the suggestion of a member here, but unfortunately it did not help. We have not yet tried some of the other items on his list. We took it to a local truck stop scale, and they said it's certfied weight is 4160 lbs. The Sea Ray website says the 89 200BR should weigh 2360 dry and I figure about 520 lbs for the shorelander trailer. Then subtract about 60 lbs for a quarter tank of gas, and you get a boat that is overweight by 1220 lbs. Add 4 adults and gear at about 700 lbs, and maybe 35mph is not bad for a boat carrying a load of about 2,000 lbs. lol
 
How did you come up with that trailer weight? Is it a single or tandem axle? A Shoreland'r for a 17' Sea Ray (without brakes) weighs about 500lbs.

Did you also account for the battery/ies? How about stuff in the boat? Is there a spare on the trailer? Also know that the listed dry weight for the boat may not be entirely accurate - in fact, it probably isn't.

Trimming???
 
Short answer, 3 and 5 plug wires were mixed up, we will try it on the water tonight, but I feel sure this fixed it.

Dennis,
I came up with the trialer weight by taking the weight of the 17 foot trailer and adding a little. My trailer is pretty minimal with rollers and the boat hangs past the end of it. It's balanced good, and pulls good, but I suspect it is fairly lightweight for a boat this size. It's a single axle trailer, and it's marked with striping just like the boat, as if it came with the boat new. I did not take into account the battery, or any accesories on the boat. So, it is possible my boat is only 800 - 900 lbs over weight. We sat it in calm water at the dock and looked at the striping along the water line. The boat sits very low in the back, and much higher in the front, with about 2 inches of list toward the left side. The battery is on the left.

Here is big news, I think........... In my efforts to solve the running issues with the sea ray, I returned to zero and started over looking at the boat. After proving the boat is overweight, I got a nice video from a member of this site showing their identical boat pulling an adult wake boarder with four aboard, and a 700 lb's fat sack! So, I returned to looking for more power. I replaced the plugs and tested the compression. All cylinders tested between 172 and 180, so the motor should be good and strong. When looking at the old plugs, I noticed an oddity. Plugs 3 and 5 were almost new looking, like they had never fired. I checked and both 3 and 5 were also getting spark. I was baffled, but proceded with putting in my new plugs. My son and I then checked through the firing order and it looked close to right, but not quite. Once we figured out the bug rotates clockwise, we saw that the 3 and 5 cylinders were reversed. The same two plugs that had looked new. I guess they had been firing when there was no fuel, so they stayed new. We have not done a test on the water, but it started and sounded much healthier. Although it ran fairly smooth before, I have high hopes that this will eliminate our power problems!
 
So - I'm kinda surprised no one has said anything about the car carb on the motor... There is definitely a difference in carbs between marine and automotive applications. Please get that swapped out as quickly as you can! I have 4.3's on mine and used the Edelbrock 1409 with the 4.3 metering rods - not that expensive and it runs great.

Here's a quick link to get a bit of background on this: http://www.cpperformance.com/products/Fuel_Systems/carb-selection.htm
 
Thanks Travis. I read the article and these are good points. I will get a marine carb as soon as I figure out if we are going to keep this boat or not. I will look into the 1409.


I also just looked up the trailer weights from shorelander, and discoverd my trailer probably weighs about 750 lbs. I now figure the boat is closer to 500 lbs over weight when considering the actual trailer weight and the actual "wet" weight of the boat.
 
Victory! :smt038 We solved the problem. It was the reversal of the 3 and 5 spark plug wires. :smt021

The Sea Ray will now come out of the hole and run great with 5 onboard. I was able to get it up to 44 mph at 4500 rpm with my stainless steel quicksilver 19p prop.

Thanks everyone for your help, and I will now be looking for a proper carburetor. I will try to get a good picture of the boat at speed soon, but for now.............

Here's a pic:
IMG_8199.jpg


This is some of my sons friends in the boat, not me.
 
Hi,

I am also a 200BR owner, though mine's a '92, with a 5.0L. I am glad you got that part of the puzzle figured out.

Are you going to look into the weight added by the water logged condition, as you describe it? I would think if that is allowed to go on unchecked, it will cause a lot of mischief to the stringers and deck. Do you pull the drain plug after you retrieve the boat from the water? If so, how much water is released? Do you store it bow-high to allow further draining? These are things that would be good to know.

I hope you enjoy your 200 as much as we enjoy ours!

Good Luck,
NCC

Thanks,
John
 
The boat has been stored for years with the bow up, but with the drains clogged, so I am sure it held a lot of water, and it soaked in. Now I have all the drains clear, and I keep the nose up so it will drain. It does not take on any water while boating, so there is not much water running out when we pull the plug after putting it on the trailer. I plan to just enjoy the boat the rest of this summer, then take the floors apart this winter, and see if it's something I can fix. I would guess you are right that it would cause wood rot, if left un-repaired. I already have a lot of rotten wood around the back seat area. The structure for my two side seats is not sturdy now. I will get some pictures of my boats interior, because I don't think it is the stock configuration. I have a deck that is the width of the boat, and about 4 feet from back to front. The brochures show a small deck, with a seat on each side of the engine. My seats are all forward of the engine compartment.
 
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