Top Speed Sea Rar 230 Bow Rider

[Tejaus]

Top Speed Sea Ray 230 Bow Rider

Hello,

First post.

I recently aquirred a 1999 Sea Ray 230 BR with a 7.4L MPI and Bravo I drive, About 185 hours on the meter. What kind of top speed should I be looking at?

With my phone as a GPS, 3/4 of a tank of fuel and just myself aboard I hit 49 mph at about 4500 rpm. It has a Mirage Plus 19P prop on it. If I try and trim it up to the max trim limit the prop will start to cavitate and I have to trim it down. What should I expect for the top end? New plugs were installed before I bought it. I thought about doing an injector cleaning with a 3M kit or similar.

The Sea Ray prop chart for that year shows a 21P Mirage so I'm not sure why it has a 19P unless the PO wanted the extra grunt for skiing. The prop itself has minor dings on the leading edges but not the tips. I clamped a dial indicator to the gear case to measure runout. The prop shaft has only about 0.002" measured at the machined radius between the splines and threads.

The prop doesn't measure that well. Setting up the indicator to touch the tips as I rotate the prop one of the tips is about 1/8 to 3/16 farther back than the other two. It doesn't appear to have struck anything so I'm not sure why it's like that.

Installed a new sea water impeller kit with housing, new water circ pump, new exhaust flappers.

 

[surfinjoe]

It sounds like you are in the range where you should be. My 220 SD does about 55 MPH on the speedo (maybe about 50 on GPS). I have Bravo III 28P props w/ 350 MAG. 19P sounds a bit low. If you have the $$ I would also buy a 21P prop and see what happens.

BTW - at full trim up your prop will cavitate.

 

[wish2fish]

with gas over $4 per gallon is this really an issue? :huh:

I've had mine up to 75 mph. Wouldn't feel comfortable going any faster. Worry about how the trailer tires would do. :grin:

 

[surfinjoe]

I don't care about the price of gas. I have a boat to have fun

with gas over $4 per gallon is this really an issue? :huh:

I've had mine up to 75 mph. Wouldn't feel comfortable going any faster. Worry about how the trailer tires would do. :grin:

 

[Tejaus]

75 miles an hour! My boat has a wheel but no tires maybe that's what it is.

Yes the gas is getting pricing and that why I'm trying to fine tune the motor. To get it to the best efficiency. If your lug an engine its burning more gas. WOT is just a benchmark not necessarily the speed I drive. With that big block it just inhales the fuel at WOT. I heard about someone who filled up their triple engine GFBL boat the other day at the local gas pump on the water. His bill was around $2,600.00!


Some other things I'm going to check are the fuel/water separator, distributor cap and rotor, timing although that's a little tricky with the MPI motor. Run some Sea Foam etc.

As far as the cavitation I wonder if a 21P would allow me to trim up higher than the 19P? I'll find a 21P Mirage Plus I suppose.