Merc Inline won't pull up skier

**David** · 08-21-2019, 06:40 PM

I had a 16' Baja for a few years. It was the Sport 160, they made a bigger 16 foot boat at one time.
A V4 Johnson GT100 would pull me out on one ski at 170 lb, but would not pull out a 180 lb guy on one ski. Both feet in bindings. My smallest prop was a 17" Stiletto prop that ran almost 50 (negative slip so it was tall for 17"). We re-powered with a 115 Etec HO. It would pull my 210 lb brother out on one ski no problem with the same 17" prop.

Since my 99 cube motor experience is similar to yours, I think you need less pitch or more motor. Our theory was its easier to buy horsepower than to loose weight

**FMP** · 08-21-2019, 08:07 PM

Moral of the story, be polite when telling of your brother's 30lb weight gain

**Capt.Insane-o** · 08-22-2019, 12:08 AM

It's whooped. A healthy inline whatever will idle all day at 650 rpm with a 17p prop with no goosing or drama.

**pcrussell50** · 08-22-2019, 08:50 AM

Originally Posted by Capt.Insane-o

It's whooped. A healthy inline whatever will idle all day at 650 rpm with a 17p prop with no goosing or drama.

By “whooped”, I’m guessing you mean too much pressure getting by the rings? He said he was re ringed and popping 120 on all six. So maybe next should be a leak down test?

-Peter

**rock** · 08-22-2019, 10:20 AM

Not positive but my guess is this was a rotating assembly I assembled. We have a couple Merc dealers in the area going thru some major changes and I have acquired several motors in various stages of assembly. If this is who I think it is the block in question is one I got from a 30+ year tech. He had gotten motor ready to assemble, had a change of plans, and I ended up with it in pieces. Block was prepped and I installed 3 new Merc pistons, 3 good used ones with new rings, and new rod bearings. I put rotating assembly on mid and moved on to more time sensitive issues. Fellow from Indiana purchased it to replace a damaged powerhead. I have dealt with labyrinth seal issues before and in my experience when they were the issue it wouldn't even put boat on plane which has me wondering why it will run fine as long as there is no skier. Block looked very good. Crank assembly looked fine. Motor has good compression. I also provided a couple pieces of electronics that I have no idea about condition so if any of that was used I might consider investigating that. The fellow that bought this seemed very mechanical so I imagine he dressed motor correctly. The labyrinth seal question posed earlier has me concerned. If Lynn wants to share his fix, you can pm it Lynn and I will keep it a secret, and this is the correct gentleman I would be more than willing to install fix in order to eliminate one possible cause. Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Rock

**Merc-Cruiser** · 08-22-2019, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by FUJIMO

lots a xtra water in tha bilge?

You would think this would be one of those common-sense items to check, but hey, ya never know.

**kswiatk** · 08-22-2019, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by rock

Not positive but my guess is this was a rotating assembly I assembled. We have a couple Merc dealers in the area going thru some major changes and I have acquired several motors in various stages of assembly. If this is who I think it is the block in question is one I got from a 30+ year tech. He had gotten motor ready to assemble, had a change of plans, and I ended up with it in pieces. Block was prepped and I installed 3 new Merc pistons, 3 good used ones with new rings, and new rod bearings. I put rotating assembly on mid and moved on to more time sensitive issues. Fellow from Indiana purchased it to replace a damaged powerhead. I have dealt with labyrinth seal issues before and in my experience when they were the issue it wouldn't even put boat on plane which has me wondering why it will run fine as long as there is no skier. Block looked very good. Crank assembly looked fine. Motor has good compression. I also provided a couple pieces of electronics that I have no idea about condition so if any of that was used I might consider investigating that. The fellow that bought this seemed very mechanical so I imagine he dressed motor correctly. The labyrinth seal question posed earlier has me concerned. If Lynn wants to share his fix, you can pm it Lynn and I will keep it a secret, and this is the correct gentleman I would be more than willing to install fix in order to eliminate one possible cause. Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Rock

Rock, this is the motor. I am not trying to blame any of my issues on you or have you worry about or fix my engine issues, as I bought a very well priced phd from you as-is, with no guarantees, and I am just happy to get back on the water.
Just trying to chase down some of these issues which are most likely caused by some of the dressed components, since for example, the in gear idle issue happened with both PHDs.

As for the electric components I bought of you, all of them were in much better condition than the ones I had installed and solved a lot of other issues I ran into.

Thank you!

**rock** · 08-22-2019, 09:09 PM

I know your not expecting anything I just want you to know I am willing to help if I can. I really like seeing you young guys getting into the sport and it's often a challenge making some of this older technology work correctly.

Rock

**Gordon02** · 08-22-2019, 09:40 PM

Rock, You Rock!!

**SS Minnow** · 08-22-2019, 09:50 PM

Originally Posted by Gordon02

Rock, You Rock!!

What he said.

**Gordon02** · 08-22-2019, 10:29 PM

I've purchased parts from Rock and he delivered nice, clean items well priced and perfect for my Merc 2.0L build project. We're not done yet, but I like dealing with guys like him!

Gordon

**LakeFever** · 08-23-2019, 09:20 AM

The trouble with two strokes is when you burn one down it can be hard to diagnose the cause until you rebuild it and start testing. In my younger sled racing days I burned down a few in a row before I found the culprit. It only takes a few seconds to torch one too which makes it even worse. Sucks to go through this I know exactly how it feels but im impressed with the sensible and respectful attitudes on how the deal is being handled.

S&f is awesome

**pcrussell50** · 08-23-2019, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by LakeFever

The trouble with two strokes is when you burn one down it can be hard to diagnose the cause until you rebuild it and start testing. In my younger sled racing days I burned down a few in a row before I found the culprit. It only takes a few seconds to torch one too which makes it even worse. Sucks to go through this I know exactly how it feels but im impressed with the sensible and respectful attitudes on how the deal is being handled.

S&f is awesome

"Burn one down" by that I assume you mean, some event that starts causing too much blow by the rings? Maybe even something insidious where you can have a good compression check but bad leak down?

I'd be super curious to find out if the OP is in this same boat (pun intended).

-Peter