OUTLAW EAGLE MANUFACTURING

[JamesS]

My Dad, brother and I went out to Ghost for round 2 this afternoon. We tweaked the timing, checked the float levels and adjusted the idle and idle mixture screws before we left. Got out there (Ghost) launched the boat, putted around for awhile (to warm it up), then my Dad started laying the hammer down, two problems here the boat seems slow to get up on plane and when it starts flattening out it bounces / hammers the front end for a bit before it dissipates once higher speeds are reached (see video), also the pump seems to play catch up with the motor.
Anyways my Dad went down stream and low and behold there was ice, just our luck the engine cuts out and won't start (we were still on the ice when this occured), so we paddled it out and tried again no luck, after paddling for some time we tried starting it again, success, short lived though because the boat cut out again and we ended up paddling it the rest of the way (1km+) to the boat launch.
So at the end of the day all I'm left with is questions!,.......why does it porpoise / hammer when planing out?,.........what causes the pump to play catch up with engine rpm ?(have to hold the gas pedal steady and wait for the pump to "hook", as it does it gains speed steadily).
Edit: 49.8mph was the top speed of the day .


Picture 1

Picture 2

Video (we hit 49.8mph at the end of this clip)

[JamesS]

I'm waiting for the video to load right now, hang on .

[Xerophobic]

If you're running a steel nozzle I wouldn't be too surprised that the hull is slow to plane out. I find even with a berk nozzle its not the best out of the hole, and certainly not when its trimmed way up which is what I have to do to get the bow up good and high where it wants to be for fast running.
I often have to get my navigator to lean over the dash to get on plane. (Im also running a bashed up impellor which is likely also cavitating and not helping)
the porposing Im guessing is also a trim issue. Mine will do that at certain speeds and trim, I just learned to drive thru it, usually punching the gas for a few seconds helps
That isn't the fastest speed but Im also surprised you're pulling that at such low rpms. What impellor is in that and will the motor rev higher or are you still babying it cause its new? I was seeing mid to high 50's with the van motor running low 4K's. I run an "AA" impeller
Cheers

(boat looks really sweet btw)

[JamesS]

I think it has an A2 impeller, not sure though?,......yeah I wish it would have run long enough so I could take video of the gps and tach, then I'd know exactly what rpm at what speed.
My Dad and I had it going 60mph or close to it on Saturday night.
So tomorrow we're going to throw a new starter on it (Dad fried the new one trying to get us back), tune it with water running thru the motor (garden hose), look at the idle, idle mixture screws and timing again (we had it sounding pretty nice before we left today) and hopefully we'll be back for round 3 on Saturday.

[MaxPower]

What are you running the timing at? Something is really wrong there to be getting only 60 mph. If that's an A2 it should hook up alot better than that. How is the wear ring clearance. without trim you will have porpoising at certain speeds. You can add a simple trim to the steel nozzles and make a huge difference.

[JamesS]

What are you running the timing at?
We ear timmed it at home before we went to the lake.

Something is really wrong there to be getting only 60 mph.
My Dad and I hit 60mph or so on Saturday night using less than half throttle, .....the pump was still hooking up and we were still gaining speed, problem was we ran out of lake and it was getting dark fast.

If that's an A2 it should hook up alot better than that.
Again I don't know which impeller the boat has,.....this is what someone that came down to look at it told us it had. Here is a picture of the impeller http://community.webshots.com/photo/497721896PsYiCc.

How is the wear ring clearance.
Haven't checked that yet. What are the service limit specs on this?.

We figure the reason the boat died on us was due to flooding. Right now we have the float levels set level front and back. Does anyone set them differently?

Edit: The weird thing is the boat was running mint after we tuned it at home before we hit the lake,..........once warmed up though out on the water it cut out, then started awhile later, then cut out again.

[G-force]

i think you need to see the other side of the impeller to see the cut. also it may have the cut stamped onto it on the discharge side.

my tunnel porpoises badly at any speed below 38 mph on smooth water, down to maybe 30 if the water is real rough. its just a tunnel thing i think! to me it feels like the air in the tunnels isnt packed enough to hold up the bow so it falls, grabs water which makes it dive even more, then the water pushes up on the bow, catches air, air falls out, again again. my boat stalled a bunch when i put a new carb on until i richened it WAY up. now it chugs fuel like a sorority girl doing a keg stand.

[MidwetJetSprint]

Yes its a Tunnel thing most tunnels work at 50mph and above

[MaxPower]

I didn't know you were at half throttle, that sounds better! Better borrow a timing light (in case it's detonating) and set it from 2500 or higher. Do you have a fuel pressure gauge? Maybe it's running out of fuel, (fuel pressure or float level) or does it die instantly like an electrical problem. You need to see the back end of the impeller, on A2's the blades will extend past the inner and outer ring about 1/4 ". Go to A/T website and get all the specs. I think the max. for wear ring was quite big at .025 or .030 but don't quote me.

[JamesS]

Do you have a fuel pressure gauge?
Unfortunately no. We'll check into this if the boat dies again when it hits the lake again.

Maybe it's running out of fuel, (fuel pressure or float level) or does it die instantly like an electrical problem?
The boat didn't run like it did on Saturday, it did run though for awhile up until we were breaking thru a section of ice, then it died and we couldn't get it to fire again until awhile later, when it did fire again it felt like it was loaded up or something (was running like crap), we drove a ways and it died again and wouldn't start after that, thanks in part to the now drained battery.

[MaxPower]

I've had a couple problems with plug wires, running crap wires, and spark jumping from touching the headers. Make sure they aren't touching anything. the boots too. You can get real cheap in-line fuel pressure gauges (around $30)that are handy for trouble shooting.

[JamesS]

Distributor cap, rotor, wires (all MSD) and spark plugs (NGK UR45GPs) are all new and we have the wires run properly. I think putting an in-line fuel pressure gauge on would be a good idea.

[JamesS]

Here's what the boat sounded like last Saturday (Nov. 5) .

Take off from dock

Hitting 60mph or so

[MaxPower]

also, next time it's running, make sure a float isn't stuck and dumping tons of fuel out the vent tube. Even a brand new carb can stick.

[Xerophobic]

What kind of choke if any? I've had a motor run like a$$ only to discover the choke has come on and gotten stuck. If its automatic(i hate them) check that before you do anything crazy. We had the plugs half out before we noticed that under the carb scoop
doh!
Half throttle and 60 is pretty decent. I was told the tunnels will do nothing untill 70+ so I can't see it helping to hold the bow up at 50. Mine seems to run pretty flat at all speeds ive run it so far and that would be 70 tops. My pump cavitates before I get much higher.
I can make the hull ride without the porpoise but then again my trim can be fine tuned with the turn of a threaded rod. Im guessing you have no adjustability at this stage. See how it runs when youre moving faster as Im guessing thats where you'll be running more anyway.
Cheers