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2275 QCW I/O....Top Speed of 22mph

djm

djm

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Hey guys.....bit of a long read...but

Im totally stumped so before I take the boat back to the dealer I wanted to see if anyone has had something like this happen.

We got our 2275 QCW I/O with the 5.7 Volvo Penta last year about this time and absolutely loved it.

Boat would do 40 to 42 mph all day long, granted that was with only 2 people on board and about a half tank of gas.

We put about 15 hours on it before taking it in for it's first service and have the toons cleaned as we leave it in the water at Saguaro Lake.

We have only been out about 5 times this season but I have yet to get the boat over 22mph, She idles great when started and still has plenty of initial pull before planing. The first few times I wasn't really concerned because we had 6-7 people on the boat, full tank of fuel and all the gear.

Decided to go out yesterday with the family yesterday and with only 4 of us on the boat and minimal gear and a half a tank of fuel no matter how I had her trimmed I was just shy of 23mph with the rpm's maxed at 4200

My question is will the algae build up on the bottom of the toons cause that much drag? I took a small scrubbing brush to it yesterday and the stuff came right off so I don't feel like its causing that much of a problem but it may be.

The motor doesn't sound bad or feel like its sputtering so I would like to rule out a spark plug or fuel filter issue. I thought it could possibly be a speedometer issue with all the algae build up but it works perfectly between 0-22mph

I may go out this week and use gps and start the process of elimination.

Anything else I should check?

Thanks for your time.
 
DJM:

I don't know what your problem is, but I agree that you need to manually check the accuracy of your speedometer. On such a high line boat, you've got to have a GPS speedometer, though. It's hard to believe that algae would cut you that much speed. Is the motor running right?

When you bought your boat, you made a very serious investment. If at all possible, you really need to get that boat out of the water whenever you're not using it. That would mean storing it out of the water, on the trailer or having it on a lift.

My boat's sitting on a rack completely out of the water, and we do virtually no hull maintenance. My recently retired Starcraft pontoon is 28 years old, and doesn't have a single dent in the hull--and I attribute its lasting so long due to keeping it dry.
 
I'm more intrigued that you have a 2275 QCW I/O because as far as I can remember they never made one. That's one of the reasons we didn't get an I/O was because we had to have a 2575. Was this just a typo? Sorry, I don't know the answer to the dilemma, other than what was suggested, double check the speedo, and if you can, give a quick scrub down of the toons and see if it makes a difference. Double check your prop nut too to make sure it's tight, I seem to remember a story a while back where an owner was getting poor performance so was taking it back to the dock, put it in reverse and the prop came off! oh and is yours the dual prop?
 
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Your 5.7L Volvo Penta I/O has about 300 HP right? With 4 or 6 people onboard, minimal gear and half tank of fuel it should easily still do in the mid 30's.....You said that the I/O is running fine, not sputtering and still achieves 4200 Max RPMs.............mechanically it sounds all right but something is either weighing that boat down or putting a serious drag on it...............like the algae growth. When you took it out the first time how dirty were the tubes and how long ago was that????? I would start w/a good thorough cleaning and go from there. Either jump in and start scrubbing or take it out and power wash them..........
 
With my toons very dirty I dropped 10 -15 m p h. Might also check to see if you have water in your toons. Only 2 things I can think of.

Good luck.
 
Ok great, thanks for the replies. Definitely a good place to start eliminating the obvious.

Hey Bulldog, yeah sorry it's the 2575. I did check the props and nut and couldn't find any damage or anything missing/loose.

BigKahuna, I was also thinking we should easily still see low to mid 30's with that many people on board including the dirty pontoons. Motor sounds good and idles perfectly, we took the boat out of the water in January had everything cleaned and serviced and put it back in the water in the middle of May. Im thinking I will try to have the guys at the Marina pull it out once a month and power wash the bottom of the tubes if it causes that much hindrance..

Rockie, 10-15mph seems like a lot but it wouldn't surprise me based on current performance, we have bilges in all 3 tubes and I constantly have them running. We only get a small amount of water in the center after driving it for a while. I think i will just try and get it on the trailer this week and start inspecting it and cleaning it.

I will keep you posted with my findings!!
 
My 24sslx went from 40 mph down to 22 mph after sitting in the water for 4 months.I would lose about 2 mph each weekend.I pressure washed the toons last weekend on a trailer so I couldnt get the bottom part real good that was on the bunks.I got back to 35mph.I guess I wont see 40mph ever again since the toons wont be new and shiny again.I also think with the third toon it makes the algae more of a drag than normal.
 
Any chance you got a bad prop hub? May not slip at low idle mid power range, but could be slipping at the upper range but the hub hasn't completely let go in the prop yet.
 
mtudb24 said:
Any chance you got a bad prop hub? May not slip at low idle mid power range, but could be slipping at the upper range but the hub hasn't completely let go in the prop yet.
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He would notice if it was a bad prop hub. It would cavitate so bad it would be like he was in neutral. I had a "spun prop" on my first boat............
 
So I went to the lake this past weekend and decided to do some manual labor and see how much crud I could get off with a scrubbing brush. I got most of the surface algae off the outer pontoons but they still felt like 100 grit sandpaper. An ice scraper may have been the ticket!!

I couldn't get the back half of the center pontoon scrubbed as it was a little tight under there and a little sketchy so i figured I would wait till I could the boat out of the water.

I was amazed to notice we gained quite a few mph's back getting it to top out at 30 on a slight chop so definitely very promising.

Im going to have the marina acid wash the 3 toons this week and have them buffed out as much as possible. I have heard wax helps keep the algae at bay but not sure which type to use.

Just glad im on the right track.......cant believe a small layer of algae can cause that much drag!!
 
There's no substitution for a boat lift to keep the boat out of the water. Either winch/cables, cantilever style or float style lifts.

Otherwise, it's best to use a ScotchBrite pad every time you run the boat from the waterline down.

Kept out of the water and kept dry, a pontoon has a lifespan of 30 years+. I still have a 1985 model Starcraft without a scratch on it.
 
Thanks for reporting back djm! I guess this is proof that algae on the toons CAN cause a large drop in speed! Happy to hear that beautiful boat is back on its way to "smooth sailing" !! Haha get it, smooth! Haha
 
djm said:
So I went to the lake this past weekend and decided to do some manual labor and see how much crud I could get off with a scrubbing brush. I got most of the surface algae off the outer pontoons but they still felt like 100 grit sandpaper. An ice scraper may have been the ticket!!

I couldn't get the back half of the center pontoon scrubbed as it was a little tight under there and a little sketchy so i figured I would wait till I could the boat out of the water.

I was amazed to notice we gained quite a few mph's back getting it to top out at 30 on a slight chop so definitely very promising.

Im going to have the marina acid wash the 3 toons this week and have them buffed out as much as possible. I have heard wax helps keep the algae at bay but not sure which type to use.

Just glad im on the right track.......cant believe a small layer of algae can cause that much drag!!
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Rather than wax use the Sharkhide, sure your dealer can get it, if not order it on Amazon and have them apply it if you don't want to do it yourself
 
Definitely smoother Cadilac :)

Thanks Link, I will pick up some Sharkhide asap
 
I think the issue is, the Sharkhide protect the toons from discoloration/oxidation, but it does not prevent algae build up ....correct ???

You still have to clean them every so often, dont you ...... I mean it might help slow down the growth, but you still get some right?
 
Yup, it's considered a metal protectant and will not do what an anti fouling paint does. Algae and crap will still grow on a Sharkhide treated pontoon..........
 
Daril Dave, I was going to take issue with you saying that sharkhide does not prevent algae because my toons look pretty good but the two of you are correct. I went to sharkhide's website and on the FAQ's it says that it does not protect against algae. Here is the link to the FAQ's for those that are interested in more details: http://www.sharkhide.com/mpfaq.html
 
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My problem is that getting the boat completely clean of all tarnishing is more work than just polishing the boat. I'd say it might take 10 hours cleaning with lacquer cleaner after polishing a boat to 1 hour applying Sharkhide. The Sharkhide smears every tiny amount of black oxide in the cracks, etc.

I'm getting ready now to do my yearly polish this week.
 
No sweat Link...........I remember talking to the main guy at Sharkhide (forgot his name) before I applied it to my tubes 4 seasons ago and that was one of the things he told me. Not that algae would be a problem since we take the boat out after every use. It's probably time for me to have them acid washed again. Some areas especially where the Sharkhide has rubbed/worn off is beginning to look crappy..............
 
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His name is Clint.
 
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