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Input on a few new boat issues

bcpnick

bcpnick

Nick
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As I mentioned in this thread, the maiden voyage on the new boat was awesome. It wasn't without some issues though. It's sad to say, but my dealer is less than helpful when it comes to Bennington boats, outboard motors or anything of the sort. They do Malibu and Cobalt and everything else seems like such a bother to them. My biggest complaint about Bennington is that I'm stuck with one dealer and they seem to have no motivation to do better (once the sale is done) and Bennington seems to do nothing to gauge customer satisfaction with dealers. Just to give you an idea, they told me that the only difference between an S and  G was the number of metal rails on the back end, and that the three tube package with the elliptical tube is called 'PSP', amongst many, many other things. So yeah... not a lot of faith there. So before I go to them, I like to try and figure it out myself. I'd love any input from others on the forum on these things.

Our new boat has the full Sea Star power assist hydraulic steering upgrade. According to the build site, I was expecting something like this:

"Power-Assist Steering is powered by an electronically controlled hydraulic pump connected to the SeaStar® System. The electric pump "does the work for you" so the driver can expect incredible handing and turning with little effort. Recommended for engines rated 150 hp or greater."

The reality was that it felt pretty much like the steering on my 22 SSX with the F90 with no power steering whatsoever. It took lots of work to turn. I see the Sea Star thing on the motor, and there is a pump under the seat in front of the helm. How do I make sure it is working? Is there a switch to turn it on? It was quite a bit of work to turn that wheel. Not even close to "does the work for you: or "turning with little effort" as described. Knowing that this boat has sat in my dealer's showroom since Feb 2013, I wouldn't be surprised at all if something just isn't connected or no fluid or something else stupid. Thoughts?

Performance wise, things were really fun and everyone was impressed, but still way below my expectations. I had a full 50+ gallon tank of gas and 11 people on board. Of those, there were only 6 adults and the rest were kids between 14 and 5. Not a lot of other gear on board, just a couple small coolers, snacks, tubes, jackets, etc. When I first opened it up, I started trimming it up and had bad cavitation. I'd never even experienced anything like it. The boat seemed like it was just dying in the water until I slowed down, trimmed down and tried again. I thought there was a real problem at first. I figured out if I just left the motor all the way down, then it ran pretty good, but my max speed was still about 28 mph. I forget RPMs, but it was in the high 5's. The prop is an aluminum Quicksilver 15.25 x 15p at around 5k altitude. I'm going to take it out in the next day or two without any people and see how it performs, but it is a little concerning. 

When I pulled the boat from the water, I found the trailer bunks were way off. I didn't pay attention when we took delivery, but my wife says she saw that the toons were pushing the outside edges of the bunks. When we loaded, we would have one toon in line, and the other on top of the outer bunk. After several tries, we finally got it so that it was just pushing the outside edge of both bunks. I'm torn on whether to ask the dealer to fix this or just do it myself. Seems as simple as measuring the centers on the toons and then readjusting the bunks. Bizarre how that didn't get done right to begin with. I should probably cover up the carpet while I'm at it. 

And in the not-so-concerning category, we had an armrest break off the captains chair while my wife was sitting in it. That's the second maiden voyage this year that this happened to us. Bennington said last time that they had a 'bad batch' and quickly replaced it. I suppose this was in the same batch, but thought I'd mention it in case anyone else has that issue. 

Sounds like complaining, but I get that there are little issues. I just wish I had a dealer that knew more than I did about these boats. I'd appreciate any input you guys might have. 
 
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Oh, forgot one thing. My throttle feels like it has an elastic that keeps pulling it back toward neutral. It won't stay in the same place so if I don't keep holding it down, I slow down. Is there an easy adjustment for that?
 
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bcpnick said:
Oh, forgot one thing. My throttle feels like it has an elastic that keeps pulling it back toward neutral. It won't stay in the same place so if I don't keep holding it down, I slow down. Is there an easy adjustment for that?
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Hey bcpnick, I can't speak to the rest, but my throttle does the same thing.  I would say it's pretty decent up until 50-75% throttle, but anything beyond that and it won't hold.

Regarding your speed, would you say the wait was balanced bow to stern?  I've ran 35 with my 150hp and SPS with 9 people, however, last night I had 9 with 6 of them at the very front...it struggled to get on plane and I could hardly break 25.
 
That's odd. I never had that throttle issue with my last boat. I thought it was pretty annoying that it wouldn't stay in place. It will be especially bad when I go to Lake Powell and have 30+ miles to go. Much nicer to just set it and drive. 

As for load, it was usually pretty balanced, but I did one run when I asked everyone to move to the back of the boat. That's when I clocked the 28mph. When I first started clocking it, I was having those cavitation issues and was hitting around 26-27 before it would happen. I'm really interested to see what I hit without the loaded boat, but it still seems like I should be well into the 30's even with a crowd. 
 
Sorry you have a yo-yo for a dealer.  I seldom see premium brand boats with sub-par dealers.

Is there a switch to cut on the Power Steering Assist?  Yes.  You know it's working when your can make a tight turn with one finger.

You might want to go out and see how your boat performs with 1/2 tank of fuel and two people.  You should be capable of hitting your motor's redline--no more, no less.  And if your boat ventilates a little in a tight turn trimmed fully up, that's normal.  Drop the motor down, and it shouldn't ventilate in a tight turn lightly loaded. 

Some that carry heavy loads often need a spare propeller with a couple less inches of pitch for when you take the whole family with you.

You have a handle on how to adjust your trailer.  I have inside bolsters/guides on my trailer, and I too need to adjust them about 4" on each side to get the toons to center on the V bunks.
 
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Corporate Bennington needs to know about this particular dealers "needed education" of their Bennington line and the misinformation you received during your buying process.......on the other hand he must be doing something right or his sales must be adequate to still be a Bennington dealership.

As for your other concerns.........take your boat back to them and let them handle it. That's what they're there for!

11 people on your maiden voyage is a lot. I know you had another boat before but this one is new to you and you're relatively unfamiliar with the full operation with it. It's going to take some time to learn what you can and can not do. (Like when you trimmed up and it cavitated real bad) Take it out yourself or with one other person and see how it handles.......
 
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SnakeByte said:
Hey bcpnick, I can't speak to the rest, but my throttle does the same thing.  I would say it's pretty decent up until 50-75% throttle, but anything beyond that and it won't hold.

Regarding your speed, would you say the wait was balanced bow to stern?  I've ran 35 with my 150hp and SPS with 9 people, however, last night I had 9 with 6 of them at the very front...it struggled to get on plane and I could hardly break 25.
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Nick,

 Look on the front lower edge of your throttle housing, there should be an adjustment screw for tension for the throttle.
 
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There is no switch to turn on power steering. The easiest way to know if it's working is to get the mrs to drive, slowly, have everything off(radio) and stick your head by it and listen, then have her do full steering turns. It could be a blown fuse on the power hub back by the batteries, or it could be the fluid is low/air in the line. If I remember correctly there is a clear tube under the helm, don't ask me what to look for in it, but there was talk about it on here before.

For the ventilation issues, it could also very well be that particular prop. Size and pitch seem about right, that's pretty close if not the same as I was running on my 200SHO, although mine was the Yamaha Saltwater Series II design. I was hitting 44 with mine just me and the Mrs, full tank.
 
Depending on your throttle controller style my last 2 have a rubber plug on the side of the throttle lever and the tension adjustment screw is on the side, pop the rubber plug out and it takes an allen wrench to set it tighter.
 
Diito on the throttle not staying at one speed, thanks SemperFi I will look today when I put the boat in
 
Ditto on the throttle thing too. Will check for that adjustment as well. Thanks : )

(Amazing the things to learn on this site!! Everybody's questions seem to help everyone else! Also, nice to run it past ya'll to see if the experiences are "normal" or not so much)

bcpnick: there's a capacity limit listed somewhere in case that's an issue to keep track of. On our 22 SFX w/tri-toon SPS package it's like 13 people or 1300 some pounds.

Regarding the SeaStar steering. On a recent thread someone said the pump under the helm should have a label with the name SeaStar. Our pump didn't but there's a sticker on the steering column. There's also a label back where the hydraulic steering attaches to the motor. If this helps any.

I'd ask the dealer to make it right until it is right. If they know you're a squeaky wheel they'll do whatever they can to satisfy you so you won't come back! haha
 
I installed the power assist on our boat and connected it to one of the unused switches on the dash. I believe from the factory it is switched on with the ignition. Might be a fuse problem (there is a 40 amp fuse in the power wire ) for the pump, check by the battery. My other opinion is you should have a stainless prop on a 200 hp motor. Obviously your dealer is NOT pontoon savy.
 
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I agree that you need a different prop made of SS.

Cheers, Steve
 
What would I do without this forum? :)

I decided to let the dealer try to resolve the issues. I'm still going to go fiddle with the throttle and power steering to see if I can't get it working first though. An SS prop is high on my list but I want to figure out for sure what I need first. Might be taking it out tonight with a lighter load to see how it performs with just 1 or 2 of us. 
 
Good strategy to take them to the dealer first. Straight line cavitation can be due to load distribution, prop selection, and engine height so all three need to be worked together.
 
Dealer ignored me on everything today, but I found that there is a single purple wire that runs from the SeaStar pump to the helm that is not connected to anything. I figure this must be the ignition connection but I'm not sure what it's supposed to connect to. It is just a raw cut wire on the end with no connections. I do see a couple connectors coming out the back of the ignition with nothing on them though. 

I also took the boat out again, just me and my brother. We're both big boys, so it's like having 3-4 people on board. It was really windy with huge chop and we hit 35.6. I took a run on my own while he got the trailer and I hit 37.1 at about 5900 in rough water and 2/3 of a 50 gal tank of gas. I was able to trim the motor up close to half way without cavitation until I made turns. So I know I have to go to stainless, but does this sound like maybe I'm set right on prop size and pitch (15.25 x 15p)? Any other thoughts?
 
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