Full Ballast - Can't get on plane - HELP!

[Gilligan]

It seems I've lost some power. I have a 2007 24SSV with the 340 engine. It's never seemed to be overly powerful, but it's got the job done. I have less than 60 hours on the boat.

Well the past two weekends when my boat is fully loaded (750# rear with 1100#? front), it won't ever get up to plane. I have to let some water out and even still it takes a long time and I have to move people up front. Just embarrassing.

I just got the upgraded bags last year, and I'm now riding with more people in the boat, but this doesn't seem normal. The boat starts, idles, and sounds perfectly normal.

Also, I'm not sure if this is normal or not, the owners manual states that max RPM is about 5200 or 5600 something like that, but I have never been able to get the engine past 4500 RPM. Is this normal?

Any suggestions would be appreciated or comments as to whether this is normal or not.

[docdrs]

what prop do you have on the boat???? my 340 cat will push 5300 pm with the 14.25 x 14.5 or so

[KG's Supra24]

I have run my 24 with that same setup a couple times and had no issues with getting on plane. I have the 14.25 x 14 prop. I'm thinking you have some sorry of miss. Mine will run over 5000 rpm, although I don't do it much.

Was the plate all the way to the right? It might help.

I don't run that much wright that often because I don't need our but when I have I've always felt it needs a little more view weight bc it feels like it kind of porpoises. still, it gets on plane.

Sorry, no help on what the miss might be.

[Aaron187]

when i have my boat really loaded, i start the boat with the wake plate down then inch it up. That allows the boat plane out more. Also make sure you move people up front, that will help also.

[jaywidhalm]

With that engine, even with that weight, you should still be able to get on plane. There is something else going on here more than a wakeplate setting or people placement. May have to take to a dealer to see if there is an error code occuring.

[Gilligan]

Thanks for all the replies. I had the plate all the way down, and the front of the boat was loaded with as many people as could fit. Sounds like I do have a problem.

One more thing, when it was trying to get on plane, the engine wouldn't get past 3200 RPM so it's not operating at it's peak power.

I would think with 340 HP that the engine and prop should be able to achieve any RPM desired despite MPH. Is this a correct assumption??

[wotan2525]

Sounds like your engine is in limp mode -- a dealer should be able to run a scan and figure out what's going wrong. When was the last time you did a tune-up? Plugs, etc?

[Gilligan]

Sounds like your engine is in limp mode -- a dealer should be able to run a scan and figure out what's going wrong. When was the last time you did a tune-up? Plugs, etc?

Don't think it's limp mode, I dump 1/2 the ballast and I can get up on plane. Limp mode wouldn't let me get up to speed.


I'm going to change the fuel filter and add an enzyme based ethanol treatment.

[jzelt]

How about fuel pressure? Change fuel filter? (If it decreases like that slowly over time, I would guess something isn't right for a mix, but may not be off enough to just not work).
Do you have the Throttle body or MPI?
If throttle body, I would have someone drive and see how much fuel the jets are squirting. That should tell you if you are getting gas or not.

Pull a few spark plugs. How do they look (black?, brown?).

[chrisk]

I vote wrong prop. If you say you upgraded your ballast, you may have needed to upgrade your prop. If you can't hit the boat's maximum RPM's without weight in the boat and the engine and everything sounds and feels fine - then you're being restricted by the pitch of your prop. Ask around and see if you can borrow a prop for a day from someone and see if it fixes the problem. If you can find one, that's a whole lot cheaper than having a mechanic charge you for not fixing it or for fixing something that isn't broken.