brucew

Thanks all for the tips. I'm thinking what ever I do, I'll just get the boat high enough to undo 1 bunk , take it out, replace with a temporary bunk wrapped in a towel, and lower it back down on the trailer. Recarpet and then do the operation for the next bunk. That way the boat wouldn't be suspended above the trailer for a very long. Last Friday, when I had the boat off, I took a closer look and my carpet isn't too bad. My friends boat is in a lot worse shape which got me thinking about mine. So this will probably be a project for next winter. I'll try to remember to post my results then.

I need to repair the trailer bunks and want to do this at home where I've got better tools than trying to do it at a lake. I've got a big shop that I could set up a couple of large beams on supports that span the width of the boat and could attach some come alongs to to the lifting. I've got a 94 Tige tournament ski boat. There is a bow hook and 2 stern hooks that I should be able to attach to for the lifting. Looking at a couple of new boats of similar size, I figure my boat runs around 3,000 lbs. What's the distribution of weight between the stern and bow so I can determine what size beams I'd need. Anyone else set up a home garage lift for trailer repairs? Thanks

last fall I busted the handle off my dipstick on a mercruiser 350, part number 0017-01P3 stamped on. It's a new engine 2010 engine that replaced a 1994. Did a ebay search and found plenty of them, so planned on ordering it the next week. That never happened and now I'm having a hard time finding a replacement. I can find the dipstick and tube from my engine supplier for $60 but that's a bit too much when all I need is the dipstick. Hep appreciated.

The tuning manual is in the boat down at the course lake, so this will be from memory.. I ended up switching to a richer jet and richer metering rods as well as going to the strongest step up springs. Probably richer by 2X or 3X. I'm probably richer then I need to be. I'm a lot more interested in skiing then fiddling. The course lake I ski at is busy, so it's not the best place to fiddle. So I need to haul the boat to a public lake and pay an $18 launch fee to do my fiddling. I'm a better fiddler now, but my first couple of trys was a learning experience without a lot of results. In October, when my lake isn't as busy, I'll try to fine tune my fiddling.

Okay, back from the course and everything worked well. I will need to monitor to see if I'm running richer then I need. Then it's back to fiddling. Idle was okay today. Really bothered me that I needed to do this with a new engine. Out of the box, the Edelbrock carb had a flat spot that no one would want, even in a big powerboat that you're just cruising with. If I had my choice, I'd probably go with the Holley 4160 for a ski boat. A great source of information is Florida Inboard Marine. They really understand marine performance carbs.Â

Okay, it's much better now. Total RPM movement is around 20 RPM from load to noload. Engine is noticeable more responsive. I made it 2 stages richer in cruise and 3 stages richer in power mode per the Edlebrock tuning manual. I've only been able to simulate a skier load by doing a slight turn and then straightening out. Earlier this technique had been able to reproduce the same problem I saw in the course. Now I don't have the problem. Idle is a bit rough, so it's probably too rich. Going to the course this Friday and will update again with results. I didn't do the test for air leaks - not that comfortable spraying starter fluid on a hot engine even with a fire extinguisher handy.Â

agh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I spent the last couple of hours going back and forth to create a detail post and then when I went add your comment, I had timed out and the post was then erased by the login screen. So this is a much condensed version. I found the 9th bolt. It's the long bronze bolt that the air filter on It intially looked like it just went into the air horn, not the carb body. The manual only says to remove 8 tork bolts. I'm going to install option #18 in the tuning manual, page 26 which is 3 stages richer on power and 2 on cruise. I've looked into Holley carbs. Probably want 4150 which has a manual secondary, not 4160 which has a vacuum secondary. Calling around if they also do special jetting from this for a ski boat. Going to the lake now for another test, will update later. Thanks for the continued help.Â

Well, I finally got out to the lake to test the changes and I'm VERY DISAPPOINTED with Edelbrock carbs. I've had enough and will be switching to Holley. I installed the stronger silver step up springs and they helped some. Still way to much hesitation and surging to use in the course. So I took out the metering kit and looked for a metering rod that would give me a richer mixture according to the Edelbrock tuning manual. That's when I found out that the metering kit only includes about 1/2 of the metering rods/ jets combinations mentioned in the manual. It's easy to change out the metering rods, more effort to pull the air horn to replace the jets. Especially when the boat is rocking in the water and the sun is rapidly setting. So I took off all 8 tork screws to remove the air horn. Tapped it a few times to get it lose but it was still stuck. Tapped a straight blade screwdriver in the crack between the carb body and air horn and pryed up to seperate the two. Got them slightly apart but I felt if I pryed any harder, I could break the air horn. So I gave up. This is new engine with a new carb that I bought from Michigan Motorz. I told them it was for a ski boat and the gave me a setup that is non functional. I've lost over a month of the ski season messing with this. I can understand tuning a carb to get maximum performance but it should not be necessary to get adequate perormance.  I will talking with Michigan Motorz tomorrow to see how they plan to correct this problem I'm extremely frustrated with the situation. Bruce

Thanks DW I got the metering kit and put in the silver stronger springs. Made sure the existing metering rods were correct. I didn't take off the air horn to check the metering jets. Pulled a spark plug - looks just about perfect, maybe slightly lean but certainly not rich. I'm thinking my problem isn't the secondary or the accelerator pump. PP is only trying to make slight adjustments, not a heavy throttle increase. So hopefully making things a bit richer will solve my problem. Will be going to the lake to try things out this weekend.

Okay, I checked the accelerator linkage and it's in the top hole which would make it more aggressive. Don't have the boat set up to run right now, but earlier I moved the throttle by hand while the engine was running and the pump output some gas. I'm getting a metering kit this afternoon and will start with putting in step stage springs. Edlebrock recommends using stiffer springs, pink or silver, to keep the rods up to make the fuel richer. DW - you said lighter springs which I think we make the mixture leaner not richer. The wedge is installed between the intake manifold and carb. New gaskets were placed on either side of the wedge. I don't see any leaks, the vacuum port is covered with a plastic fitting to seal it off.

Thanks for all the comments. The engine and carb are new, not rebuilt. the carb is an edelbrock 1409 marine carb. From what I've seen, the problem isn't an overactive secondary but more of non-responsive carb. The RPM drops off about 50 RPM and PP is telling the engine to pick up RPM. I've run the boat with the engine cover off, and PP is aggressively pulling the throttle forward. Eventually the engine responds, but PP has been saying to pickup RPM and nothing has happened. Then, the engine finally responds and surges around 100 RPM. So you're getting a net of +/- 50 RPM which is way too much. My friend I ski with has a MPI 350 Mercruiser and the RPM variation is only about 10 RPM.  I've heard that the Holley has a primary and secondary accelerator pump but the Edelbrock only has a primary. I've been able to reproduce the problem at 30, 32 and 34 MPH, so the problem doesn't appear to be isolated to a certain speed. Tomorrow I should be getting my metering kit and will give it a try. The vendor I bought the engine from could have provided me with either a Edelbrock or Holley. Seems they didn't provide me with the right configuration for a tournament ski boat. Â

Hi, I've got a 1994 Tige slalom that I had to replace the engine. I got a 350 mercruiser with an edelbrock carb. I mainly use the boat in the course and have perfect pass. The engine has a flat spot in it's throttle response. When the skier load increases, it appears that Perfect Pass is doing its job, increasing the the throttle. But the engine initially doesn't respond, Perfect pass keeps increasing the throttle and then the boat surges. The RPM drops about 50 and then jumps about about 100 RPM. Perfect Pass normally would keep the throttle plus/minus about 10 -20 RPM. I talked with Edelbrock and they suggested getting a metering kit to change the carb jets and stage springs. So now my questions Has anyone had to modify their carburater to get a more responsive engine? Has anyone used a Edelbrock carb for a slalom boat? I'm more familiar with Holy. Thanks, Bruce   Â

Hi I've got a 1994 Tige Slalom boat that I use exclusively in the course. I need to replace the steeering system - helm and cable. I'm considering the Teleflex 4.2 No Feedback rotary with tilt helm as this seems most similar to what I have. However, the No Feedback System has a clutch and the mfg indicates that there will be some slight play when you start to turn the wheel to engage the clutch. Is the play a problem for slight adjustments in the course? What systems come with newer in slalom boats? I've been advised by mfg that if I had rotary before, then stick with rotary as there might not be enough room unnder the dash for a rack. thanks Bruce  ÂÂÂÂ