1996 Speedster Questions

[daveyjones]

:stupid:


Okay 2 questions... Just bought a 1996 Speedster 170hp... been out 3 different days with it... It's both awesome, and a pain in the rear...

Here's the dumb question first ... how do you fill it with gas (easily)? First time, I'll admit, I was surprised to see some gas shoot out of the side of the boat, a little embarrassing... Do you have actually open the engine compartment to see when the tank is full? Or is there some trick?

Second question (and it seems others are having the same issues) is this... How hard should it be to plane with this boat?.. With a full tank of gas, it won't plane with 2 adults 180lbs, 155lbs each in back. Have to do the shuffle passenger forward, still a bit of a stuggle, then ok.. Even when my wife drove, and I skiied it took a long time (and me dragging across the lake) to plane.. Normal or something wrong? Once going it seemed to run smooth, but topped out around 40.. And I put in new plugs... Ran premium gas...

I thought this thing would take off like crazy with that kind of HP, but maybe 170hp is different with a jet boat than a normal outboard... Please help so I don't take it in for no reason.

Thanks!

 

[imnothot02]

sounds to me that you have a cavitation problem, your wear ring (s) may be worn, also what i do on my 95 when i fuel is set the pump to fast for the first 15 gal, then the slowest setting, works every time, but takes a while..., you could watch it, but i have to much stuff over the motor to lift the cover up...

 

[daveyjones]

Honestly I had to google cavitation, maybe that's it... I'll be bringing it in already after owning for less than a week. Not sure if I got screwed over, paid $3500 cash.... Hopefully won't cost me a lot more... (probably will).

When you slow up filling up the gas, how do you know when to stop? Because if you fill it near full, when you turn the boat sharp, won't gas still be shot out the side?

 

[Elite6]

Won't a boat fill just like a car and the pump will shutoff when you reach full?

 

[daveyjones]

Nope (that's what I rightly assumed) there is an inner feed and an outer, the pump didn't shut off and after the tank and neck were full, it just spilled over to the outer neck and started shooting out a black plastic cap looking thing which is a couple feet forward on the starboard side. Felt pretty bad too because even when I was on the lake fuel was spilling out after cornering... I guess I forfeit my Green Peace award this year, and at $4.19 a gallon, I don't want to waste a drop!

 

[JPX]

When you overfill, you're pushing gas out of the vent - there is a check valve at the end of the vent tube from the gas tank to the hull wall.

Same effect with a very full tank and lots of force in a turn pushing gas through the vent tube from the tank.

I prefer to fuel when I can see the tank body to prevent overfilling.

But yeah, these boats do not have a "kickback" on the pump nozzle like a car does when it is full.

 

[daveyjones]

So I assume the very fullest you want to fill that tank is to the top of the semi-transparent tank, otherwise in a sharp corner you'll throw gas.... good to know, but I don't really get the point of the (easy) exit.