[fbinker]

another question from a first time boat owner. went out a week ago, got home checked the bilge area only to find a brownish colored fluid sloshing around, thought for a minute---- checked power steering fluid (empty) crap. cleaned bilge area refilled power steering. Went out today for a ride, half way through the ride I checked the power steering fluid (empty) crap crap. brownish fluid in bilge area. any ideas. thanks

2nd question put a new 4 blade alum. 14.5 x 18pitch prop on last night, tried it today. 4400 RPM 40mph GPS. 2 people in boat 1 adult 205lb 1 child 65lb played with the trim and that was the max speed. about 7 seconds to plan, comes off plan at about 21 mph. not looking to go 55mph but 46-47 would be great. will be pulling kids this summer on tube. am I asking to much. thanks for all the help.

[greencanuck]

4 blade props are a compromise in out of the hole grunt and top end speed. You gain some at the bottom and handling and loose a little on the top end. There are a couple of other members on this site with a simular boat to yours that will be able to help on what to expect and what works best. In my experince you are looking at a stainless 3 blade if you are going to get that kind of gain when you are already at 4400 RPM if you get there at all.

Good luck with your tweaking. I ran three different props in my last boat for three different applications. Ski, Mileage, Speed (Stainless with low chances of hard objects to hit).

[Z 202]

Check the shaft bearing/seals on the PS pump. If nothing is leaking there, move on to the rest of the hoses and connections.

[22empire]

It sounds like you are loosing quite a bit of fluid, I am surprised you don't feel it on the boat when you are driving it..

[fbinker]

got the power steering fixed. Ended up being loose fittings.

[mikeyt]

hi fbinker..

With your prop situation, yes you are asking too much of an 18" pitch 4 blade to hit the 46-47 mph range. I can do that with my 20" pitch 4 blade. The nice thing about 4 blade or even 5 blade props (over a 3 blade) is the extra grip you can get in the low to mid range area. This translates into better control when you are pulling a skiier, tuber or wakeboarder etc. If you just do a lot of cruising then i would suggest a 3 blade - 21" pitch which should get you up around the 50mph mark or a 3 blade - 19" pitch which should get you in the 45-47mph range. What you need to keep in mind is that your rpm's at WOT should be as close to 4800 as possible for maximum efficiency but anything within the 4400 - 4800 range is acceptable. As for materials, a SS prop will perform slightly better than an aluminum prop but at a much higher initial cost. If you are looking to buy a new prop, iboats has a spring sale going on right now with some decent savings on props. (www.iboats.com) As greencanuck suggests, keeping 2 or 3 different props for different applications isnt a bad idea.

[fbinker]

Thanks for the information, I think i'll try that.