Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

Hello All,

I wanted to ask a quick question regarding my boat - it's owned between me and my dad. It's either a 1994 or 1995 Z225 with a 7.4L Bravo One engine.

Since the day we began using it a while back, it has had major issues when taking off and plaining out. Has anyone ever dealt with this issue or resolved it before? Or is it just a big heavy boat that takes some time to plain and generally struggles out of the hole?

To be more in depth; I have to slam the throttle to full blast or very close to depending on the number of people in the boat. Tabs down and drive right down. The front end gets fairly high - I've always just thought the weight distribution was the reason for this.

We have sort of just accepted it and never tried to resolve the issue - once plained it rides fairly well but I was in another boat with a 454 engine on the weekend and the power of that boat really made me wonder how mine struggles so much.

The only immediate solution I can think of is changing the filter/flame restrictor. My dad cleaned it out over the winter and said it was fairly clogged. The filter also made a loud whistling noise when taking off - I have yet to use it this year to see if the cleaning resolved any issues. I have started looking at K&N filters though as I have a feeling it may help.

Shouldn't this boat with that engine just blast out of the water with a lot less throttle than what I'm giving?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

First off welcome aboard. Second, what prop (diameter & pitch) is on your boat now? What is the RPM's at WOT (top speed)? Before you start tearing the engine apart and adding/changing parts lets make sure this isn't just a prop issue.

When u have a few minutes, read thru the STICKYS at the top of the Prop Forum so that you understand what we are talking about.

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

It's a 21 Mirage stainless steel plus prop. I would have to figure out the rpms this weekend. Would still like to hear if anyone's dealt with a similar issue.

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

What Mikey just said.
If the engine isn't operating at the optimum RPM range(4400 to just about 5000) , it doesn't matter what you do to the engine.
Need to see what your WOT is and go from there.

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

To answer that specific question, yes quite often. That's why i asked the questions that i did.

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

Ok I'll be taking it out this weekend and will get back with the info.

Thanks for the help, much appreciated!

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

Hey everyone, my apologies I took a little longer to get this info.

the WOT for my engine is 4200 - 4600. Hoping to get any opinions on how I can get this boat to get out of the hole quicker.

21 pitch Mirage + prop

Thanks again and any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

Sigh... this is why i gave you the link to the STICKYS in the Prop forum. Pay particular attention to the BASIC PROPELLOR RULES STICKY. And you still haven't answered the question about what your WOT rpms are with that prop on your boat. We already know what the range is for a 7.4

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

So go full throttle on the water and track the RPM's?

My apologies I'm fairly new to this stuff and yes I should have read through those details prior. I'm on a rough lake as well so I really haven't had a chance to do so. I will get back and hopefully you can make a recommendation.

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

Exactly. Need to know what the rpms are when you reach top speed. What lake in Ontario are you boating on?

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

Lake Erie, been really rough so far this year.

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

We boat out of Turkey Point. Where do you put in on Erie? Last weekend was pretty rough but the previous two were amazing. Almost no wind and very calm waters. Best of luck solving your issue!

Following Up on question about take off
 

Hi all,

I was unable to find my original thread on this. I am having issues with my 1994 Z225 taking off. There was a question around the WOT which I found out this weekend.

WOT as per the dashboard was 53 mph @ 4500 RPM.
The prop is a stainless steel 21 pitch mirage+

The main issue was when the boat takes off it tends to struggle (usually have to full throttle unless 1 or 2 people in the boat) and it can take some time to plain. Hoping to hear any recommendations on how I can get this boat out of the hole quicker.

Thanks all for the help!

Re: Following Up on question about take off
 

Since its clear you may not understand the information provided in the STICKYS i referred to earlier and rather than just keep going around in circles here are my suggestions: You can increase your rpms at WOT by 200 or so which means you need to either drop your pitch by 1" to a 20" OR add one blade and buy a 4 blade 21" prop. Either one will help improve your hole shot. And as long as you dont run at WOT for any length of time you could consider buying a 20" - 4 blade prop which will increase your WOT rpms by about 300. You can also consider adding a pair of SMART TABS (do a site search for more information) which will also help get your boat onto plane faster and keep it there longer. Adding Smart Tabs will also help reduce fuel consumption slightly.

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

the feedback is much appreciated and I really do lean towards hearing specific feedback when I can. My apologies on the Stickys.

The other thing I wanted to ask about which was from my original message - would there be any positives to putting on a high performance air intake/flame arrestor?

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

I'll leave that one to the guys who are into modifying engines. I can tell you a couple of things though, it will have to be a marine-ized intake/flame arrestor and not just an automobile one and at best you might add 1 mph and it wont affect your hole shot.

Re: Question re: 1994/95 Z225 take off
 

ok good to know - again I really appreciate the feedback!