15 horse evinrude

[nluchau]

I was out with my boat I just got a month ago. 14 ft Northwood with a 15 horse evinrude. It was windy coming from the south and I was heading south on the lake. The boat got up and going quite well compared to if there is no wind. I know the wind was a factor but it seems like it should be faster even on a calm day. The motor starts and runs good and idles fine. I dont think its had a tune up for a while. Would this help? I did replace the plugs and lower unit oil. I ran some sea foam through it a few weeks ago but didnt seem to help with the speed. I know a small 15 horse will not move it at mach speeds. The boat has a carpeted wood floor with 3 pedestal seats, livewell, battery and fuel tank.

Any idea on this one? Any specific maintenance needed?

Thanks!

[nluchau]

Is it possible the high speed jet is plugged? Is there even one on this model? It's a 1995 model

Just thinking of something I guess.

[eurolarva]

Do you own a GPS? Can you find out what speed you are doing? It would also help to know what RPMs you are spinning but that would be pretty hard to tell if you dont have a guage. In calm water how long does it take for your to get up on plane?

[Slyster]

DO NOT USE ethonal gas in that motor! That trashed my 2 year old 15hp Johsnon carb.. needed $100 of cleaning.. that's lesson #1... use non-oxygenated gas for small 2 strokes. There's a lot of stations that sell it.. see the thread on this topic just a few weeks back on the forum... there's a link in there where to find your nearest station that sells pure gas. Also mixing in SeaFoam every fill helps a lot from what I hear.

[nluchau]

I do not own a GPS. Yeah RPM's is a good question I am unsure of. This is my first boat. I was planing quite well with the wind but without wind it is kinda hard to plane. It might be planing a bit but im not sure. This is the first boat i've owned.

[nluchau]

I use regular unleaded gasoline with tc-w3 2 cycle oil. I get my fuel from Hornbachers express in Fargo.

I could try adding seafoam in my fills I guess.

Could it be that it needs a carb re-adjustment or a clean?

[Surface Tension]

It think your motor is running fine.

Link Rec sold a ton of those boats rigged with 25 hp outboards. The 15 hp is going to have struggle to get on plane with a floor, livewell, battery and seats, you simply have a lot of weight. Moving that weight forward is what you should be doing. First off with you, the battery and gas tank in the stern even a 25 will have some trouble getting on plane. Here is where you should be looking to improve your boats ability to get on plane. Start with moving the gas tank as far forward as possible, even a few feet makes a huge difference. Look for a way to mount your battery in the bow. For testing purposes take the battery out, I guaranty your going to see a huge difference. Experiment with the motors position. Start with moving the pin to the lowest position, from there come up one notch till you get it where the boat will plane but not have the bow plow water.

[cold one sd]

I have 14' Lund with a floor, livewell, storage compartment, and two swivel seats. The battery and gas tank are located in the back of the boat and it takes a little while to get on plane, but once it does it will hit about 17 mph. I think it may take a bit longer to get on plane because it is a 4 stroke. I would think your 2 stroke would have a bit better low end punch than my 4 stroke.

[nluchau]

Surface Tension,

Thank you for the reply. This is the info I would never of thought of. Now the trick will be moving my battery into the front storage container and running wire. Shouldnt be too tough now should it? I have tried a couple pin adjustments already with no real effect. Thank a ton for the reply I appreciate it.

[nluchau]

cold one sd,

I need to get my brothers GPS and give it a go to see the actual speed. I dont think its much but I will try it sometime

[Northlander]

I had a 14' Northwoods with a 15 Evinrude and no matter how I did the weight I couldnt get it to plain out like I thought it should. Put a 25 on it and it moved out very well. Good hole shot and 25 mph with 2 people and gear.

Im guessing you will be waisting a lot of time and effort moving things around only to find out the motor still isnt big enough.

My advise would be to go find a nice used 25 horse if you can. Otherwise make sure when you head out that you have as little gear in your boat as possible.

Oh by the way I spun the hub on that 15 horse twice because it was too small for the boat and load I had in it. I would check that out too. With the 25 I had no problems.

I know a new motor means more $ out of pocket but I know you would be much happier in the long run.

[nluchau]

How do I know if the hub is spun??? Never heard this term before

[eurolarva]

Typically there will be a surge on the motor. If this happens to your motor the best thing to do is to take a permanant marker and mark the prop to the prop nut. If the surge happens again check to see if the line that you drew is still straight. There is hardened rubber inside the prop that breaks when you hit something with the prop. The old days they used shear pins now the rubber acts like a shear pin.

[nluchau]

Dont think I have this issue. Is it easy to take the prop off this motor? I would like to do this and inspect it for possibly any monofilament fishing line.

Whats the best way to remove this prop for inspection?

Thanks!

[nluchau]

Never did the prop as I am unsure about doing. I did have a compression check today and both cylinders read 115.

I am assuming this is ok?

[marine_man]

Yep.. you should be just fine with that compression reading...

It's tough to say for sure how to remove your prop... a lot of the older motors are different, but you probably need to remove the cotter pin at the end of the nut, spin the nut off and slide the prop off. It's pretty easy to do and there is a pretty minimal chance that you'll do any damage removing the prop.. so give it a shot...

marine_man

[nluchau]

Thanks marine_man!

I'll give it a shot

[nluchau]

Got the prop off with just having to remove a cotter pin and a nut. Pulled right off. Found some fishing line but it was in the prop part that I pulled off. I removed it.

Thanks that was easy.

[marine_man]

Glad to hear you figured it out!

marine_man

[DTro]

It's still possible that your prop could be "spun". I don't know the exact details to check it, but it involves marking the hub/prop, take it out for a spin and see the marks are still lined up.

Something doesn't seem right here. I've been in quite a few 15's that push along a 14' with benches, floor and gear, quite nicely.

So my thought is either something is wrong, or you are just used to going very fast

Be sure to make sure that your "fin" on your motor is level with the bottom of your boat.

I have a 25hp and when I bought it, it wouldn't plane and pulled hard and went very slow. I knew something wasn't right and then I discovered that the fin was about 4-5 inches below the hull "plane". I raised the motor up and now it planes very nice and I can almost get 30mph on the GPS.

[nluchau]

Dtro;

Thanks for the input. What fin are you talking about. I have hydrofoil on the motor too. I am gonna take pics so you can see maybe it will be easier.

Thanks for the input I appreciate it.

Nick

[nluchau]

pics

I have the motor locked at the notch 2nd from the bottom. Do I need to the lowest one?

This Wednesday I will hopefully GPS it to see how fast it goes for sure.

Not sure which picture is the best.

[DTro]

Sure looks good to me.

The only thing you might want to try is lowering it to the last notch. Probably won't change much though.

It would be a good gauge to actually see how fast you are going at WOT (wide open throttle) on a GPS. I would say 20 is around average for your setup. If your at like 10, I would say something is wrong.

[PerchJerker]

Perhaps you have a hook in your hull in front of your transom. For heavier aluminum boats it is CRUCIAL that the transom be positioned on top of the last roller for support --- but in your photos it shows that your transom is several inches too far back. The ramification could be a hook in your hull where the weight of the boat is pushing down on the back roller. Not sure if this is the problem, but it's something to consider. Good luck.

[marine_man]

I agree with you perjerker... but with a 15 hp motor and the rollers being a foot from the back it's possible but not likely.

The next thing I'd check is to see if the hub is spun... there's a rubber hub that is between the prop and the driveshaft splines that is meant to absorb shock. Take a white paint marker (or whiteout) or magic marker if that works and put a line between the hub and outside of the prop and between the hub and the splines on the prop. Take the boat out for a spin for a little while and then check to see if the lines still line up. If they don't it's time for a new prop.

marine_man