rouxsterre

Finally got out on the water today.
About 4 foot, blowing hard, sloppy as hell. Not a great day for benchmarking the gauges.
What I got is sketchy as hell.
Water pressure up to about 65 mph is between 30-35 psi. At WOT, it jumps up well past 35.
So - I went back to the original performance report as described by R. Fountain.
What it reads is (paraphrase): "@ 5050 rpm, 80 mph, WP both port and stbd, 35+". . . ??!! ?
I guess that's how they ship from the factory. . . More research needed.

US1 Fountain

Sounds like we are in the same boat with the WP.

rouxsterre

Between us, I'm sure a viable, economical solution will manifest itself . . . I'll contact Dick Simon Marine in the morning. See what the local authorized Fountain dealer has to say. For now, I am tempering the 'need for speed' as mandated by my WP gauge. Mid- upper 60's for now . . . nothing over 35 psi, for controlled bursts. I'll post what I hear back . . . ain't no thang. . . .
BTW - do you have low-water pickups?

US1 Fountain

Yep....... LWP

I'm thinking of locating 2 of the old style t-stat housing assemblies that use 2 water lines to each manifold. Our risers have a pipe plug in them that would be used for the second set of hoses. This may also help with the issue of the riser gaskets that are prone to leaking????? Possibly the high water pressure is the main cause of the gaskets leaking. Just thinking out loud.

Curt

US1 let me allow you to gain from my unfortunate experience. When I bought my 32 it had through the hull water intakes. Aparently the guy I bought it from had a bad habbit of running the drives into the mud and cooking his motors. So his mechanic made it idiot proof by installing the through hull intake. It worked. However, fast forward to my removing the water pumps and installing crossovers in their place. Instant water pressure problems. As it turns out the water pumps were limiting the amount of water that could enter the blocks. My oil would turn to mud within an hour. My mechanic created a bleeder hose and ran it out the side of the boat right above where the bilge pump dump is located. That reduced the pressure to an acceptable level. No more problems. The next year, in search of more speed, I had the through the hull intakes removed. They had to be a big drag, being located right on the bottom of the boat. Once the water intake was back in the drive foot where it belongs, the bleeder hose was no longer needed. Something tells me your problem is the low water pickups.
Good luck!
Curt.

rouxsterre

I'm thinking the same thing . . . gotta be the LWP's. I have read on this forum something about plugging two of the four holes. Supposedly a 2mph top-end gain by doing so. However, nothing definitive has been posted about the impact on water pressure, or the best method for plugging them. Would it be possible to temporarily block these holes, and monitor the results? Any suggestions as to how to do it temporarily, for testing purposes?

US1 Fountain

I don't know. I would think that in order for the LWP to be the cause, water would have to blow past the impellor in the pump faster than the pump could move the water itself. Even when in nuetral, I can give the the throttle a quick rap and the wp will increase. Not a great deal more. That is with no ramming effect from the LWP moving thru the water. My last boat with both side pickup, and then later the dual pickup, the pressure wouldn't raise as much as this one does. I have to consider the size of the incoming water lines, size of water passage and hose thru the drive itself, and compare that against the lines going out of the motor to the exhaust. It would seem that there is plenty of hose size for the exiting water to keep up with the incoming, providing there is no restriction. Where I keep on going back to the newer style t-stat housing, or possibly the gasket area at the manifold to riser area????? Thoughts????

I might try plugging a covering of the pickup holes on 1 of my drives with duct tape this weekend just for chits and grins and see what happens. Then can compare both motors at same time.

rouxsterre

I keep going back to my local Fountain dealer, Dick Simon, with limited results. He tells me he is still awaiting a call back from Merc Marine. I'll try again tomorrow.
Re: the t'stat housing - what year did the housing change? Did earlier 32's experience the same problem? I wonder do all current 32's have this problem?

US1 Fountain

Dude,
Why you selling so soon, gas tank getting low? What does the shore power operate....Power inverter, Battery Charger? If I recall, it has an outlet in the cabin.
Thanks

Good Luck with the sell.

20th

What marina are you keeping your 32 at?