1990 Grady 228g feels slow

[Jacktrop99]

I have no clue why but my boat just feels slower then it has with a 02 200 4 stroke Yamaha, I can still rev it out and I will admit I do beat the hell outa I just want some input on why it feels a little slow. I might just be getting normal with a heavy underpowered boat,

at 500 hours and 300 where fresh water

 

[PointedRose]

1) do you keep in the water and is there bottom growth?
2) I’d pull the spark plugs and replace and check compression of the cylinders

 

[Mustang65fbk]

First and foremost, have you had your motor scoped for the dry exhaust corrosion issue that many early 2000's 4 stroke Yamaha's are known to have? From the research that I've done, it seems like it's more oftentimes found in the F225's but there are many reports out there of owners having issues with F150's, F200's and even F250's. If it's feeling sluggish or struggling to make power or get up to WOT, then you might want to drop the lower unit, look up and see what it looks like inside the motor. How long have you owned the motor for? Did you buy it brand new and did you put all 500 of those hours on the motor? When you say that it feels slow, does that mean that it feels slow getting up onto a plane or that it won't top out at WOT or how exactly does it feel slow? Also, does it feel slow now compared to the last time that you had the boat out or has it felt like this for awhile? Have you changed the boat up at all since when it last felt "normal"? The last time it felt normal was the fuel tank low and then you filled it all the way up? The maximum amount of horsepower for your year and model of boat is 280hp, and given that your boat is a 1990 that's going to be 280hp with a 2 stroke motor, which will be lighter than a 4 stroke. Being 80hp shy of the max along with having a heavier 4 stroke motor as opposed to a 2 stroke is not helping you out any.

On top of that, the stock fuel tank for your boat is 93 gallons, of which a gallon of fuel weighs about 6lbs/gal, so it makes a huge difference in weight if the tank is full to the brim or running on fumes. If you have a full tank you'll have roughly 560lbs worth of fuel in the boat. Comparatively though, if you only had say 1/4 of a tank or less you'd be at roughly 140lbs or less, which is a difference of over 420lbs. A weight savings of 420lbs just in fuel is going to be quite noticeable, especially if you're underpowered to begin with, and on top of that, if you had any other people or other gear with you on board the last time as well. It unfortunately might be something to where you need to only run the boat at half a tank of fuel or very minimal weight in terms of fishing gear or the amount of people you have on board with you. Obviously don't skimp on safety gear like life jackets and so forth, but what is the boat mainly used for? I see fishing rods in the first picture, so I'm assuming you use it mostly for fishing? If you're looking to remedy the situation, I'd first look possibly into trim tabs if you don't already have them as they'll help you get up on a plane more easily. Then possibly look into getting a different sized/pitch prop if it's still feeling sluggish and/or you want a better hole shot. My thinking is you probably added a bunch of fuel from the last time you used it and added a considerable amount of weight to is since last time. But I could be wrong, although 500 hours isn't exactly very much for a 4 stroke motor, especially one that's now 20 years old?

 

[SeanC]

Check the outboard pod to make sure there isn’t water in it.

 

[DennisG01]

Can we start with what "feels slower" means? You need to quantify this for us as "feelings" don't work very well for diagnosis. Maybe it's not really slower and it's "just you", you know? What was/is your top end speed (same load/conditions) and WOT RPM? What does "rev it out" mean?

What does "I might just be getting normal with a heavy underpowered boat," mean? That doesn't make sense. Are you saying YOU weren't normal, before?

I don't mean to ask so many questions, but with such a vague post it's hard to offer anything but very generalized answers. Meaning, there's a huge number of things to check that range from hull issues to running gear issues to fuel issues to engine issues to operator error or misperception.

 

[blynch]

If you're having trouble determining speed, there are free GPS-based smartphone speedometer apps that you could try to use to get a ballpark. People here with similar boats might be able to give you a sense of whether you're in the expected range of WOT speed if you can give them a number.

 

[Jacktrop99]

Can we start with what "feels slower" means? You need to quantify this for us as "feelings" don't work very well for diagnosis. Maybe it's not really slower and it's "just you", you know? What was/is your top end speed (same load/conditions) and WOT RPM? What does "rev it out" mean?

What does "I might just be getting normal with a heavy underpowered boat," mean? That doesn't make sense. Are you saying YOU weren't normal, before?

I don't mean to ask so many questions, but with such a vague post it's hard to offer anything but very generalized answers. Meaning, there's a huge number of things to check that range from hull issues to running gear issues to fuel issues to engine issues to operator error or misperception.

Sorry, don’t why I couldn’t spell at the time but I hit around 32 at wot at 5500

 

[Jacktrop99]

First and foremost, have you had your motor scoped for the dry exhaust corrosion issue that many early 2000's 4 stroke Yamaha's are known to have? From the research that I've done, it seems like it's more oftentimes found in the F225's but there are many reports out there of owners having issues with F150's, F200's and even F250's. If it's feeling sluggish or struggling to make power or get up to WOT, then you might want to drop the lower unit, look up and see what it looks like inside the motor. How long have you owned the motor for? Did you buy it brand new and did you put all 500 of those hours on the motor? When you say that it feels slow, does that mean that it feels slow getting up onto a plane or that it won't top out at WOT or how exactly does it feel slow? Also, does it feel slow now compared to the last time that you had the boat out or has it felt like this for awhile? Have you changed the boat up at all since when it last felt "normal"? The last time it felt normal was the fuel tank low and then you filled it all the way up? The maximum amount of horsepower for your year and model of boat is 280hp, and given that your boat is a 1990 that's going to be 280hp with a 2 stroke motor, which will be lighter than a 4 stroke. Being 80hp shy of the max along with having a heavier 4 stroke motor as opposed to a 2 stroke is not helping you out any.

On top of that, the stock fuel tank for your boat is 93 gallons, of which a gallon of fuel weighs about 6lbs/gal, so it makes a huge difference in weight if the tank is full to the brim or running on fumes. If you have a full tank you'll have roughly 560lbs worth of fuel in the boat. Comparatively though, if you only had say 1/4 of a tank or less you'd be at roughly 140lbs or less, which is a difference of over 420lbs. A weight savings of 420lbs just in fuel is going to be quite noticeable, especially if you're underpowered to begin with, and on top of that, if you had any other people or other gear with you on board the last time as well. It unfortunately might be something to where you need to only run the boat at half a tank of fuel or very minimal weight in terms of fishing gear or the amount of people you have on board with you. Obviously don't skimp on safety gear like life jackets and so forth, but what is the boat mainly used for? I see fishing rods in the first picture, so I'm assuming you use it mostly for fishing? If you're looking to remedy the situation, I'd first look possibly into trim tabs if you don't already have them as they'll help you get up on a plane more easily. Then possibly look into getting a different sized/pitch prop if it's still feeling sluggish and/or you want a better hole shot. My thinking is you probably added a bunch of fuel from the last time you used it and added a considerable amount of weight to is since last time. But I could be wrong, although 500 hours isn't exactly very much for a 4 stroke motor, especially one that's now 20 years old?

Sorry for not being able to spell in the post for some reason, but it was used in freshwater up to 300 hours and I put another 200 on it, in salt water conditions. I hit 32 at 5500 at wot and it feels like it had good torque, but maybe the boat is just heavy

 

[Jacktrop99]

First and foremost, have you had your motor scoped for the dry exhaust corrosion issue that many early 2000's 4 stroke Yamaha's are known to have? From the research that I've done, it seems like it's more oftentimes found in the F225's but there are many reports out there of owners having issues with F150's, F200's and even F250's. If it's feeling sluggish or struggling to make power or get up to WOT, then you might want to drop the lower unit, look up and see what it looks like inside the motor. How long have you owned the motor for? Did you buy it brand new and did you put all 500 of those hours on the motor? When you say that it feels slow, does that mean that it feels slow getting up onto a plane or that it won't top out at WOT or how exactly does it feel slow? Also, does it feel slow now compared to the last time that you had the boat out or has it felt like this for awhile? Have you changed the boat up at all since when it last felt "normal"? The last time it felt normal was the fuel tank low and then you filled it all the way up? The maximum amount of horsepower for your year and model of boat is 280hp, and given that your boat is a 1990 that's going to be 280hp with a 2 stroke motor, which will be lighter than a 4 stroke. Being 80hp shy of the max along with having a heavier 4 stroke motor as opposed to a 2 stroke is not helping you out any.

On top of that, the stock fuel tank for your boat is 93 gallons, of which a gallon of fuel weighs about 6lbs/gal, so it makes a huge difference in weight if the tank is full to the brim or running on fumes. If you have a full tank you'll have roughly 560lbs worth of fuel in the boat. Comparatively though, if you only had say 1/4 of a tank or less you'd be at roughly 140lbs or less, which is a difference of over 420lbs. A weight savings of 420lbs just in fuel is going to be quite noticeable, especially if you're underpowered to begin with, and on top of that, if you had any other people or other gear with you on board the last time as well. It unfortunately might be something to where you need to only run the boat at half a tank of fuel or very minimal weight in terms of fishing gear or the amount of people you have on board with you. Obviously don't skimp on safety gear like life jackets and so forth, but what is the boat mainly used for? I see fishing rods in the first picture, so I'm assuming you use it mostly for fishing? If you're looking to remedy the situation, I'd first look possibly into trim tabs if you don't already have them as they'll help you get up on a plane more easily. Then possibly look into getting a different sized/pitch prop if it's still feeling sluggish and/or you want a better hole shot. My thinking is you probably added a bunch of fuel from the last time you used it and added a considerable amount of weight to is since last time. But I could be wrong, although 500 hours isn't exactly very much for a 4 stroke motor, especially one that's now 20 years old?

Don’t know why I couldn’t spell when posting. Anyways I have a 80 gal tank and I normally use it for fishing offshore or going up and down the icw. I don’t mind it offshore cause I can’t go fast enough but in the icw it kinda sucks. I push 32mph at 5500 rpm with 1/4 of my 80 gal tank

 

[DennisG01]

Is that 32MPH GPS speed or gauge speed?

Above, the question of bottom growth was asked, but not answered.

Are you properly trimming the engine?

What diameter and pitch prop is on there?

There are a multitude of reasons why a boat doesn't reach it's normal top speed. From hull issues to engine issues to operator error. Although, if that 5,500 is accurate, then engine power head issues aren't the issue.

Without knowing things like this it's, honestly, useless to talk about anything further. Please answer these questions to help us help you.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Don’t know why I couldn’t spell when posting. Anyways I have a 80 gal tank and I normally use it for fishing offshore or going up and down the icw. I don’t mind it offshore cause I can’t go fast enough but in the icw it kinda sucks. I push 32mph at 5500 rpm with 1/4 of my 80 gal tank

No worries! Has the fuel tank been swapped out for something smaller? It should've come from the factory with a standard 93 gallon fuel tank. Which an extra 13 gallons of fuel can definitely feel noticeable if you're on the heavier side to begin with, as well as low on horsepower. In my opinion, if you're getting up to 32mph @ 5,500rpm then your motor seems like it's doing what it should be doing. You might not have the correct size/pitch of prop on your motor, which isn't getting you all the way to redline which I believe is around 6,100rpm? Anyway, I don't think that is your issue. I think your biggest issue is the fact that you're running a boat that's underpowered and it's a fairly heavy boat to begin with. You've also still yet to mention how the boat "feels slow"... does it feel slow getting up on a plane in that it takes forever to do so? Did it used to go faster at WOT and at a higher rpm? If it's the hole shot that you're talking about feeling slow then things like trim tabs and getting a different size/pitch prop can make a big difference with that. The same thing can be said about going WOT if you're trying to go faster. That being said, at 32mph while @ 5,500rpm... even if you changed a few things and did get up to your redline of around 6,000-6,100rpm I still don't think you'd be going much faster than maybe 35mph. Which to me, at this point it seems like it would be money wasted. If you're wanting to go faster then I'd maybe consider another boat with a larger motor on it, or re-power what you've got, try to find a used F225/F250 or something. But if you're trying to hit a faster top speed then I don't think you're going to see it, even if you did everything possible to do it. I mean if you're thinking or hoping that you'll be able to gain 10mph out of an extra 500rpm then it's simply not going to happen. Like I mentioned above, tell us what "feels slow" means to you so we can give you some better ideas because "feels slow" is a pretty broad term and very subjective to the individual.

 

[Fishtales]

Just spit balling here...
I'd start the hull (growth) and water route first. Check bracket, coring in a few spots (could hull be heavier), bilge areas. Any way to weigh the boat? Do you notice any difference in how it sits in the water when docked? Do you have normal load in the boat? Motors next, start with props, adjustable zincs, motor trims and then internal checks.

 

[Jacktrop99]

No worries! Has the fuel tank been swapped out for something smaller? It should've come from the factory with a standard 93 gallon fuel tank. Which an extra 13 gallons of fuel can definitely feel noticeable if you're on the heavier side to begin with, as well as low on horsepower. In my opinion, if you're getting up to 32mph @ 5,500rpm then your motor seems like it's doing what it should be doing. You might not have the correct size/pitch of prop on your motor, which isn't getting you all the way to redline which I believe is around 6,100rpm? Anyway, I don't think that is your issue. I think your biggest issue is the fact that you're running a boat that's underpowered and it's a fairly heavy boat to begin with. You've also still yet to mention how the boat "feels slow"... does it feel slow getting up on a plane in that it takes forever to do so? Did it used to go faster at WOT and at a higher rpm? If it's the hole shot that you're talking about feeling slow then things like trim tabs and getting a different size/pitch prop can make a big difference with that. The same thing can be said about going WOT if you're trying to go faster. That being said, at 32mph while @ 5,500rpm... even if you changed a few things and did get up to your redline of around 6,000-6,100rpm I still don't think you'd be going much faster than maybe 35mph. Which to me, at this point it seems like it would be money wasted. If you're wanting to go faster then I'd maybe consider another boat with a larger motor on it, or re-power what you've got, try to find a used F225/F250 or something. But if you're trying to hit a faster top speed then I don't think you're going to see it, even if you did everything possible to do it. I mean if you're thinking or hoping that you'll be able to gain 10mph out of an extra 500rpm then it's simply not going to happen. Like I mentioned above, tell us what "feels slow" means to you so we can give you some better ideas because "feels slow" is a pretty broad term and very subjective to the individual.

I have a lot of shallow spots around me in my river and inlet because people tend to not get the sand out and it fills up, so I blew out my gear case and prop, The gear case case looks good and my prop looks straight, I want to say it’s the same prop cause it’s straight but looks like It was bent back. It just feels slower when on plain but I do want to say that I might just be getting normal to the boat and want a faster one like most people. Lastly I haven’t hit wot recently due to my marina not wanting to do work but when they get that don’t I will definitely let you know

 

[Jacktrop99]

Just spit balling here...
I'd start the hull (growth) and water route first. Check bracket, coring in a few spots (could hull be heavier), bilge areas. Any way to weigh the boat? Do you notice any difference in how it sits in the water when docked? Do you have normal load in the boat? Motors next, start with props, adjustable zincs, motor trims and then internal checks.

The boat hull is mint and I just waxed it. It is a 1990 but even the guy that out in are electronics was impressed. I do have to say that one time I took out the bracket plug and a ton of water came out so I’m thinking it might be that cause the stuff that seals it to the boat is all cracked. After the water was out it ran like a “brand new boat”

 

[PointedRose]

I do have to say that one time I took out the bracket plug and a ton of water came out so I’m thinking it might be that cause the stuff that seals it to the boat is all cracked. After the water was out it ran like a “brand new boat”

seems you already have the likely culprit. Others have filled the bracket with tennis balls or other similar floatation. Get that bracket drained, reseal it with some 3m 4200 and report back

 

[TopsulTime]

My old boat (28' cc) and my new (28' w/a) both cruise at 27 kts but with all the protection of the w/a it "feels" slower but it isn't.


32mph or 32 kts? 32 kts is pretty dag on fast on the water.

water is over 8lbs per gallon, driving around with a water filled bracket ...

 

[glacierbaze]

I have a lot of shallow spots around me in my river and inlet because people tend to not get the sand out and it fills up, so I blew out my gear case and prop, The gear case case looks good and my prop looks straight, I want to say it’s the same prop cause it’s straight but looks like It was bent back. It just feels slower when on plain but I do want to say that I might just be getting normal to the boat and want a faster one like most people. Lastly I haven’t hit wot recently due to my marina not wanting to do work but when they get that don’t I will definitely let you know

If you replaced the gear case/lower unit, you need to make sure you got the correct gear ratio, and you can't tell if a prop is the correct pitch, just because it "looks straight".

 

[Jacktrop99]

O

Is that 32MPH GPS speed or gauge speed?

Above, the question of bottom growth was asked, but not answered.

Are you properly trimming the engine?

What diameter and pitch prop is on there?

There are a multitude of reasons why a boat doesn't reach it's normal top speed. From hull issues to engine issues to operator error. Although, if that 5,500 is accurate, then engine power head issues aren't the issue.

Without knowing things like this it's, honestly, useless to talk about anything further. Please answer these questions to help us help you

I have no clue about what prop pitch I have it was a expensive prop from the old owners, I keep it waxed and all with no bottom paint on the boat, I do trim properly when on plain but don’t get much a difference.

 

[Jacktrop99]

My old boat (28' cc) and my new (28' w/a) both cruise at 27 kts but with all the protection of the w/a it "feels" slower but it isn't.


32mph or 32 kts? 32 kts is pretty dag on fast on the water.

water is over 8lbs per gallon, driving around with a water filled bracket ...

I think that this is the problem cause the Calvation plate on the motor or whatever it’s called sits right under the water but when the bracket is drained it rides just on top when I open her up.

 

[DennisG01]

O

I have no clue about what prop pitch I have it was a expensive prop from the old owners, I keep it waxed and all with no bottom paint on the boat, I do trim properly when on plain but don’t get much a difference.

Trimming the boat properly should show a BIG difference in speed and performance. Either you're not doing it as well as can be done and/or the water in the bracket is the issue. However, we're back to a another variable as you mentioned "a ton of water" came out - that's too subjective. Fix the leak and go for another ride, though - see what happens.

You need to physically check what size prop you have. This is a variable and without getting us that info, we can not be as much help. Price is not important.