First Launch 2025
 

Personal best early start for me in 2025 here in Illinois. Just took a southerly wind advisory🤣
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...1b340dab7.jpeghttps://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...34717f6d0f.jpg

That’s that global warming!

Damn, that’s early. Are you in Illinois ? What’s the temp out there ? Maybe midday of April for me, but no earlier

Water temp was 51, air temp high 70s. I’m in Illinois!!!

That’ll probably be pretty hard to beat.

I saw 77 in my truck today here in WI, but still ice on the lakes…

Kind of weird walking through the woods sweating in a t-shirt with solid ice in the puddles yet.

On a side note the speed and rpms are down. The boat sounds healthy and runs great but power is down. I noticed at the end of the season last year more black suit on the transom but the AF gauge was reading leaner. Could the rings be worn out causing oil to blow by into the combustion chamber? It runs great, sounds good but power is down about 500 rpm on both motors from Spring of last year. These are NA 588s with approximately 300 hours. It did 90mph today so it's plenty fast for me but Spring of last year 98mph at 500 more RPM so something is going on.

New fuel or old fuel? How old are fuel filters?

Fuel was almost empty and i added 31 gallons before the launch. I replaced fuel filters one year ago.

Son of a - it was 47 in Virginia today. I haven’t even thought about changing water pumps yet and need to put the valve covers back on after checking valve lash this week because I told myself “it’s still winter and I’m bored”.

Better investigate, summertime rebuilds suck. Been there....

I’m hoping it’s just clogged fuel filters from bad gas last year since both motors have very similar performance loss at the same time. That would explain leaner AF readings not being able to properly flow fuel but I’m still at a loss with oily suit on transom unless it’s coming from drives, steering and/or tabs.

SecondWind,

As someone who's suffered the renowned 496 "transom soot", your "oily soot" tells me a very RICH exhaust. In your case, it may be incomplete combustion. Fouled plugs from your winterizing program....? You also may be burning some oil. Just speculating. Really just replying to follow.

Thanks. Brad.

Yes I’m not sure what’s going on. I’m going to start by replacing fuel filters since that’s easy and see if that helps improve performance and normalizes AF readings.

SecondWind,

Pulled the spark plugs? What did they look like?

Thanks. Brad.

So the fuel tank sat almost empty all winter?

Ryan,

Curious to see where this leads. I've heard compelling arguments on all sides of this question. Leave it full. Leave it empty. Half full.... :rolleyes:

Thanks. Brad.

Yes it did.

I’m not sure I could do that if my life depended on it. Absolutely no room to work in the engine compartment and my back is stiff as a board. I’m going to take it in and have a professional take a look.

SecondWind,

Ya know.... Sometimes I wish I had twins.... :angry-smiley-038:

Thanks. Brad.

Interesting. I could see an argument for leaving it COMPLETELY empty, but i always thought it was pretty black and white that a small amount of fuel gels up quicker than a large amount.

Ryan,

The guy that used to do all my dad's boat work, and subsequently mine, until he got out of it, told me to leave it completely full, so there was no air to collect water vapor. I discovered that was a problem, due to expansion forcing fuel out of the vent (it was very low on our Rinker). Then someone else suggested leaving enough for that expansion. I used to do that, and didn't have much of an issue. Others have told me to completely empty the tank, them completely fill it at the start of the season and run that tank out as much as possible before filling up again. I now try and leave the tanks as empty as I can over the winter, but I keep the boat in my shop, which is relatively temperature stable. I do fill it up pretty much full at the beginning of the season, then run it out before refueling again, however.

I have always been under the impression that it was water vapor finding its way into the fuel in the tank. A full tank doesn't allow any air to carry in said water vapor. and empty tank won't have any fuel to absorb said water vapor. A little fuel will only absorb so much, and can then be diluted pretty well fill with a complete fill-up. The various explanations all make sense for different reasons.

I don't ever recall hearing about fuel gelling unless it was allowed to set for a really long time. Not saying it won't, just that I'm never heard mention of it, nor have I ever seen it happen with either of our boats within one off-season.

Thanks. Brad.

been too cold here still

Gasoline loses octane the longer it sits. From all my summer/winter toys and letting vehicles sit, I learned to keep as little in tank as possible for storage. Turn off any fuel petcocks you may have. If your storage time turns into an extended period and you did not properly drain the entire system the gasoline will become un-burnable crap with horrible smell. With less gas in the tank it's easier to drain in that case. If your boat sits for a few months, the gas will probably burn, but not correctly. In that case, having less gas leaves you room to ad lots of fresh gas. Storage also gives sediment time to get to the bottom of the tank and pickup and will help quickly clog filters. Always clean/change them after storage after running the engine awhile to help get rid of that stuff. Never hear of gasoline gelling, only diesel.

That is my route. Burn every drop possible in fall and refill w fresh in spring. Ran out with the Seadoo a couple times:picard1: