"Congradulations" Looks Great.

hah, was just going to ask if that was the boat ramp at buckeye on the west end.... Then I read the post. I spent many weekends there as a kid. Boats looking Great!!

You're right! west end of buckeye.
who knows of a mercury outboard hi performance dealer that theyd reccommend for me to go to for my mercury 280's? I'm looking for someone who knows what they're doing in the ohio indiana, kentucky area, that could do diagnostic tuning on my 280's installed on my skater, Help!

What seems to be the issue? Spend-a-day marina here at indian lake has a pretty good service department but like many marinas I don't think they have much experience with the high performance 2 strokes. One of the 28 skaters here with 300x motors had issues several years ago and between my dad and spend-a-day they ended up getting it figured out.

What is it doing David?

David,
Bring that thing down to FLA to test and you can hook up with Marty at Diamond Marine. They are the best!!

I've got one engine that wants to idle at 2100 rpm, and one that is hard to start, I'm in the process of buying a scanner so that I can have a go at fixing myself

A few things I would check are, obviously, cable settings, motor linkages and the TPI's....

Just out or curiosity, and I don't think it would affect idling, but how do the 2.5's handle fuel now days with the 10% ethanol blend? Do they need to be richened up?

I'm planning on running non ethanol fuel in the skater. Good question though

I had the same plan with my 28 when I got it. It wasn't until the fuel lines started clogging up did I realize that my "Non Ethanol" gas station was a hoax. Be sure of your source.

good advice, I'm going to the local airport for avgas

You can buy a pretty inexpensive ethanol tester and check the fuel in your tanks after you buy non-ethonal fuel. Also go on line and check out the ACES fuel additive. The stuff is awesome regarding octane. i have been using it in my motors for over a year with no issues. You can also look up a thread on Scream and Fly where Jay Smith Racing did a bunch of testing using 2.5 motors. He also gave it his approval.

Cool DR, thats good to know, I've wondered how effective those additives are

On extended river runs where I have to buy 87 octane on the water, I add Aces to my fuel. "Very impressive" It runs as good or better than my "street" 91, and the motors run cleaner.

great info, I'll be be a volume buyer for sure

the one inside stbrd engine's intake gasket was leaking at the bottom and it also had a chipped reed. Ordered new reeds from Marty at Diamond today.

That's good to hear you got it figured out, the forecast looks like you might be able to make the first run soon :)

the two center engines aren't running right, after talking to Marty it appears to be a vacuum leak causing the idle problems and lack of power. Its been extra hard finding the time to work on it. I'm going to see what I can do over the weekend

Any updates? I can't wait to hear those babies sing!

Havn't been around in a while. Great job Dave.

Its looking like a low fuel pressure/low volume issue. I noticed that all four engines FP gauges are showing 31 lbs, not the regulated 39 that it is supposed to be.

Do you have sump tanks with additional fuel pumps? Marty made some for my 28 fuel from Skater tank pumped via Holley Red pump into custom sump tank then Bosch pump to the motors....

Steve,
Yes Skater took out everything that had been installed, and started over with new tank pick ups, water separators, holley red low pressure pumps, surge tanks, merc hi pressure pumps, then fuel pressure sender

I would verify the fuel pressure with a manual gauge, if you were having fuel delivery problems I wouldn't think all 4 fuel pressure gauges would read the same. Check at start up and while running if possible, and make sure the manual one matches your electric ones.

Manual FP gauge says I've got 38 lbs. go figure, all four dash gauges reading 31.
Next move for me is go through all connections of engine harnesses on center engines, and make sure of no soft grounds

[ATTACH=CONFIG]504708[/ATTACH]I was able to get the Skater to Buckeye Lake yesterday to launch for the first time

Awesome! How'd it run?

Attachment 504710 please try to overlook the cheesey music
I was amazed at how easily it planed with the engines trimmed at level.
I really liked the sound of the Quads. Trying to break the powerheads in, but pushed forward a little and saw 90 real easy. No porpoise either. So far, beyond my expectations.

"Congratulations David" Lookin Good, You are right about the music. L.O.L.

Good to see it running strong. I checked it out several times when it was at Dave's shop.

.


Congrats David.

Looked like an awesome day to be out!


...the boat on the other side of the dock, what fish did he catch, anything?

I started testing yesterday on buckeye lake, putting some time on engines and working on details

http://youtu.be/9IAPn31BAR4

http://youtu.be/Xt5AjQwTW7o

We didn't get out until about 5:30 yesterday... There was quite a buzz at Captain Woody's about "this big white boat that dun kept flyin' by the campground. He just went back and fourth and back and fourth." Some lady even brought her husband out the dock to my boat and told him matter of factly, "This is that real fast one from today" (Sorry she insulted your skater ;) )

Glad it's running good.

Word from the dock is it sounds wicked too :D

.

4 outboards is so bad ash!


what speeds were attained on the fly-by?

:Score-101010: :Score-101010: :Score-101010:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]504914[/ATTACH]thanks guys
It is great finally getting the Skater out there. After all, its been almost a 5 year project after buying it back in late summer of 2008.
I will never forget the feeling when I pushed the throttles forward for the first time and it popped up on plane. The sound of those 4 outboards howling in unison, accelerating hard, and the smile on my wife's face as we took off down the lake for the first time together in the Skater. Those are the moments that make it all worthwhile.

Awesome. Congrats!

Totally Awesome :):) So Glad it's on the Water !!!!!!!!!!! Sounds Great. Bill

Thanks Noli, The speed right now is limited by the rev-limiters during break in mode. The speed in the fly by was only 90 @6000 rpm. After I get some time on the engines they are supposed to release the limiters and I should be able to see what it can do