Way2slow

Marine Dual Purpose, the only way to go. A straight deep cycle TM battery is not designed to put out the cranking amps many of the bigger motors need. An automotive cranking battery is not designed for the repeated discharges a bass boat places on them during a days fishing. The Marine dual purpose has plates designed where about a portion of it is has a more open design like the automotive battery to supply a short burst of high current for cranking and the rest is design for deep cycle use. Not the best cranking battery and not the best TM battery but it will do both pretty good, which is what's needed for bass boats. Now, if it's the family fun boat, without out all the demands a bass boat has, then a straight cranking battery. Unless you are sitting with a stereo blasting away and p***sing people like me off, then you would be back to wanting a dual purpose.

Again, the manual will have the recommend rpm, but in gear, I would probably be somewhere around 700 rpm. If it's as high as you are saying, either someone has been turning things and didn't know what they were doing or it's being held by the throttle cable for some reason. Start off by taking the throttle cable loose from the motor, that's usually a very easy process on a Merc, and hold the linkage against the stop. Is carbs or EFi? I know a lot of the carbs run that idle control module and they do go bad. You can check things and do a link and sinc on the muffs, you just can't make your idle speed adjustment until it's in the water, and then you will do it in gear.

I'm not a mercury person but yes, that is way too high. As for how to adjust it, I would recommend getting a the factory service manual if you are going to be doing much work on it yourself. There are several ways you can idle it down, and most are wrong and the factory manuals are fairly cheap, usually about $35. One of those Clymor or what ever they are called will work but they cost almost as much as the factory manual and no where near as good. The first thing you need to do is a check all the linkage marks and make sure everything is where it suppose to be, someone before you may have already tried and gotten things out of whack. A couple of things you can check, if running a Hotfoot, make sure it's letting it fully return. Normally the easiest way to eliminate a possible miss adjusted cable is just to disconnect it from the motor and then use you hand and push/pull the linkage to it's idle stop. If it idles normal doing that, you need to adjust the end that connects onto the motor. As for trying to turn anything on the motor without the book, I wouldn't do that. Every motor I get, I do a link and sinc on them because about 95% them someone has already been turning on things they weren't suppose to. One word of advice, DO NOT try adjusting the idle anywhere but in the water with the motor at it's normal depth. You MUST have that back pressure on it. If you try and doing it out of the water it will idle way too high. Also, a lot of mercs run an idle control module that could be giving problem, but again, get the manual first.

Take it apart. If the o-rings/gasket are still ok, not brittle or falling apart and the inside of the housing is not full of grooves and ware, you should have no problem just replacing the impeller.

If you know how to fix everything yourself, you are only talking a few bucks worth of parts. Impeller is about $16, plugs about $3 each and can probably find a used prop, and plan on having to do the carb. If you don't have the skills, then put it on Craigslist for $250 and take $200 if it means making a sale (or what ever you think would give you a nice profit) and let someone else worry about it. I just bought a 67 9.5 in like new condition, hasn't been run since 1982, for $300 and started and ran like a charm the second pull on the rope. I will put a water pump in it because I'm sure it's junk after than many years. I know for a fact this is a good motor because it was basically a new motor with very few hours when I rebuilt it in 1982 for the guy that had it. He dropped it in few inches of water taking it off the boat and didn't realize water a little water had gotten in one cylinder and caused it to freeze up. He bought him a new, lighter motor and never started that one after he got it back.

Does if have a choke system or primer system. If choke, there will be butterflies in the front of the venture that closes when you press the choke. It it's a primer system, there will be no butterflies and should have a primer solenoid that lets gas go into the carbs when the choke is pressed. Checking to make sure which ever system it has, is working would be my first step. Doing a linc and sinc would be my next step. From there, do a compression test and make sure all cylinders are within 5% of each other. Make sure the throttle is advance or something is holding the butterflies in the carbs open when doing this. If not, it could cause low readings. One of these are what I mostly find with cold, hard start problems. There are a number of other checks you can do, but these are a must do before doing anything else.

About the only way to do that is make them yourself. Most kits I've seen are for lighter weight Jon boats so check carefully on the size and gauge metal. Also how it attaches ti the trailer. If you are doing this to load in a current, the weight of that boat could bend those light gauge ones over.

The best one I've found and the only one I use is my phone and car. No way in he** would I buy a boat that I was planning on being a good boat without setting eyes on it, checking it out and driving it first. I have bought them at auction sight un seen by me, but I always had someone checking it out and giving me a description of it, and they are boats I buy for about 1/3 to 1/4 their retail value. However, there is also nothing about a boat or motor of any kind I can't rebuild/repair myself so I have a little more room to gamble.

You can't run a 12 volt TM on batteries connected to make 24 volt system, which would be connecting the batteries in series. He would need to connect the batteries in parallel, positive to positive, negative to negative, and keep it as a 12 Volt system but with twice the run time. Of course then you have almost 100 pounds of batteries to deal with. For what you are trying to do, I'm not sure why you didn't get the group 29, but that water over the dam now. I'm afraid you are just asking more from that one battery then it's capable of giving. I've have paddle back a many a time after just fishing a few hours and running across the lake on high a couple times on just one battery. They just don't last long when running around on high.

Well, I thought I had heard it all over they years of dealing with batteries, but that's one I've never heard.. To store a battery over the winter, it's always best to keep it on a good maintainer, like in many onboard chargers or a Battery Minder, and check the levels every two or three month if it has removable caps. If you don't have a maintainer, the battery should be stored in a cool place and have a top off charge every six to eight weeks. High quality batteries have a much lower self discharge rate than lower line batteries, such as the Wal-Mart battery. Improper storage will let the battery self discharge below that magic 80% charge level where the plates start to sulfate, over time they can become so sulfated, there is no bare lead plate surface to transfer electrons. A mildly sulfated battery can be desulfated by on of the high frequency maintainers like the Battery Minder, but once it has had time to get heavily sulfated, the only thing that going to get it off then is caustic soda. I'm not going into go into that because it can be a dangerous process for the layman. Now, as the battery discharges the specific gravity drops, going more to the water state than acid. The acid and water stratify, with the acid being heavier, going to the bottom level and the water above it. That's also why a discharged battery will freeze a barely below freezing temps and a fully charge battery will take some extreme cold. So, what it boils down to, let a battery sit discharged for a month or even a few weeks, it's total junk.

It should be spelled out in the manual. Use that as your bible. Some motors have it programmed in the ECM so they do it automatically.

A bit more info would have been helpful but as a hole, Stratos are very nice boats. The newer models are probably a bit better in the fact, they a all composite hulls, and are lighter than the earlier models. I've had about five of them, still have two, a 169V and a 285 Pro, plus I have a Javelin Renegade DC20 built by Stratos. Have no complaints with any of them. The early models, 80's - early 90s had open cell foam in them and if they were stored outside and rained on, the foam was very apt to get water logged, adding several hundred pounds to the boat and about the only way to get it out was to remove the floor.

http://www.boatersland.com/thmst1dp.html?gclid=CL_qhteIzb0CFUgA7Aod_1IAlA I've always liked this one.

Couple of things to look at. If there is a problem with the battery connections, they will be getting fairly hot after you run on high for a while. If they are even getting warm, they need to be cleaner and tighter. Check the date sticker on the battery, that's the day the battery went to the store. Most dealers use a round dot. some melt it into the battery, with a letter and number some use two numbers but the first one is the month starting with Jan being A, the second is the year. Make sure you didn't get a battery that has sat on the shelf too long. I will not buy one that has been on the shelf more than four months. I have seen them in the early part of the season that has been on the shelf since mid last year. Those a pure junk. Next you have to pay attention to your run time. That battery is not an infinite power source, actually very far from it. You can figure you have about 80 usable amp hours before it starts loosing significant speed. This is a break down of how much that motor is pulling on the different speeds. 1 - 8 amps motor is basically useless. 2 - 10 amps approx. 10 hours run time 3 - 14 amps approx. seven hours run time 4 - 20 amps approx. four hours run time 5 - 30 amps approx three hours run time You get a longer run time at the lower speeds because the battery is not working as hard and is more efficient. So, if you run on the 5 setting for two hours, you have used up 60 amp hours, that only leaves you 30 amp hours for the rest of the trip which would be about three hours on the 2 setting. If you want to fish eight hours, never go above the 3 setting. Of course, then you are going to be spending more time getting from point to point than fishing or learn to troll along the way.

Why not just cut the floor out and get it out of the way, It's much easier to install pumps and wiring then. Actually, just kidding, If you have conduits built in, you are home free with a fish tape, Just be sure to cover the end with tape so when pulling it through, it does not hang other wires in the conduit and ****** them loose,

It would be much better if it was snug. Any amount of up and down movement is going to make it eventually come loose again from vibrations.

Since there was no screw head in there with it, most likely it was a peg and the end was braded to hold the plate. It looks easy enough to me just to level it off, drill and tap a hole in it's place and use a screw to hold it. Just make sure of what you are drilling through and into. Going all the way through is not going to hurt a thing, provided the drill bit doesn't hit something but there is no gas to leak there because the float level is well below that point and you can put a drop of locktite on the screw to hold it and seal it. Distributor screw kits are a good source for small screws like that. The carb bowl vent hole is probable up inside that section and that's nothing more than a splash guard to keep gas from sloshing out the vent hole in rough water. Actually, you might be able to put the plate back in place, using a small pointed punch with about a 45 degree angle on the point in the center of the peg and expand it out enough to hold it, but the sure fire way will be to use a screw. That is fairly soft metal and will expand fairly easily.

A stainless prop will give you more speed and better hole shot than the same pitch in aluminum. The stainless prop is more efficient because it takes less horse power for the thinner blades to slice the water. The blades are a hellavalot more rigid on the stainless prop so they don't flex back as much when under a load, like hole shot or WOT, therefor they don't loose pitch like the aluminum, giving more speed. Not knowing rpm makes it rather difficult to fine tune a prop to a boat. Go one pitch to much and it may very well run slower and the hole shot will totally suck.

First major flaw to your theory is as the speed of a boat increases, so does the hull drag. A 225 hp motor will push my boat 76 mph, a 325 hp motor pushes it 83. That's only a seven mph gain in speed for a 100 hp gain in power. Using your logic, the 325 should push it over 100 mph and that ain't gonna happen. If you take the nut off the prop and look around the edge, under the washer/nut, there should be a bunch of numbers. If it doesn't have the diameter and pitch in it, then a dealer can convert the part number for you, provided it's a merc prop. If it's an aftermarket, it still should have the size there or stamped into the side of it. You really need the rpms to know what the motor is doing and before you start trying props. I've been messing with, rebuilding and racing boats and motors over 50 years and I still can't tell you what rpm a motor is turning within several hundred without a tach.

Again, not a merc guy, but it should have a thermostat. If it does, might want to replace it.

I just don't like the physical size of those mega cp lights. Mine stays in the boat and storage space is limited. I tried those large lights and for what little they get used, I had rather have the space. If you are like me, if it doesn't stay in the boat, it's never in the boat when you need it.

Rather than me try to explain it, read this. http://www.energybooks.com/pdf/D1150.pdf About all I can tell you is lumens are the total light a lamp will put out, candle power is the concentrated amount of light a light will put out. For a room, lumens is great, for a spot light, you want the candle power or candela because one candle power in a spot light is a hellavalot of lumens. Also, they can play all kinds of games with numbers between candle power and lumens. The folks pushing their LED lights can make those lumens numbers sound great and anything a spot light will do but when it comes to useable light from the LED and the Halogen spot light, I've not seen an LED that has a light I would take over my old 50 watt halogen. Yes, they have some with a very strong beam but there is just something about the light and the laser affect the beam has that does not compare and does not illuminate a distant object the way the halogen does.

I'm a bit confused here. Are we talking about a problem with StarCraft1 has with a 98 Yamaha 200, or are we talking about a problem with a 89 Yamaha 150? If StarCraft1 is the one needing help, then livetofish28 needs to start his on thread for help. Trying to play ping pong between two different problems in the same thread ain't gonna cut it. Anyway, for the original post by StarCarft1 and the Yamaha 200, the first thing I would do is a linc and sinc. If still having the problem and if the motor has adjustable low speed jets, you need to fatten them up about 1/8 turn and try it. If both those fail, the carbs need to be cleaned. It does not matter what size prop you are running, the motor should never bog and stall out. Yes, too much pitch can make you never get on plane, but the motor will keep plowing and trying, it will not stall out. That's totally a fuel/air mixture or ignition/timing problem. Not the prop. Now, not saying you don't have a prop problem, but you have an engine problem that has to be fixed first.

I prefer one with the Blue in the lens, and a 50 watt bulb. Usually they rate them at 500,000 CP for the size I like. I don't like those with the big lens and rated at some ungodly CP number, they are just too big and cumbersome to have in the boat. I have not tried any of the LED lights, because so far, I've never found an LED light that I really liked the type light and beam they produce. Oh well, good luck on finding one like I like. I guess with this LED generation, there's not much available that's not led. Those with the little blue in the lens seems to work better on the water for me. Mine is probably 15 years old, so I couldn't find anything like it now.

We'll, I'm just the opposite. I find the two blade will give the most speed but does not do grass and weeds very well. The three or four blade is better for vegetation with the four being the slowest.