196 is listing slightly to the starboard side while floating

[sodbuster88]

Could use some input. My 196 lists about 1 inch deeper on the starboard side than the port side. This is with boat completely empty, full tank of gas, not moving and floating in glass. I would expect it to be balanced....especially with nothing in the boat that would make it favor one side or the other.

Anyone else seen this on theirs? Thanks in advance...

[vthokies]

RE: 196 is listing slightly to the starboard side while floa

You are a lot better than me if you can tell if a boat is listing 1 inch to either side.

[SkiTower]

no gear in it? I would actually expect it to list to port if anything...I always understood these were balanced to have an operator in the seat.

[harddock]

The Ski Nautique by design will do this. The reason: It is a competition ski boat designed to have two passengers (timer & judge) and a driver. The boat is purposely heavier on the starbord (right/ drivers) side to compensate for the weight on the port (passenger) side. It is normal.

[M3Fan]

The Ski Nautique by design will do this. The reason: It is a competition ski boat designed to have two passengers (timer & judge) and a driver. The boat is purposely heavier on the starbord (right/ drivers) side to compensate for the weight on the port (passenger) side. It is normal.

I don't know about that. I've noticed that most of them float level. A small handful don't. Sodbuster- is your engine centered left to right in the engine mounts or is it schooched over a bit to one side or the other?

[sodbuster88]

You are a lot better than me if you can tell if a boat is listing 1 inch to either side.

Yeah...took me a while to look at it, but it is noticeable. Eyeballing down the bottom edge of the secondary stripe on both sides, it becomes apparent.

I don't know about that. I've noticed that most of them float level. A small handful don't. Sodbuster- is your engine centered left to right in the engine mounts or is it schooched over a bit to one side or the other?

Good point...I haven't thought of that. I'll do some measuring....thanks.

[Mikeski]

Do you have a spare battery installed on the starboard side or any other heavy equipment?

[SkiTower]

The Ski Nautique by design will do this. The reason: It is a competition ski boat designed to have two passengers (timer & judge) and a driver. The boat is purposely heavier on the starbord (right/ drivers) side to compensate for the weight on the port (passenger) side. It is normal.

Never been to a tournament...so they ride with 3 in the boat? Thought judging and timing would have been done from the shore. Interesting.

[DanielC]

How does the boat sit when it is moving? That is what is important. If the starboard side is slightly low not moving, the clockwise rotation from the prop will pick up the starboard side.

[sodbuster88]

Just measured front engine placement...appears that the front of my engine is about 3/8" off-center to the starboard side. Measured from center of crankshaft to both port and starboard engine well sides. Difficult to measure XMSN placement without rigging a fixture of some kind. This could be what is causing the boat to list slightly to starboard while floating. Boat seems to run down the lake just fine.

Anyone else have a slightly off-center engine? Should I have this centered to prevent undue powertrain wear? There is no extra noise to indicate binding that I can tell.....

[2gofaster]

In a tournament you do have at least one boat judge(as well as judges at the gates). Depending on the classification, you could even possibly have a 2nd judge in the boat. Or a camera person.


Keep in mind that the prop rotates clockwise, so the boat will twist counterclockwise. If you had a driver and a judge that weighed close to equal, that would leave the boat listing to the passenger side under power. So CC sets the boats up with a little driver side weight bias.


Don't touch the alignment of the engine. Everything is fine.

[DanielC]

The engine has to sit where the transmission end of the propeller shaft is. The flanges also have to be at the same exact angle. If you know what geometric tolerance is, the the true position of both flange surfaces have to be the same.
This is checked by doing a shaft alignment check. If the shaft alignment is out, you have to move the engine around to get it right.

Have you checked the shaft alignment?

I would not use the apparent dimensions to the side of the engine well sides to decide if your engine is off center. How do you know that the engine well is centered exactly in your boat?

If the shaft alignment is good, and the propeller turns freely by hand, there is no undue drag on the power train, and no wear. If I spin the propeller by hand on my boat, with a warm transmission, and a wet shaft bushing, the propeller will turn about two turns, before it stops. It also turns smoothly without getting tighter and looser with each shaft revolution.

Once again, be more concerned about how level your boat is at speed than it is floating by a dock.

You will notice that the passenger seat in a Ski Nautique will allow one passenger to move from the port side of the boat to the center line, to balance the boat. That is why the 206 has the seat option that blocks the walk through, so one passenger can sit in the center of the boat, for balance, if needed.

[sodbuster88]

2gofaster,
Thanks...makes sense.

DanielC,
Thanks. Your speaking my language with the geo-tol stuff. I'm sure there's a lot of variability in the engine well that would add a lot to the tolerance stack. Next time I take out of the water, I'll check for prop spin. This should give me an idea of whether to go further with checking shaft alignment.