Need more power

[GRJay]

I have a 2007 Super Air 220 with the 330 horse engine. With all 3 ballast tanks filled, 8 passengers, and pulling a wakeboarder, it has a serious lack of power. Takes quite a while for boat to even plane out. Any suggestions on giving it more power? I am at the point of just selling it and buying something with more horsepower.

[nyryan2001]

No cost effective way to increase hp/tq on a wakeboat.

tell us what prop you currently have... And how much hull clearance between the tip of the prop and the hull we may be able to get you a lot better performance based on how you use your boat

[GRJay]

I will have to do some measuring. Not sure on what prop is on it.

[8urchvy]

I think the prop is the key. I have the same boat and have not had any issues. I have the ACME 1235.

[GRJay]

Thank You! I will look into that. What is your top speed with that prop?

[Evening Shade]

I agree with the others. I think you can change props and be satisfied, but you will lose top speed. You will likely max out at 37-38 mph. You need at least 1/2" to 1" clearance between the hull and the tip of the propeller blade. Eric at OJ props is another good resource. Just call OJ and ask for Eric, but have the specs on your current prop and the hull clearance before you call.

[Evening Shade]

FWIW, I kind of like OJ props a little better than Acme props. Others may disagree, but in my limited experience OJ props just look and feel more robust than Acme props. Not saying that Acme is bad as I am currently running an Acme, just my 2 cents.

[Bad Cad]

First, make sure your ignition, fuel, and Perfect Pass systems are running as well as possible. No sense buying a prop if the engine's not doing it's job at 100%. Our new-to-us 2004 SANTE was a dog out of the hole this spring, but a little work on the engine and a new prop and now we're really happy.

The 2004 PCM Excaliber 330 in our boat ran okay at idle, but sounded rough under heavy loads like you're describing. And it was taking forever to get on plane. I replaced all 8 spark plugs, and the old ones looked like they were burning fine, but something wasn't quite right. So I pulled all the plug wires, and found that one of them was cut about 2/3 of the way through. Someone had routed the port side wires behind the engine lifting eye, and the sharp edge of the steel was sawing the wire. One cylinder not making power at full throttle is like having 290hp instead of 330hp. With a new wire, routed safely, the boat sounded great under load and got on plane in what felt like half the time.

Someone had also put an Acme 13.5x17.5 on our boat, which is the prop specified on the PCM ZR6 6.0 liter 375hp, not the 5.7 liter 330hp. Both diameter and pitch were too much for the 330. So I bought the standard specification prop, 13.25x16.0, and now the boat was getting on plane wayyyy quicker. Our top speed is 45-46.

Also, 8 people is a good size crew for a 330hp engine. If you haven't already tried this, having some of them sit in the bow would get the boat on plane quicker.

[a0128]

Give this a try. Perfect for a heavily weighted boat.

https://www.wakemakers.com/acme-2079-propeller.html

Here is your prop guide:

https://www.wakemakers.com/nautique-...oat-propellers

[swatguy]

You need an Acme 1235 on there pronto. If you're always filled with 8 peeps and full ballast go 2079. The factory prop will not push that amount of weight in the 230/210/220. It's not an engine power issue its a prop issue in which you need better holeshot.

you don't need to measure it the numbers are stamped on the hub of the prop.

[IMScarlet]

Check prop first number is stamped into hub behind the nut once you have confirmed that is at least factory spec. 220 is quite an efficient hull but other thing to bear in mind with that number of passengers is to make sure you have some peeps in the bow or try taking ballast out of rear tanks and you may find the wake will be nicer as the 220 likes a bit of weight up in the nose generally speaking. This will improve plane out time and mellow wake a bit. Personally I would do this before changing prop or looking for engine prob but check and find out when sparkplug have been changed (should get 300 hrs out of them if factory spec) but have had AC Delco ones from around 2 years ago fail early (new boats with < 50hrs) and purchased over the counter

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[8urchvy]

Thank You! I will look into that. What is your top speed with that prop?

I'm not exactly sure, I run about 32-34mph at 4,000 rpm.

We don't really go wide open because the river gets pretty choppy and it slams the boat.

[nyryan2001]

Acme 1235 is NOT a "torque prop" perse.

it still has a Kenyan length stride in a 14" pitch. All is good if you are a Kenyan on flat ground.

if you're a slammed wakeboat struggling with only 330-350hp trying to maximize torque... You want a 15x12, 14.5x12 or a 14x12. PERIOD.

we need to know what prop you have on there now not cutting the mustard.... And how much hull clearance you have with this prop.