Carver Owners Forum

I see a number of prior discussions on planing speed, but I'm hoping to get some data from someone with this model so I can use the info as a reference when troubleshooting performance. Mine has TAMD 74P engines, but not sure if that is relevant to the knots the boat is going when it gets up on plane, although knowing the RPM which I'm assuming would be engine specific would also be interesting.
I'm still trying to determine the cause of smoking which on my last outing occurred on speeds up to 2000 RPM which was about 14 knots. (I recorded 11.8kts at 1850RPM and 15.5knts at 2200RPM). 4 people aboard, 750lb dinghy, 200 gallons of fuel, bottom not heavily fouled but probably some soft growth.

White of black smoke? Check the air filters, and also check the turbos for soot. If applicable, when were the primary filters (Racors?) last serviced? Look in the site bowls and make sure it's clean in there.

Thanks Viper for your suggestions. It's black smoke, and it diminishes once I reach 2000RPM. A visual check of the turbo exhaust and blower side looked normal. I've burned down the fuel that was in the tank and have treated with Biobor MD and JF as a precaution, and will be refueling soon to eliminate any possible issues with fuel. Since the smoke diminishes at the upper range I'm leaning towards leaking waste gates or perhaps I'm not getting up on plane until then. I just installed the Yacht Devices gateway for the Volvo engines so now I can finally see turbo boost pressure and fuel flow which I hope will help me troubleshoot next time out.

Is this a new to you boat ? Do you have residue on the transom you didn't have before.

A couple more questions, is this something ( the smoking ) that has just started since the sea trial, then just be sure as I think you are to cross off the simple stuff first....like clean bottom, clean filters , is the boat propped correctly.

My understanding, black smoke is generally fuel related but can be due to the load trying to get on plane.

Bud37 - Good questions. Full disclosure I posted a lot of the troubleshooting over on trawler forum which led to a suggestion to see what other Voyager 450 owners may be experiencing when getting on plane.
I focused on air first, cleaned filters, ran without them, ran with engine hatch open. No change.
Yes this boat is new to me and I didn't notice any residue after taking her out on the survey run, but dinghy was not onboard at the time and perhaps we didn't run at the slower speeds. I did find a note from the prior owner that he experienced a lot of soot build up on the transom running at 1800 rpm - but no details on what he noticed above and below that point.
The bottom and props appeared clean when hauled out in May, but probably some soft growth on now.
I opened the fuel tanks and other than a light residue on the tank sides (I can write my initials on the sides with my finger) there was no water in the tank and nothing looked out of the norm. The fuel was loaded in Sept 2024 (full tanks) and so I've burned down to 1/4 tank and treated with Biobor MD and JF but haven't run since doing that.
Not sure about the other Carvers, but this one did not have any turbo boost gauges. I installed the YDES gateways on both engines and just got them both working today so now I have turbo boost and fuel flow. Going out on a run tomorrow to test things out.

Ok, your location says Washington. Is that DC or State? Fresh, salt or brackish water? You say bottom looked good in May and maybe some soft growth since then, If you are in salt, you probably have hard growth on your running gear. You’d be surprised what can grow in 2-3 months especially on running gear.
As far as cruising speeds go, whatever you do, do not cruise between hull speed and full plane. For your boat, I’m guessing hull speed is about 8.5 knots. Full plane, at least 17. Anything in between, you are wasting fuel and pulling a big wake which won’t make you any friends

Ya the wastegates are a consideration for sure. Also consider the charge air coolers. They're raw water cooled and could be restricted, especially in a salt water application. Check the easy stuff first.

Viper wrote:Source of the post Ya the wastegates are a consideration for sure. Also consider the charge air coolers. They're raw water cooled and could be restricted, especially in a salt water application. Check the easy stuff first.

I hadn't thought about the CAC's but definitely need to check those.

buster53 wrote:Source of the post Ok, your location says Washington. Is that DC or State? Fresh, salt or brackish water? You say bottom looked good in May and maybe some soft growth since then, If you are in salt, you probably have hard growth on your running gear. You’d be surprised what can grow in 2-3 months especially on running gear.
As far as cruising speeds go, whatever you do, do not cruise between hull speed and full plane. For your boat, I’m guessing hull speed is about 8.5 knots. Full plane, at least 17. Anything in between, you are wasting fuel and pulling a big wake which won’t make you any friends

So that's interesting, I read where people cruise at "economical" speeds and if I'm doing 17 I feel like I'm being somewhat extreme. At WOT I can do 20knts so I'm running at the upper end at those speeds. When I take her out tomorrow I will definitely play around with my speeds.
Oh and I live in Washington, in salt water. I'm going to check my props tomorrow with a boroscope. I have an inexpensive one that has come in very handy for everything from running NMEA cable to checking turbo condition. It's waterproof so I should be able to check prop condition before heading out.

ck36 wrote:Source of the post

buster53 wrote:Source of the post Ok, your location says Washington. Is that DC or State? Fresh, salt or brackish water? You say bottom looked good in May and maybe some soft growth since then, If you are in salt, you probably have hard growth on your running gear. You’d be surprised what can grow in 2-3 months especially on running gear.
As far as cruising speeds go, whatever you do, do not cruise between hull speed and full plane. For your boat, I’m guessing hull speed is about 8.5 knots. Full plane, at least 17. Anything in between, you are wasting fuel and pulling a big wake which won’t make you any friends

So that's interesting, I read where people cruise at "economical" speeds and if I'm doing 17 I feel like I'm being somewhat extreme. At WOT I can do 20knts so I'm running at the upper end at those speeds. When I take her out tomorrow I will definitely play around with my speeds.
Oh and I live in Washington, in salt water. I'm going to check my props tomorrow with a boroscope. I have an inexpensive one that has come in very handy for everything from running NMEA cable to checking turbo condition. It's waterproof so I should be able to check prop condition before heading out.

Ok, if 20 knots is you WOT, that has some affect on what I said since 17 is getting close to you WOT. With my boat, and a nice clean bottom, I can hit 30 knots, gas engines. I normally cruise in the 19 range. I can pretty much guarantee, I get way better fuel economy at 18-19 than I would at 11-15.
4-5 years ago, I splashed my boat late April. Boat yard must not have used a good running gear paint because in 10 weeks, I lost 6 knots of speed due to barnacle growth, I had to do a short haul to clean everything. Couldn’t believe how bad my running gear looked. It was obvious why I lost 6 knots of speed