Carver Owners Forum

Hi all,

new to the Carver world and when my boat is full of fuel and water, cannot get it out of the water. Only if less heavy, trimmed down and WOT. I know this is not a cruiser but with that kind of hull, I expected a better range of cruising.

I am trying to find what was the provided prop on this model but I do not have the original build of material and it the manual, the 2808 is not listed. So I go from 18x21 (probably 3 blades at that time) for a 5.7 Merc to a 18x18 for the 305 Cruisader.

Mine are the 350 Cruisader and equipped with 4 blades 18x17 and can't say I am impressed. RPM on port won't go higher than 3600 and port 3200 which was rebuilt last winter. I need to get the RPM checked to see which one is true but I want to know who has experience with different props on the 28 or 300 aft with the 350 cruisaders....

Thanks!! Nice little Aft boat, love it, but hard to find good info on a boat that old.

First, when you are describing your engines, I'm assuming they are 350CI and not 350HP. Crusader describes their 454 big blocks as "350" motors, but that is 350HP. To avoid confusion on the issue, you should clarify that.

Not sure on the props, but I'd wonder what you have done to make sure your engines are developing all the HP they should. Are those engines still carbureted or do they have fuel injection? Have you checked the mechanical advance on the spark?

Also, you state "port won't go higher than 3600 and port 3200"... I'm guessing one of those was supposed to be 'starboard'? I would really question that motor with the lower top RPM, as it may be the one limiting your overall speed and performance on the boat.

Thanks, yes 350CI and carburetor not fuel injection. You are right, my mistake, starboard won't go higher than 3200 and even drop when pushing more. This engine just got rebuilt and timing adjusted but something is off, I do feel I do not have all the power I can get... Fuel is fresh and ran a few hours since the rebuilt.

Mechanics thinks it is my prop but I am not convinced. Unfortunately, water level are low and I hit rocks and both props have to be repaired and will become my spares. But before buying a new set, I wanted to have the experience out there for people with the same setup as mine.

If they reused the distributors then I'd check to make sure the mechanical advance is working correctly. Anyone with a timing light can do that and it's pretty easy. Oftentimes the mechanism will get some corrosion on it and stop it from advancing like it should. Base timing will set just fine but the timing won't advance like it should at higher RPMs. The other thing I'd wonder about is the basic carburetor adjustments... are they opening all the way when the throttle is fully forward and are the secondaries opening like they should?

Great plan on the props. Even if the old ones are a bit different from the new ones you get they'll be a great set of spares that you can use in an emergency... you'll just have to change both if something happens. (well, that's not a HARD requirement but a good idea).

For the props, I'd be calling Carver with your hull number and ask what the props were from factory.

Has she always run this way or did this just start happening? Did she ever reach recommended WOT with the old props? Neither engine is achieving full rpm.

I agree with km about the distributor. I can't imagine someone rebuilding an engine without servicing the distributor as that can result in a major failure but I see it all the time. Sounds like more diagnostics needed here before jumping to conclusions.

Thanks all, distributor was new from last year and carburetor is out for maintenance now.

Yes, tried online to get support from Carver with my hull number but it doesn't work so I guess I will have to find the number to call.

I do not know her previous performances at WOT, I bought it last year. But I could tell that the starboard engine was not performing as much and ended up blowing the head gasket. I am very surprised I would need a pitch lower than 17 for these engines. I have more the feeling that having one engine not at peak performance is causing my lower RPM and difficulty to plane the boat when full. On top of that, we tested the RPM yesterday and my starboard display is lower than the meter.

Fun times

danobrunet wrote:Source of the post ...On top of that, we tested the RPM yesterday and my starboard display is lower than the meter.

Well, that can DEFINITELY be an issue that will complicate troubleshooting!! How far was it off? Also, what were you using to compare it against? What speed is the boat making at those RPMs (measured by GPS)?

The tachs are driving by the primary ignition circuit. Any issues in the primary side could cause spark issues which will affect performance as well as indicate a lower RPM than the engine is really running. Have you looked at the plugs to see if there's any indication of a spark issue being specific to one cylinder?

Is the carb out for maintenance now off the rebuilt engine?

Do you have a sync gauge or indicator? If you do, disconnect it for the duration of the diagnosis and until you have the issues on both engines resolved.

If nobody on here chimes in with prop sizes for the same application, a good prop shop should be able to calculate the right specs based on your application, they may even have some info for your particular model/year.

Everything is new except for the carb that was not serviced with the rebuild (Even had dirty air filters) Let say I am not happy that basics were not covered. I asked and expected a full maintenance so not to repeat another issue. Oh well, carb is in the shop right now, will know more soon.

As for RPM, need to wait for props but for sure, when we are under way, will have that check again. RPM on rebuilt engine without any load is lower on the gage by a few hundreds (I think 400) compared to the tach. So faulty wire or gage probably. The port RPM is fine and never felt that I had that much of a difference between the two engines. But definitely the rebuilt was not giving as much power at higher RPM last year before it died. What worries me is that it feels exactly the same after the rebuild....

But at least I got great service calling Carver directly. The props I had were the right ones, 18x17. Also lucky, I found new ones in stock in Florida so should have them soon compared to 8 weeks delay from marina supplier.

So if I had the right props, there is a common issue from last year to this year.. Will see if it is the carburetor or timing...

How comfortable are you that you have good fuel flow to both engines? New fuel filters? Anti-siphon valves cleaned or replaced recently?