Lucky 13 ( L13 ) Anti-Cavitation Cone Install / 2016 AR240

[2kwik4u]

I think I found the culprit and it's a bit of a surprise! I've noticed on several occasions when inspecting the impellers looking for damage that the front or leading edge of both my cleanout plugs are not flush with the ceiling of the tunnels. They are protruding too far down into the tunnel by about a quarter inch causing an abrupt square edge hanging down just above the impeller shaft. I'd been thinking they were always like that and couldn't imagine what could change to allow them to seat too far down or get slightly cocked sideways like that. The back edge closest to the blades is perfectly flush with the ceiling of the tunnel.
Also this year the plugs have been extremely difficult to remove and reinstall (yes I have taken them out every time out from day 1). Impossible to install without dousing them with Silicone spray and lots of effort to wiggle them down into place. I read about the rebuild Kit and ordered them. This weekend I decided to shave down the protruding edges to rule them out or see if by chance that was contributing to some my cavitation and loss of speed (5 to 6 MPH).

It was an instant improvement, back to topping out at 48 MPH at 7400 to 7500 RPM's vs 7,900 RPM's at 43 MPH. My rebuild kits arrive this week so it will be interesting to see if they align properly or if I will need to shave them down too. Has anyone experienced or heard of the cleanout plugs doing this??

I've never heard of this before, but I've only ever used the "new" style plugs, and have only been around 30mo or so.

Do you have the press down to lock plugs, or the new twist to lock plugs? Just curiosity on my part.

 

[swatski]

I think I found the culprit and it's a bit of a surprise! I've noticed on several occasions when inspecting the impellers looking for damage that the front or leading edge of both my cleanout plugs are not flush with the ceiling of the tunnels. They are protruding too far down into the tunnel by about a quarter inch causing an abrupt square edge hanging down just above the impeller shaft. I'd been thinking they were always like that and couldn't imagine what could change to allow them to seat too far down or get slightly cocked sideways like that. The back edge closest to the blades is perfectly flush with the ceiling of the tunnel.
Also this year the plugs have been extremely difficult to remove and reinstall (yes I have taken them out every time out from day 1). Impossible to install without dousing them with Silicone spray and lots of effort to wiggle them down into place. I read about the rebuild Kit and ordered them. This weekend I decided to shave down the protruding edges to rule them out or see if by chance that was contributing to some my cavitation and loss of speed (5 to 6 MPH).

It was an instant improvement, back to topping out at 48 MPH at 7400 to 7500 RPM's vs 7,900 RPM's at 43 MPH. My rebuild kits arrive this week so it will be interesting to see if they align properly or if I will need to shave them down too. Has anyone experienced or heard of the cleanout plugs doing this??

Very interesting!
I did shave some of the plug leading edge that was protruding into the tunnel off when porting my pumps but couldn’t isolate the effects as I did a lot of porting and sealing at once. The @gmtech16450yz dude did as well in this thread:

It is a dirty job. After few hours I had both pumps/transom rings prepped.
This is what I started with - not bad, yet, but time to clean up. Looking from the rear - with a pump pulled out:
View attachment 91506

Here is the same side after I was done cleaning it up - pretty much all the white stuff left is MarineTex from last year, all factory black crap and my 5200 is gone:
View attachment 91507
View attachment 91508

I decided to go with Bondo (poly resin) high bonding formula, it is excellent for this kind of jobs - bind really well and it is fairly convenient to apply (as far as those things go):
View attachment 91510

This is the can:
View attachment 91511

And the rest is... history, lol. Just freaking sanding. Hours of sanding.
I rely on simple tools, perhaps a flapper wheel would be better but my adapter took a dive so I used what I had, and a bunch of curved sanding blocks (or what fun):
View attachment 91512

This is the finished tunnel, I finished in 120 sand paper (I think):
View attachment 91516

Here is the other side (a look through the intake - with intake grates removed):
View attachment 91514

Not perfect but SO MUCH better. Hope this holds for more than a season!

I then just slapped new (unmodified) intake grates. Done.
View attachment 91515

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Not entirely surprised but very good to know.

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[Rod5]

I've never heard of this before, but I've only ever used the "new" style plugs, and have only been around 30mo or so.
I have the T press down to lock ones.
2016 boat.

Do you have the press down to lock plugs, or the new twist to lock plugs? Just curiosity on my part.

 

[jEt_jAk]

Doing the install today. When you put the new grease in do you remove the old grease? And do you just fill the entire cone with grease? Also is there a specified torq for any of the allen bolts?

 

[2kwik4u]

Doing the install today. When you put the new grease in do you remove the old grease? And do you just fill the entire cone with grease? Also is there a specified torq for any of the allen bolts?

I replaced as much as I reasonably could.

I torqued them to the "That Feels About Right" setting. Tights tight, too tights broke.

 

[jEt_jAk]

Cool thanks! Should I be worried about putting too much new grease in the new cone?

 

[swatski]

^^^ I did exactly what @2kwik4u does. lol

 

[jEt_jAk]

Done. Word of warning to anyone with lateral thrusters. Do this mod first! Otherwise you need to remove the whole lateral thrusters assembly including the articulating keel first to get to some of the bolts. Before and after.

 

[jEt_jAk]

Did some testing today. Huge difference as some others have mentioned. No cavitation from dead start. Really impressed. Little to no top speed loss.

 

[2kwik4u]

Did some testing today. Huge difference as some others have mentioned. No cavitation from dead start. Really impressed. Little to no top speed loss.

Glad to hear it worked for you.

I actually had a new top speed on Saturday morning. Boat was lightly loaded and it was a 4 boat drag race from the ramp to the cove for our annual No Kids Weekend. Weather was really ideal, I had a light load, and the water had just a slight chop to it from the beeze. Air temp was around 65deg or so, water temp was about 78-80deg. Got 45mph at 7650rpm from our 190. No changes from previous setup, just a nice cool day with nobody in the bow.

 

[Lee18]

I just installed the L13 on my 2013 AR190. I have all three disks in. It appears that the rpm's are higher and the top end speed is lower. Also, hole shot doesn't seem any better, in fact maybe worse. No ballast and about 500 lbs of people in the back seat, 125 lbs in front. This doesn't make sense to me. Any suggestion? Thanks

 

[2kwik4u]

Wonder if you disturbed some sealant in the pump area while working on it.

Have any picture of the installation? Any before/after rpm numbers?

I would say on average, I lost a few MPH on the top end. Every now and then with the right conditions, it picks up and goes fast, but the majority of the time I run right around that 39-41mph range at WOT. People in the bow absolutely KILL the speed. The load on my 45mph run above didn't change on the way home that afternoon. Same two ladies and myself. They sat in the bow instead of the stern, and the air temp was up to about 85deg. Boat didn't break 40, and was down to about 7,400rpm or so. Bow weight and air temp are speed killers IMO.

 

[Lee18]

Unfortunately I do not have any photos. Temp was 78 degrees. Water was somewhat rough, not flat. RPM at 10mph is now 6500 was 5500. RPM at 25 is 7400 was 6600. RPM at 37mph is pushing 8000. This is top speed. Previous top speed with this weight was 42-43 at 7500 rpm. Top speed with just me had been 48. I have not tested with just me. I don’t think I disturbed the the pump but who knows. I didn’t go beyond the cone.

 

[swatski]

Unfortunately I do not have any photos. Temp was 78 degrees. Water was somewhat rough, not flat. RPM at 10mph is now 6500 was 5500. RPM at 25 is 7400 was 6600. RPM at 37mph is pushing 8000. This is top speed. Previous top speed with this weight was 42-43 at 7500 rpm. Top speed with just me had been 48. I have not tested with just me. I don’t think I disturbed the the pump but who knows. I didn’t go beyond the cone.

Sounds like you have some major cavitation going on, so it's either the impeller is damaged, or the pump sucks air from somewhere due to missing sealant or a gap or a hole, or there is some kind of an obstruction at the stator segment, could be a small twig stuck inside the pump, sometimes. I would say if it was there before the L13 made it worse; and if it wasn't it is there now.

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[2kwik4u]

Unfortunately I do not have any photos. Temp was 78 degrees. Water was somewhat rough, not flat. RPM at 10mph is now 6500 was 5500. RPM at 25 is 7400 was 6600. RPM at 37mph is pushing 8000. This is top speed. Previous top speed with this weight was 42-43 at 7500 rpm. Top speed with just me had been 48. I have not tested with just me. I don’t think I disturbed the the pump but who knows. I didn’t go beyond the cone.

As @swatski said, something is majorly NOT right there. I get 10mph with somewhere around 4k rpm or so. Was getting around 28-30mph at 6,300 rpm with just the wife and I yesterday morning. I rarely see mine spin past 7,600. I have to get the pump out of the water by jumping giant waves to get anywhere near 8,000.

Be sure to use the digital readout for RPM readings. The analog needle is off on mine, and reads high. Needles was showing me 8k on Saturday morning, but the digital readout was showing 7,650.

 

[Lee18]

Unfortunately I do not have any photos. RPM at 10mph is now 6500 was 5500. RPM at 25 is 7400 was 6000. RPM at 37mph is pushing 8000. This is top speed. Previous top speed with this weight was 42-43 at 7500 rpm.

 

[Lee18]

The impeller didn’t look damaged when I did the upgrade. It had s few small dings but looked ok. Not sure how to check the pump. Hope I don’t have to take everything apart again. I have a JBP lateral thruster that has to come off too. The one thing I find curious is, it feels “smoother” at acceleration. I will check the digital readout on my Ridesteady this weekend.

 

[grywlfbg]

Cool thanks! Should I be worried about putting too much new grease in the new cone?

So since I'm slow, did you fill the entire cavity in the new cone w/ grease and then slap it onto the bearing?

 

[jEt_jAk]

Yes pretty much filled it to the max.

 

[grywlfbg]

Thanks! I need to check w/ my dealer to see if they have the grease.