Unsure if this intake sealing is bad

[steve0617]

Caught some weeds over the weekend and while under the boat cleaning out the intake this morning, I decided to take some pics of the sealer of the grate against the hull.

Seems, I dunno, terrible? Is this what posts talk about when they seal up the intake grate? Adding what, straight silicone to the gaps to improve things?

Cause this looks pretty bad to me.

 

[Scottintexas]

if your not experiencing any cavitation, slow acceleration or violent shaking then I'd probably leave it alone,

Here is my thread with pictures, I was experiencing issues though,

https://jetboaters.net/threads/cavitation-missing-sealant-in-pump-grate.884/

You can clean it up and probably get better performance but if you're not experiencing any issues is it worth the effort,

some members are bondo'ing their intakes/pumps and sanding to get the entire surface smooth for better performance,

.

 

[steve0617]

if your not experiencing any cavitation, slow acceleration or violent shaking then I'd probably leave it alone,

Here is my thread with pictures, I was experiencing issues though,

https://jetboaters.net/threads/cavitation-missing-sealant-in-pump-grate.884/

You can clean it up and probably get better performance but if you're not experiencing any issues is it worth the effort,

some members are bondo'ing their intakes/pumps and sanding to get the entire surface smooth for better performance,

.

I do experience cavitation on holeshots as it's a 195 but I don't know if it's 'normal' for the single engine versus a 'problem' as I've never been on a different 195. And I'm at 5500' so the best I've seen is about 6800rpm and 40mph, when it was brand new so I guess I don't know what I don't know yet.