1800 SR3 questions

[Argonaut]

Looking to buy an 1800 SR3 .. dealers seem to pre-order and have instock only the 4.2L carb model (190hp) ... the MPI 220hp would be a special order.

Several have advised that the extra hp will not be noticeable ... anybody any practical experience on this ?

30hp extra is a 15% increase, which I would have thought noticeable.

2 Dealers have said that fitting a stainless Hi-Five prop on a 190 would more than equate to hole shot you would get on the 220.
I am not particularly interested in top-end, but be nice to be able to pop a skier out with ease.

I'm going to find a performance drop moving to the 1800, as my current 18' hull is a lcouple of hundred pound lighter, a foot narrower and I have a 200hp outboard on it - but want to get the SR3 as it seems the sensible runabout option for me.

[seapuppy]

I was hoping one of the small boat owners would pipe in here...but welcome to the zoo.....I'd go with the more hp model ...when in doubt...more hp will always win out!!....but that's just me!...

plus you'll love the fact that all you do is turn the key ..start the engine..and go....hardly any warm up....plus the throttle is really really responsive!!....definitely go with the mpi model....

[gerbil]

I swapped last year from having had a 5.7 V8 tournament ski boat for 10 years here on a UK lake to a 1800SR3 as I wanted something I could use on the South Coast as well.

I researched the subject to death and as I was restricted to an 18ft limit at my local lake and I also wanted the convenience of a low bathing platform to help the young ones get in and out there was only one choice from all the manufacturers - an 1800SR3 !

Went with the 190hp carb as many advised that whilst the EFI is a nice touch it can be yet another thing to go wrong in the long term if I am going to be using the boat at times on the sea and all the issues of salty air and electronics :-)

I have added a High Five prop and considering I was used to a V8 dedicated ski boat I am not disappointed with the low end pull at all. I have a Maxum factory wake tower on it too which looks great and I prefer it to some of the aftermarket ones I saw on other Maxums I looked at.

The fool proof way of starting this engine from cold is two full pumps on the throttle and then start it in the 10 o'clock position - works every time !

Dave

[Argonaut]

Have you been able to compare the carb performance to that of the MPI ? .. carbs can be reliable.
My current outboard has 3 twin choke Mikuni ... an in 10 yrs has never failed to start or given any problems.

Just wondering if the 30hp is noticeable or not.

[seapuppy]

my other boat was a carbed one....my present boat is mpi...the difference is very noticable....it's amazing how accurate you can drive the boat with mpi....I used to rebuild carbs all the time...as for mpi being reliable....I have 2 cars that are mpi...and they have over 100k miles...is that reliable enough??......
I wouldn't hesitate to buy an mpi engine...

[racer2c]

Originally Posted by osprey

Have you been able to compare the carb performance to that of the MPI ? .. carbs can be reliable.
My current outboard has 3 twin choke Mikuni ... an in 10 yrs has never failed to start or given any problems.

Just wondering if the 30hp is noticeable or not.

I have a 2006 1800SR3 with the 190 carb 4.3. I haven't been in the MPI 4.3 but I've been in dozens of 5.7 with carbs. You can feel the torque difference but the little V6 (it's really not little) is does fine with the right prop. It feels every bit a "V8" though, with the right prop that is.
the 4.3 is notorious for deisling though. Mine does it all the time and it only has 63 hours on the clock.
Carbs are reliable though, they were used from the beginning of the internal combustion engine through today. Cars switched to EFI in '86 from a mandate from the Fed Gov for emission purposes.

[Argonaut]

Don't understand what you mean by "the 4.3 is notorious for deisling though" ..................can you explain ?

Would have thought that mercruiser have sold hundreds of thousands of these units, and would have got things right by now ?

[seapuppy]

what he means about dieseling is...run on when you kill the ignition...the engine will infact continue to run for a bit but that can be tuned out of it by adjusting the idle mixture a bit and sometimes runnung a cooler spark plug........

[Flying_Maxum]

I had a Chaparral 1800 with the 4.3 4Brl carb. It had good power, I never experienced the run on some guys are talking about. Ran perfect every time out, towed skiers fine. I would think the mpi would yield better fuel mileage, run smoother, with less maintenance. As long as you keep the computer and electrical system dry, MPI is far superior in reliability to a carb'ed engine any day of the week. I would think the final decision would come down to price and are you willing to wait on a special order.