Hard to pop up slalom skier - 94' 5.0 EFI 190 Horizon

DirtyD1985 · **Joined:** Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:26 am **Posts:** 3

Looking to get some 200lb slalom skiers and wake boarders out of the water much faster. Currently they are dragging what seems like 30 seconds, even with just a driver and spotter in the boat. Its a 1994 Horizon 190 with a 5.0L EFI OMC Cobra. I think the prop pitch is currently 19, would it be beneficial to move to a 17 pitch? Will my motor handle it?

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:45 am

What is your wide open throttle max rpm now? If its at the manufacturers spec already, the issue with going to a lower pitch prop is you may be able to over-rev the engine at WOT with the lower pitch prop. However, if your are careful you can run it like that just be mindful not to exceed 5,000 rpm. Most Chevrolet inboard marine engines max rpm specs vary from 4600 to 4800 at most. The lower pitch prop will do what you want. 2" lower in pitch, should increase your max rpm by approximately 400 rpm. So if you're at 4600 now it may just touch 5,000 wide open. Try a 15x17.

DirtyD1985 · **Joined:** Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:26 am **Posts:** 3

Its a 5.0L EFI Ford motor V8. WOT is about 5000 rpm currently.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2015 11:01 am

And what rpm are you running while pulling skiers?
I have not run a Ford Marine engine but do you know if they list a specific red line for this engine? Going to the 17 pitch is going to put you at about 5400 rpm. If you don't hit WOT to pull up a skier then it might be OK...

zims1993 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2015 11:10 am

I have the same boat as you and I run a 4 blade SS 19 pitch and it does take time to pull 200lb. skiers out of the water. I couldn't imagine how bad it is with a 3 blade 19 pitch. I replaced all the gages in my dash this spring with Faria as found most of them are very inaccurate especially the tach. At idle using my timing light as the base the old tach was off by 400 rpms and got worse as I free rev'd the engine. With the Faria gauges they are right on. I tried a 3 blade 17 pitch last year and it did increase 400 rpms but went back to the 4 blade as it still planes out much faster. My max rpm now is right at 4200-4300, recommended range is 4200-4600.

DirtyD1985 · **Joined:** Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:26 am **Posts:** 3

Would a 17 pitch 4 blade work well you think?

Also regarding the Faria guages, what ones did you buy, do you have any pictures of your new set up? and recommendations to replacing the original cluster panel? our guages all perform horribly and I would love to upgrade.

pet575 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2015 11:44 am

+1 on going to the 4-blade. The answer to the RPM questions above will decide what the pitch should be.

zims1993 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2015 8:56 pm

I think a 17 pitch 4 blade would be ideal for a hole shot, but not certain what it would do on the top end. I had mine up to 46mph with the 4 blade 19 pitch and cruise rpms at 30mph is 3300-3400.

As for the gauges if you have all individual gauges see this post from Jdber in which we both used Faria Chesapeake gauge sets.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11136

Surface Interval · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:57 pm

My old '95 190 horizon with that engine had a redline of 4600rpm, and a max rpm range of 4200 to 4600 rpm.

zims1993 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 25, 2015 12:08 pm

Michigan Wheel does not make a 4 blade 17 pitch but they do have an 18 pitch 4 blades in AL or SS which I think would be the best fit. I have a OMC Renegade Offshore prop.

boater · **Posted:** Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:35 pm

That 18 4-blade should work nice. You aren't just going to pop
out of the water at over 200# slalom skiing ( at least I don't

) with our boats.
But that should definitely help. We use a 19" 4-blade and it works well.

www.iFourWinns.com

Hard to pop up slalom skier - 94' 5.0 EFI 190 Horizon

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