115 Merc Carb Help

[Tim m]

I have a 1995 115 merc w,carbs,yea its the one that idles on 2 carbs till a certain rpm the the other 2 kick in.I bought the boat and the engine was sitting flush on the transom it had the factory 26 p laser 2.The exhaust ports sat in the water wheb trimmed down ans would burn your eyes from running rich.Called tracker and was advised to put motor 1 1/2 off transom,so i did,then adjusted the top 2 carbs(only ones adjustable) and put on a 24 p ballistic...All i thought was well.....about 5000 rpms w/55 mph not bad...Fished a tourny today with full gas and 3 batteries w,fish in the livewell.mind you this is a 17 ft Nitro 170tf,,,There were a few times i went wide open and it just sat @ 2000rpms and wouldnt plane or rpms wouldnt rise.I had to drain the livewell to minimum and move 1 batt to the front,even had slow down and trim down taking some turns due to blow out....I AM AT A LOSS.............Do i need to go to some kind of prop pad adj instead of the factory settings and what can i do to help w/ my carb situation

 

[Jim Brone]

I get the same problem when I have a tourney load like that. The only thing I think might help is going down to a smaller prop like a 22 or maybe even a 21. It might take a couple MPH away, but might be worth it. I have that problem with the first whole shot of the morning. Let's keep posting on this problem when we find any solutions because I'm also trying to find out how to avoid it myself. Maybe it's a carburetor adjustment or something. I'll post if I find anything out.

 

[Tim m]

I went and adjusted my carbs 1 1/2 turns out like the book said and it got better,but i am curious as to my engine height,by raising it if i took some of my leverage away by raising it.I have exp with several diff props,even some 4 blades,4 blade reaaly pickd it out of the hole quick but lost a lot of top end.