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Engine bogs down when in water, runs great on land??
Our 14' 1992 Rage runs great on land, but bogs down when in water. We have already rebuilt the carburetor, new fuel filter and plugs. Fuel lines appear OK. New Reeds. Exhaust system inspected and appears fine. Engine extremely strong on land, but when put in water, under load, it will idle just fine, but when accelerating, it bogs down. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Sun Dawg,
It could be anything from compression problems to carb problems. Rage models were problem child boats powered either by a Mercury or Yamaha jet engine that was an abomination of mating a outboard powerhead to a jet drive for inboard use. That is why they are so cheap and plentiful on the second hand market. I too liked the Rage and wanted to buy one as a tender for my bigger boat here on the Great Lakes. My surveyor buddy talked me out of it as he had known numerous people who came before me and had nothing but problems with this model. If I remember right he said one good thing is that there was a company remanufacturing powerheads for $1500-$1800 if you turn in your old powerhead as a, "core" trade in. He went on to say that would be much more cost effective than paying marina labor to chase down the numerous gremlins with these motors. I also know personally of one guy who got so frustrated, he tore out the jet engine, glassed in the hole and mounted a 30HP Outboard on a bracket and ended up with a cool little boat.
