175 Sportjet owners

[Doubletake]

I own a Sportjet and was curious about anyone else that owns one, any quirks, likes or dislikes about the one you own? I have some questions about mine that perhaps one of you might know the answer to.
I bought mine in June and it seems hard to find out anything about the motor or pump from Mercury or any of the dealers.

If you don't want to post send me an E-mail

Thanks

Doubletake

[Ed]

Doubletake,
I bought a 19' Duckworth with a 175 Sportjet in July. My previous boat was an 18' Duckworth with a 140 Suzuki jet ouboard. I was very impressed with the power and handling of the Sportjet especially coming from the Suzuki outboard. The handling and performance is really night and day as compared to the Suzuki, I'll never go back to an outboard. I now have 21 hours on the Sportjet with no problems. It does not use as much oil as the Suzuki and the fuel economy isn't bad either. My boat runs in the upper 40s WOT. However, the handling is really where the boat shines especially in reverse. With the big reverse bucket on the Sportjet I can really maneuver the boat in some very tight spots. The big bucket really stops the boat very quickly. So quick, I can put the bow under water if needed. I have had the boat in big deep Bouy 10 water and in very skinny North Santiam summer water. No scratches on the hull yet. The only quirk I have noticed is the Sportjet is a bit cold blooded. You may have noticed that if you give it throttle while the choke is still activated (cold) the motor will pulse or sound like it is missing. This is really no big deal, I just give it plenty of time to warm up. The only time I move out prior to complete warm up is when I need to get out of the way of a barge. Consequently I try to keep both my kicker and Sportjet relatively warm by running them off and on while at anchor.

As you can tell I am happy with the Sportjet. I swore I was going to by a V8 when I was shopping. But the cost savings coupled with the handeling, power, and additional room convinced me otherwise. It basically came down to a loaded boat with more room with a Sportjet or a bare boat and less room with a V8. I hope I am singing the same tune when I get 150-200 hours on the Sportjet. Ed

[Doubletake]

Thanks for the input gentlemen. I agree with the cold blooded part also, but it hasn't got too bad yet, usually starts by the third try if not before.

Ed, I also am very happy with mine, thanks for the tip on the motor pulsing when cold for I had noticed that also. I also have had to dump it into reverse off a plane, it does stop fast. The only problem I got from that was sucking some air into the pump and it did not want to take off right away.

Pete, I also have a 12 degree vee and have had my 19' Thunderjet cavitate when running in chop or larger riffles. Not real bad but enough to notice, does seem kind of strange for boats that size with a 12 degree vee.

I was having some problems with the boat smoking and took it in for a 20 hour service and since I got it back it is much better though they found nothing wrong or out of adjustment. It smoked really bad when powering up on the trailer but today it didn't hardly at all so hopefully problem solved.

Thanks for the help guys

Good luck and good fishing

Doubletake

[WaterDog]

Pete,
Motion Marine has "mufflers" that reduces engine noise and make a more effective reverse. Cost $225 installed and they really work!

BTW the 240hp Sportjet is due very soon! Should be perfect for a 20 footer!

[Pete]

I've got over 100 hours on my SportJet. I concur that it is cold blooded. Some mornings it seems like it won't start, but eventually it does. I'd prefer if it didn't blow so much blue smoke as it's starting. I know Mercury makes exhaust manifold deflectors to reduce the noise of the motor. I don't have them and don't know anyone that does, but I wonder how they could be worth $385.
The biggest problem I have is not motor related, but hull design. I have a 20' Alumaweld Intruder with a 12 degree hull. I think with a little bigger angle on the hull I would cut through rough water better and cavitate less, but that's not the fault of the SportJet.
My only problem so far was a recall on the choke bushing, but that was repaired for free and took only 10 minutes.
...well, as I think about it, I occasionally get junk stuck in the impeller which causes the motor to run poorly. It took me a while to figure out how to fix it, since you can't reach the intake grate when the boat is in the water. At first I'd put the boat back on the trailer, but then I learned a trick. Get going forward as fast as possible, then shut the motor off and let the backwash clear the intake.

[This message has been edited by Pete (edited 12-27-2000).]