Updated, engine problem, Wake Surfing '09 AR210

[jcsmith77]

We have been trying to wake surf this year and I wanted to get your guys opinion of my setup and my experience to see what i am doing wrong and what i might be able to improve.
I have 1 400# bag under the starboard rear seat shoved back into the void next to the engine so i know it doesn't get completely full. I have its match in the same spot on the port side and then an 800# filling the rest of the underseat space around the battery. I fill them until they start pushing up the cup holders. I have another 400 lb bag that i have put on the swim deck or the port seat depending on how many are with us.

So the wave that it creates seems to be very close to the boat. I(6'4" 225lbs) can go ropeless but i am literally right behind the boat to keep enough push and we seem to be going way to fast (14 mph by the factory gauge). I seem to be able to come down the wake, i can hit the boat with the nose of the board if i want but i flare up into the wash, slow down and do that over and over. Occasionally i can be a couple feet back, but the sweet spot is much smaller and harder to maintain.

We pull out of the water and it seems like we have nothing but wash until we get up a little faster and then we settle back into the 14 mph range. This past weekend I filled the underseat bags and then put the extra 400 on the deck and tied it off, but with my friends sitting in the back of the boat, at full throttle we couldn't really build a wave. My buddy, probably 200 lbs had to go sit in the front and then a smoother face would form. This is with the engines at full throttle. Then once its there we can back off the throttles a little.

So if you read all that, what am I doing wrong? still not enough ballast? improper placement? why do I have to go so fast to get a wave when everyone else says 10 mph?

 

[RightStuff]

Sounds like to me you need to move one of the 400# bags to either the bow between the seats up there, or into the ski locker. Also remove all the weight from the non-surf side that you can (anchors, coolers, people, anything).

Based on the bags you have I would say try this setup for reg. foot surfing:
-400 on the swim platform
-400 up front -> bow, ski locker, or on the seat above the 800
- 800 under rear port seat
- Also, like you already did, move people around the boat, front to back on the surf side to tweak the wake a bit from there.

Without the 1.8L engines like the 212 has it's going to take some power to get up on plane and get the wave setup. But yes you should be in that 9-12 mph range, any faster and the wave will loose the push.

 

[ar240owner]

Man on my old 210 I would run a 1000 pound under the port seat , and a 750 or 550 on the seat and a 300 under both front seats so 600 in the bow !!! And a wake wedge it made a NICE wave !!!! My wife liked more push so when she surfed we would not fill the front bags , for a taller wave ! Here are some pics

 

[ar240owner]

And yes that's two guys ropeless behind
My old 210 !!!

 

[jcsmith77]

I have bought all my bags second hand and have been trying to keep them all hidden under the seats. So if i pull the one from under the starboard seat and put it in the front it should lengthen the wave? I was keeping it on port side for my goofy foot wife so i wasn't constantly having to fill and empty bladders. I would like to get my setup a little more tuned in this year as i would really prefer to plumb the ballast in for my winter boat project.

 

[ar240owner]

Yes bow weight =longer pocket , ass weight more push , smaller pocket , hope this helps

 

[RightStuff]

I was keeping it on port side for my goofy foot wife so i wasn't constantly having to fill and empty bladders. I would like to get my setup a little more tuned in this year as i would really prefer to plumb the ballast in for my winter boat project.

I think you will find it easier to teach her to surf reg. foot until you get an auto fill system to make switching from side to side easier.

 

[jcsmith77]

Port engine hard to start after surfing??????
Ok, i am going to revive my thread rather than start a new one, I had a great deal of success building a better wave by only filling bags under the port seat and on the swim deck and not filling the starboard bag, however that is not my newish problem. I had noticed that on occasion if someone finished surfing and we all jumped in and swam for a while that the port engine(low side) would be hard to start. If one person stops and another starts, no issue is seen. So this past weekend, i went down to prep the boat in the slip and started it just to make sure batteries were good and i filled all bladders and put the lean to the boat and then went and retrieved everyone. So the boat may have set 30-45 minutes with it leaning to port. When we got down there, the port engine wouldn't start had to crank on and off for a few minutes before it would start firing. Finally started firing on a couple cylinders and then on more and finally running. I have put brand new plugs in it already earlier this year and its acting the exact same way, like the plugs are fouled. This only happens when i have it ballasted up and leaning hard to the left. So what the hell is causing this? i originally thought that it was happening after running the engines hard and then sitting, but on the morning it hadn't really ran anytime and it fired right up the first time, but after sitting ballasted was a real bear to start. Any one got any ideas whats causing the issue or experienced anything of this nature?

 

[swatski]

The worst case scenario would be -- you could fill the exhaust section of the exhaust up to where it spills into the valve train... Since the entire exhaust system has to fill with water for it to get back in the engine, it would take at least a long while to fill up the water boxes enough to get into the engines.

Obviously you ran it so it is not hydrolocked. But, if a cylinder fires while another cylinder has any water in it, it can do serious damage.

I would think it may be a good idea to check the oil as soon as possible... if it has water in it I wouldn't leave it sitting.

Hopefully others will chime in!

 

[jcsmith77]

The boat is a couple hours away, but we are headed down this weekend and I will check. The more that I have thought about this issue, the more the water idea has crept into my mind. I am just not sure what would be different for me to cause this issue when i have never heard anyone else having a similar issue when ballasting the boat over. @ar240owner got any thoughts? anyone else? I certainly don't want to be damaging my engine for the sake of surfing as much as we love it.

 

[Bill D]

Does the boat run fine after you get the engine started? I'm wondering if you are getting some kind of fuel issue when the boat is listed over to port?

 

[ar240owner]

That's weird ? I never had a issue with my old 210 , I don't know

 

[ar240owner]

I wouldn't think water intrusion , it would take a lot for the water to run up the exhaust manifolds

 

[ar240owner]

@jcyamaharider any ideas ?

 

[swatski]

I wouldn't think water intrusion , it would take a lot for the water to run up the exhaust manifolds

I agree. But that is the biggest worry.

 

[swatski]

@jcsmith77 May I suggest editing your thread title to get more attention to engine/fuel lines issues?

 

[Scottintexas]

maybe you have some debris or water in your fuel tank and when listed and let sit it accumulates and the fuel pick up is getting a full slurp of it?

 

[jcyamaharider]

I would check your oil like others have stated, other then that I have no ideas off the top of my head.

 

[jcsmith77]

So the longer it sits listed, the worse the hard to start condition seems to be, so if we sit listed for 10-15 minutes, you might have to crank for 15-30 seconds, and then like when i listed it and then went and go get everyone, we had to crank for a couple minutes, it would then slowly start to fire on 1, then crank some more and you can tell its firing on a couple, and progressively it will fire and start running rough and then run fine. Once running its fine and will wind up just like it should full rpm. Obviously water intrusion would be worst case scenario and scares the crap out of me, but if that were an issue i can't imagine why i would be the only one to ever have that issue. I am not sinking it near as much as a lot of people. Probably 1000 lbs under port seat, 400 on mostly port side of swim deck and a 200lb friend in the corner, so the rub rail at the back corner is just under water when sitting.

 

[jcsmith77]

does the fuel take have multiple pickups or a single? the starboard engine starts just fine. So if it were a gas issue, i would assume both would have it.