24 replies to this topic

[beauford54]

Hello,

I'm fairly new to boating. This is only my second year, but after the family and I LOVED being on the water we new we had to upgrade from our 1990 18 footer. So I just bought a 2003 215 SS.

She is in the water now and I have taken her out a few brief times (live in Upstate NY, so it's still pretty cool around here). I was hoping to maybe get some insight and help?

First, is it normal for the boat to lean to the starboard side? My thought was that the port side will have more passangers so maybe it was tipped a bit on purpose. The boat has been in the water a few weeks and I don't see any water in it so I don't think it has a leak? Any thoughts? I hope my pic posts, you can almost see the lean (I'd post more pics, but still trying to figure out the whole compression thing under 500kb). I can feel the lean and when washing the boat, all the water pools to the starboard side, so I did confirm that I'm not crazy.

Second, the engine seems pretty good for the most part (Mercruiser 5.0 220hp) but doesn't like it when the throttle is between 0-20% down, even in neutral. The manual says to warm the engine up use fast idol between 1000 to 1500 RPM's for 1 to 2 minutes. If I go below 1600 RPM's, even when warmed up, it'll stall. So I've been warming it up around 1800 RPM's. Could this be from having some old gas still in her from last year, or that I haven't run it enough this year? Even when I start out in gear, if I don't put the throttle past the 20% mark, it will usually stall.

Thanks all. I'm very happy with my purchase, especially seeing how awesome this community seems to be! I'll try to post more pics when I get them and figure out a good way to do it.

-Gary

Attached Files

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•  Chaparral 1 c2.jpg   264.84K   13 downloads

[krmartonik]

I have an 08 and mine only leans a little when I am by myself. Do you have dual batteries or a lot of gear starboard? Does it still lean with full water tank, I usually keep mine at least half full. Trim tabs will probably help. Let me know what you find. As for the engine, you may have fuel or carburetor problems.

[skiya]

Does your boat have one or two batteries? If one is the list to the side w/ the battery? You have more weight on starboard side and causing the list. When I bought mine new it had one battery on starboard side but had the dealer install second battery on opposite side before taking delivery. Sea trail day was choppy so I don't remember if it had a list or not w/ one battery.

As for stalling, start w/ simple easy fix and work your way from there. Could be the gas. Have you sprayed any carb cleaner into the carb? New gas and clean the carb of any gunk and see what happens.

[skiya]

I forgot, to post pics. Upload pics on photobucket then click/copy the IMG code of the pic you want to post.

[Dave00]

I've noticed mine lists to the port side--the water tank is on the port side & it was almost full last time I took it out.

[Firemedic555]

I have similar issues:
1. Mine leans to starboard as well; dual batteries. More pronounced on smaller boats like ours. Easily fixed with a loaded cooler on the port side.

2. Mine stuttered at just-above-idle as well. New distributor cap and roter, as well as a carb rebuild and new accelerator pump fixed all that. Runs like a champ now. Been dealing with that one since purchase two years ago ! Makes docking tough. But start simple like others are saying.... Could just be bad gas. Ditch the gas, dump in a bottle of seafoam, fill with 97 and run it !

[Toddler]

All boats have some sort of list(lean), it's all the stuff we put in them. You mght want to rearrange some stuff.

As for the motor I'd run the gas out of it, put in 15 gallons of BP gold and clean the carb. If thats doesn't help. Then its might be other things listed above.




Welcome to the group.....



.

[IndyChap]

My 2001 216 lists to Starboard due to the DUAL Batt setup.



I correct the list by filling the cooler (Port side) with BEER. (or sometimes water)...

[beauford54]

Hey thanks so much everyone!

Yes, I DO have dual batteries and both are on the starboard side, so maybe that's it. The water tank is on that side too, but I haven't filled it yet. I like the idea of a cooler on the port side, that's what I'll do!

As far as the cleaning the carb out, I'll give that a try. Not very mechanical, but I'm sure I can find something online to help me with it. And, I can put a higher octane gas in it? I didn't know you could do that? (Again, not very mechanical, but am interested in learning, as I would much rather do repairs myself since I just love working on a boat!) I'll give it a try too. Thanks for all of your fast input!

Ok, I'm going to try to post some pics. I did the photobucket thing and hope it works???

Thanks again everyone! Feels good to be a Chaparral owner!

[Seamus]

Gary - welcome to the forum and to the Chaparral family! Where in Upstate are you located or boat out of?

[delaney]

http://forum.chaparr...at/2003/215.pdf

welcome to the group. if you haven't already, follow this link and you will find part numbers for just about all you need for your model of boat and it will help w/ locating where stuff is.

[birdog]

Welcome to the 4m. Congrats on the new boat!

[beauford54]

Seamus, I live near Syracuse and usually take the boat on Oneida lake. And thanks for the link, delaney.

Speaking of boat parts, how do I get them? Do I have to find a dealer near me and give them the part number?

And I'm open to any and all advice. Like I said, this will only be my second year of boating, so I'm still trying to learn all that I can!

Thanks again everyone!

[skiya]

Ask for Joe. Just about everyone on here will tell you he's the go to guy.

Cecil Marine

2378 S Black Horse Pike
Williamstown, NJ 08094
856-629-4606

[krmartonik]

Hey thanks so much everyone!

Yes, I DO have dual batteries and both are on the starboard side, so maybe that's it. The water tank is on that side too, but I haven't filled it yet. I like the idea of a cooler on the port side, that's what I'll do!

As far as the cleaning the carb out, I'll give that a try. Not very mechanical, but I'm sure I can find something online to help me with it. And, I can put a higher octane gas in it? I didn't know you could do that? (Again, not very mechanical, but am interested in learning, as I would much rather do repairs myself since I just love working on a boat!) I'll give it a try too. Thanks for all of your fast input!

Ok, I'm going to try to post some pics. I did the photobucket thing and hope it works???

Thanks again everyone! Feels good to be a Chaparral owner!

Funny, my water tank is on the port side . Maybe Chap made a change in later years

[billy737]

Welcome! The more I drink the more it leans!

[mpm330]

Billy!

[Whalersailor]

Yup, Billy is definitely back.

[beauford54]

Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

[billy737]

I got some girls that will help you get that boat floating right.