Greetings!

First post here mainly because I picked up my first boat yesterday. 89' 2001! She is going to need a little bit of love but I couldn't not buy for what I paid, I worked on her all weekend and got to take her out for a cruise this afternoon. I rebuilt the Holley carb but am having a problem keeping it running at idle. So far the lowest I have been able to get the idle to go is 1100 without dying, I would greatly apreciate any tips yall may have. I am going to change the oil and tranny fluid this week, what would you guys recommend that I use for oil/ filter and tranny fluid?

High Zinc, or zddp(? i think) is the the important factor for the cams in that vintage. I use ZR1 20w 50.

Jake,
    Welcome to the forum. I guess we will be seeing each other this summer. I go to Lake Lewisville. I live in the Grapevine area. I already noticed to improvement I did two my boat speedometer and tach. Well, my tach was really faded, I made a decal that you can place on it although yours is not as bad. Also, I replace my speedometer with chemistry watch glass. They look great. The cool thing is that I still have a few lest. I can make a set for you if you want to. Also, I have an extra set of tach decals, let me know if you want one. Send me a PM if you want my number. Welcome aboard! BTW, I have an 87 similar to yours. I will try to post a picture later to this thread.

-Tony

Welcome to the Site !!

I have a friend that uses Brad Penn in his Porsche 911. He highly recommended. What is your experience so far? How is the oil preassure? That's the only thing about using 20W50 VR1, the preassure is high. Most people says is ok. So far, so good with me. Just wondering.

High idle - vacuum leak?

Thanks guys! I love her already, matter of fact I got out on my buddies brand new 2012 230 today and looking at it I was like yeah my little 89 may fit in the back of your boat but I can do everything you can do and you could have bought 45 of my boat for the price of yours
I spoke with the mechanic at the Nautique dealership today and his advise was to use a straight 40 for the oil of 5 quarts and 2 quarts of atf fluid in the transmission.
The top end and acceleration felt pretty normal to me yesterday, I am not sure what the timing is sitting at right now but at some point this week one of the mechanics we have at work is going to check it out with me and see if the carb needs adjusting and show me how to check the timing and set it as I am new to messing with a carb and timing. Great learning project as we go! Hopefully this coming weekend will be one spent on the water with no issues!

Oetela, dont worry after about 10 payments he will be thinking that too, welcome

SNobsessed wrote: High idle - vacuum leak?

+ 1

Try squrting wd40 at the carb base, if rpm raises then you are sucking air somewhere...

Same motor I'm running in my '97. I had heard some were running VR-1 20w50 on our setup and was looking for feedback.

skutsch wrote: A lot of folks do run the 20W50, usually the Rotella. The VR-1 also has adequate ZDDP (both over 1200 PPM, most consider that the minimum for flat tappet motors). I figure the 40W is what the manual says, 40W is what I will run, probably my German heritage leaking through again...

Steve, youre close! Rotella doesnt come in 20w50 (it comes in 15w40 last time I checked). I think the majority here are using the VR1 because of the higher ZDDP content. Rotella has a bit less. My fallback option is the VR1, I have been trying to get the 5qt jugs of 15w50 Mobil1 when its available.

I would not put a lot of stock in the original oil recommendations. A lot has changed in the last 15 years. Not only are there very few oils with appropriate ZDDP levels for out flat tappet cams, but multiweight oils are also much better now than they were just a few years ago. They offer better cold start up lubrication than the straight weights.

Use 40. The reason I'm using the 20w-50 is because VR1 usually can only be found in 10w-30 or 20w-50.You only need these zddp oils when you have a flat engin. e. New engines dont need that. If I had a 98 I would rather use Mobil 1 syn. Cheaper and a great oil.

anthonylizardi wrote: Use 40. The reason I'm using the 20w-50 is because VR1 usually can only be found in 10w-30 or 20w-50.You only need these zddp oils when you have a flat engin. e. New engines dont need that. If I had a 98 I would rather use Mobil 1 syn. Cheaper and a great oil.

The Fords were flat tappet all the way to the very end in 2002.

Mobil1 is great, but make sure the grade youre using has the high zinc and phos levels if you have a flat tappet cam. The 15w50 falls into this category.

The 20w50 VR1 is a great choice. There is no reason to use a straight weight oil over it, IMHO.

TRBenj wrote: Steve, youre close! Rotella doesnt come in 20w50 (it comes in 15w40 last time I checked). I think the majority here are using the VR1 because of the higher ZDDP content. Rotella has a bit less. My fallback option is the VR1, I have been trying to get the 5qt jugs of 15w50 Mobil1 when its available. I would not put a lot of stock in the original oil recommendations. A lot has changed in the last 15 years. Not only are there very few oils with appropriate ZDDP levels for out flat tappet cams, but multiweight oils are also much better now than they were just a few years ago. They offer better cold start up lubrication than the straight weights.

Dang it Tim, you are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!!! Rotella is 15w40, last time I checked it did have over 1200 PPM ZDDP. As you indicated VR-1 also meets that minimimum, before I switched to Brad Penn, I was running VR-1 Racing 40W (Brad Penn is about half the price), the cold start argument is valid for the multiweight oils, but "Zie manual, zie sayz 40 VEIGHT, Vee use 40Veight!!!" If I don't my grandfather will probably rise from the grave and slap me up the side of the head

Thanks for the clarification on the Flat Tappet Fords, I was going back to double check to make sure so I didn't put another false one out there! HA!   

anthonylizardi wrote: Use 40. The reason I'm using the 20w-50 is because VR1 usually can only be found in 10w-30 or 20w-50.You only need these zddp oils when you have a flat engin. e. .

By 40 I meant multi grade. There is no reason not to.