2001 Nissan 50 HP

OK....I got my boat out of the shop today. It turns out that I had a bolt work loose from the plastic plates that surround the carburetors. The bolt passed through the carburetor and into the manifold. It stuck in one of the reed valves and was blowing gas rather than sucking gas. The dealer told me that I probably started out with a fuel problem and that through carelessness I probably made the situation worse. Either I didn't tighten the bolt enough or I let it fall into the manifold without realizing it (while cleaning the carburetors). Whatever happened, he told me I was fortunate that the bolt did not go past the reed valves and into the cylinder itself. He was able to pull the bolt out with a long pair of needle-nose pliers. He put new spark plugs in it, straightened out the dings in the prop, and took it to the lake for a test run. He said it was running like a champ. I'll give her a test run in a little while and see what I think.

I'm really happy to have my boat back! I'm also happy that I didn't have to sell my youngest child to pay for the repair. Total cost...$101.39.

I'm BACK! :grin-big:

Hey Bob, I've been tossing around the idea of replacing my prop and have done a little research on it. I have located the Nissan prop chart and they list many sizes for my engine. I have a couple of questions though. Maybe you can clear a few things up for me.

According to the chart, my engine came equipped with a 11 X 12.4 prop. The literature I've read says that a higher pitch will provide more top end speed but less torque (hole-shot). The next higher pitched prop on the chart is a 10.2 X 13.9. Why would the diameter decrease with an increase in pitch? How much difference does a narrower prop make in performance?

I looked at a stainless steel prop (via the Nissan site) and the only one that was offered by Michigan Wheel was sized 11.75 X 17. That is a drastic increase in pitch. What are the implications of that? I think you told me once that a stainless prop would provide much better performance than aluminum. It stands to reason since there would be less flexing and less damage done when striking underwater objects. Other brands and sizes of SS props are available and vary in price. None of them are under $200. Do you have any suggestions as to which brand is superior or which to stay away from? Any other things I should consider before purchasing a new prop?

I'm hoping to increase top end speed by a little bit but want to make sure that I don't mess anything up.

Thanks for any information you can provide. I hope others can benefit from this as well.