Boat Surging/pulsing

Hi all,

I was out on the boat for our Friday happy hour last night. when driving the boat, it felt like it was surging/ pulsing. Not sure if Im describing this well, but it was consistent push, then drop off. Not real prominent, but noticeable. The instruments readings for speed and RPM's are not changing. they are steady. but I can feel the boat pushing and letting off. was running around 17mph
New boat last year, 60 hrs. so far
Only using ethanol free fuel,
Winterized by dealer

Thoughts? bad fuel?, fuel filter? Fuel pump?

We're people moving around on the boat by any chance? Was AutoWake on? Wondering if your center plate was trying to level. Did you notice if your bow went up and down any when it surged?

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17 is a funky speed honestly, it’s plowing versus planing and perhaps was water rough or were you crossing any wake?


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Did you still have cruise control active?
I have done this before and the boat was trying to push past the set speed then dying off to maintain.

It was just my wife and I. She was in the bow. Water was not rough, some wake from other boats, but minimal. I was at 17 because when I would push for more I wasn't getting anything. I don't think I had autowake on. I don't really use it much and it hasn't been warm enough for the kids to surf yet. Winers! I will have to check the cruise control. I think maybe that is it. I will try tomorrow morning if the rain holds off
Thanks guys!

Sounds like “zero off” was on


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If your speed control is set up too sensitive it can cause the boat to surge. Not sure if this is your issue but it’s worth taking a look. I don’t know if this can be dialed down on our boats though. I have PerfectPass on my Mastercraft and it was surging similarly to what you described. After dialing the sensitivity a bit the surging went away.

The surging and the fact you said it wouldn’t go over 17 mph when you pushed the throttle makes me think you had your cruise turned on and didn’t realize it.

Ok, so it was the cruise control. I feel a little dumb, but at least it wasn't something more serious. After thinking about your replies, I remembered that the weekend before, I set cruise at 17mph when I was coming back in because our lake gets a lot of debris this time of year when the big storms roll through. That is a speed that I can hopefully spot stuff and react. Last year I hit a chunk of wood about 10" in diameter x 2' long that was floating under the surface. Cost me a prop and a week on the water. When I went out this morning the cruise control was still active. After turning it off everything was normal. Yeah!! All is good in the world again and I can sleep at night. I do find it odd that the Cruise control stays on even after shutting down the boat and turning off the power for a week.

Much thanks to all of you. I'm new to the wakesurf world. The boat I had prior didn't have all the gadgets and capabilities that this one has. There's definitely a lot to figure out. This forum has been a great resource for me.

Yep that'll do it.
17 is a weird speed, in my boat that would be almost on plane but not quite which is tough for the zero off (cruise control) to handle. Also awful for fuel consumption just an FYI, pop it up on plane and everything will be better

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SONIC

Yep that'll do it.
17 is a weird speed, in my boat that would be almost on plane but not quite which is tough for the zero off (cruise control) to handle. Also awful for fuel consumption just an FYI, pop it up on plane and everything will be better

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Yep, to run 17 on plane, I would have to go faster, get on plane, then slow down.


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I found a chart somewhere that some marine group published regarding the raptor 400. They found the engine to be most efficient at 3500 rpm. That’s 19mph for me with a 13.00” pitch. Results may vary.