Help Need Info on a 1990 25" Regazi

[stevieg1969]

Hi to all I purchased a 1990 Donzi Regazi It did not come with a owners manual and has bilge holes all over the place. Im sure there are several bilges but with out a owners manual I will have to physically locate them. I have no Idea how to operate some of the appliances such as fridge. Further more the motor runs well but I can't get the boat over 35 knots no matter how I trim it. The old owner claimbs 45 knots but thats hard to believe. I knew when I purchased this boat it was no speed demon but being hard pressed to reach 35 knots is a litttle unrealistic even for a boat this size with a mear 350 mag. Any ideas on some slight performance upgrades ??? If anyone can help me or sell me a owners manual I would greatly apprecite it Thanks In Advance,Steve

[drew0982]

boy am i happy to be rid of my 17 ragazza... there was a guy here on the site that had a 25 (i'm sure it was a 25)... uhhhh... can't remember his username, but i think "diver" was a part of it.

[onesubdrvr]

That was me,....but it was a 21'. Anyway, I can't help you much with the bilges, the 21 just had the engine room bilge, two side bilges (on either side of the ski locker), and up fron in the anchor locker, but all were connected and drained back to the engine room bilge. In the engine room bilge, look for the cut-outs where the other bilges drain, make sure they aren't clogged, and that water moves freely aft.

I can't help with any of the accessories either as mine was just a bow rider.

Speed - first, is that GPS and is that MPH or Knots?

35 does seem a bit slow, but that isn't the worlds most efficient hull either, and it's a HEAVY boat. My 21 with 365hp did 61 (yes GPS to all the naysayers ;) ) if that speed is in knots, and verified with GPS, I'd say you're not too far off, but check some of the obvious things, make sure it's firing on all 8 cylinders, that fuel supply is good, timing is good / etc. Also, is the hull clean? the slime / etc. build up can cause quite a bit of drag. Make sure the bilges are dry.

Best luck to you, and if there is anything I feel I can help with, I'll add my .02 cents.

Wayne

[stevieg1969]

I took it out the other day the boat itself is very nice and handles rough water great. Guaging by the speedometer it says 32 havent had it on the Gps yet. Its defenatlely bogging out and with 4 people on it I could barely plane. Ill try a tune up It is constently bilgeing every few minutes but I cant find any significant cracks or a hole in the bottom gel coat?? Ill keep you posted it should be intresting to see what it does after a tune-up.

[GeneD]

You're bilging every couple of minutes?
No fiberglass boat should do that.
Check the transom assy for leaks, could be the gimbal gasket leaking, or one of the bellows.
If you constantly have water in the bilge, I'm wondering if you have a water soaked stringer system, or transom. This may account for your 'bogging' due to the added weight.

[onesubdrvr]

On my 21' when I first got it, there was a small crack in the block that was filling up the bilge quick - could very well be your problem with speed (full bilge / etc.) If you can, pull it out of the water at an angle (like on a boat ramp), and pull the plug, see how long it takes to drain. On the last trip (before I rebuilt the engine), it took from the boat ramp to the house (about 20 minutes) for the bilge to drain, and even then it wasn't done, because when I disconnected it from the truck, and jacked up the front tire, it started draining again.

leaking hoses, leak from transom seal, could be lots of things

Wayne

[GeneD]

Hmmm, yeah well, motor trouble could cause water in the bilge.
I didn't mention anything like that because motor leaks are usually self-evident.
But...if indeed the motor is leaking water from wherever, it 'could' cause low performance depending on what is being affected, spark...fuel intake, etc.
I'm betting on load.

[onesubdrvr]

Hmmm, yeah well, motor trouble could cause water in the bilge.
I didn't mention anything like that because motor leaks are usually self-evident.
But...if indeed the motor is leaking water from wherever, it 'could' cause low performance depending on what is being affected, spark...fuel intake, etc.
I'm betting on load.
In the case of mine, the crack in the block was down underneath the exhaust manifold, by the freeze plug (another area to check). Because of the location of the engine mount, and the exhaust manifold, and the fact it was a "hairline" crack, it was near impossible to see.

Regardless, it does sound like he may have gained a LOT of weight from water, certainly a possibility.

Wayne

[stevieg1969]

I am in the auto repair business so I had one of my techs that has marine experience do a compression check on all 8 cylinders and they tested perfect right in spec. Next we pulled the plugs all plugs fine except number #2 cylinder plug was soaking wet. Pulled the dipstick the oil was milky white filled with water?? We usually dont find one plug only in this condition. We started tearing down the exhaust components and found one of the flaps had fallen completely off because of a worn out gromit and the flap itself had fallen down into the exhaust pipe. We replaced the gromit reinstalled the flap properly and then found the power steering cooler had holes rotted through so we replaced the cooler canister and ran the boat on the water cups after we flushed and replaced the oil and filter. After running it several times we cannot find water back in the oil?? I will be taking it out this weekend to see what happens I will post results Thanks to all responding,Steve