Evinrude E-Tec in gear idle speed adjustment

[miker]

Hey guys,

for a while I had wanted to adjust the in-gear idle speed down on my 50HP 2007 Evinrude E-Tec so I could troll a little slower. There is not much information available on the web of the results of people who had changed theirs, so I figured I would post how it went for me...sorry for the blog-type post.

on the E-Tec's you can adjust the in-gear idle speed only via their special management software/computer. From what I can find on the internet this software is only available to authorized vendors/repair shops. there is a consumer version available, but it is a read-only version...so you can get lots of info about your motor..but can't change anything. (Feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this)

before I got the in gear idle speed changed, it was set at 875RPM, I asked the boat shop to switch it as low as possible, and ~$50 later it is revving at 675 at the lowest speed. (those numbers are from the boat shop, it is a little hard to be that accurate with my tach)

speed-wise the lower RPM's have definitely helped, before the lowest speed was between 3.8 and 4.2kph, now it is somewhere between 2.9 and 3.2kph. These speeds are from my GPS, averaged out over a couple trips out...and by 'averaged out', I mean I am pretty sure I remember those are the rough speeds

definitely feels slower, and can see it in the change in the action of my rod when trolling.

The downside is the vibration of the engine goes waaaaaay up when it is revving at 675, can feel it all the way through the boat. which was fairly annoying, but after a couple minutes pretty much got used to it. (boat is a 2007 Lowe FM165).

From what I can see, I did not lose anything at the top-end...still maxes out at around 5,500 RPM's, and goes about 48->50kph.


There are definitely other ways to slow down the boat for trolling, but i wanted to try taking advantage of this feature of the motor.

so far, happy that I got the change done..but we will see how much the vibration bugs me down the road.

[crankbait58]

OK miker, now you have me curious. I can't quite understand how you could do any effective trolling with a 50HP motor on a 16.5' boat even with drift socks. Wouldn't an electric trolling motor be a better investment than the money you've spent on retuning, future gas, socks etc?. And, electric motors don't vibrate!

[miker]

Hey crankbait58,

I do have an electric trolling motor, and do use it for trolling...but I am lucky enough to find myself at a friends remote/offgrid cottage up north for a week or so a couple times per year, and by the end of week my two deep cycles are dead, so I wanted a way to troll still.

I will most likely continue to troll with the electric mostly, but in heavy winds, and when I am trying to conserve batteries, I'll probably use the main motor for trolling.

[Buckshot]

I have a bow mount and a 60 hp Yamaha Tiller on a 16'6" Lund and about the only thing I use my electric motor for now is working a shoreline while casting.

My Yamaha has the troll down feature and can back troll and stay vericle over a jig or bottom bouncer and work cranks very slow along shorelines.

I looked at the E-tec and was very impressed with there performance but they didnt troll down slow enough for me.

If you get a chance check out the Yamaha and there troll down feature.