'03 Utopia Power Loss

[llebelyk]

Hey guys, I've been having some problems with my boat recently and I'm not too sure where to start so I was hoping y'all could give me some guidance. As the title states, I have a 2001 Seadoo Utopia 185 with the 210 Merc V6 engine which had run perfectly fine all summer long until a few weeks ago I took it out and it was behaving strangely. I made a list of symptoms that I had noticed while trying to diagnose my problem...

• First and most prominent is the loss of power ONLY on left-handed turns. I can turn perfectly fine going right but once I turn left RPMs drop to almost idling.
• I have also noticed a slightly slower acceleration, it may be all in my head but it definitely feels sluggish.
• I have noticed a little more white smoke than normal once the engine gets up to operating temp.
• The speedometer has been cutting in and out while cruising at a constant speed

Overall, the boat cranks up, idles, and gets up to speed somewhat normally but I'm just not too sure what could be giving me these problems. Hopefully you guys can give me some pointers on what I should be looking at to fix this! Let me know if y'all need any more info.

Thanks
-KB

 

[Lumps]

very interesting symptoms. when you say when turning left. do you mean with a lot of centrifical force? or you mean when the steering assist kicks in? maybe your battery or a connection is loose? I don't have any real answers but I am really curious what this is.

 

[ORION '95 Speedster]

Ya, kind of strange symptoms. Does the power loss happen instantly or gradually? If you whip the steering wheel back and fourth do the RPMs go up/down/up/down real fast? Could be a loose battery connection like Lumps said, or maybe a problem with the fuel feed tubes in the tank. Does it happen when the fuel tank is nearly empty? Does it happen when the fuel tank is all the way full? Maybe water is inside of an electrical box, and is shorting something out when you turn? Are all of the throttle and choke cables secured, and not flopping around? Is the choke closing for some reason? Is there water in the fuel tank?

 

[llebelyk]

Lumps: The problem does occur during sharp turns but not so much that the steering assist is engaged. I can actually cruise around and make gradual turns but its only when I turn hard that I have problems.

Orion: Yeah, I lose power instantly, as soon as I hit the "sweet spot" RPMs drop like I had just pulled all the way off the throttle and they stay down until I reset back into neutral, after that I can throttle back up to speed. Also, I had about a half a tank of gas when this first started happening but I'll go ahead an top it off just to rule out any uncertainty. I'll take a look at all of the other things you've mentioned as well, that gives me at least a starting point.

Thanks guys!

 

[ORION '95 Speedster]

If the throttle instantly drops when you turn, and will not return to normal until you fiddle with the gear selector, then you have an electrical problem. What problem I'm not sure, but I bet it has something to do with the neutral switch that's built into the throttle lever area. Its being triggered by a loose connection maybe? I would start with the electrical that is in the gear selector/throttle area.

 

[Lumps]

I have been thinking about your issues. I am not an expert but I am guessing you have multiple causes for your symptoms. The is a sticky at the top for port side temperate sensor. They are cheap to replace and could cause smoking and poor performance.

I don't know if yours is the same but my old seadoo had a wire that ran from the speed sensor on the transom that was exposed outside the boat. When I got the boat it had its cover scraped off and the wires were bare. There was a loose connection in there that I fixed but cutting off bad wires and splicing in new wire. But I had the same sort of off and on again speedometer you are describing

 

[Dr Honda]

The port side temp sender is only an issue on the EFI engines. He has carbs.

I also think it's electrical. It's normal to lose a little RPM on a tight turn... but if it's dropping all the way to an idle... I would start with a compression check... and look at spark on all 6 plugs.

 

[UKGlenn]

Lumps: The problem does occur during sharp turns but not so much that the steering assist is engaged. I can actually cruise around and make gradual turns but its only when I turn hard that I have problems.

Orion: Yeah, I lose power instantly, as soon as I hit the "sweet spot" RPMs drop like I had just pulled all the way off the throttle and they stay down until I reset back into neutral, after that I can throttle back up to speed. Also, I had about a half a tank of gas when this first started happening but I'll go ahead an top it off just to rule out any uncertainty. I'll take a look at all of the other things you've mentioned as well, that gives me at least a starting point.

Thanks guys!

Similar thing I had this summer. Boat worked flawlessly for nearly 3 weeks then without warning the boat starts cutting out when turning left. Fires straight up again and carries on. Putting it down to the aftermarket kill switch cap having been left on the kill switch for 3 weeks in the hot Spanish sun having weakened the elasticity of the rubber cover and certain times when turning hard the weight of the cord swinging in the turn pulling on the cap was enough to effectively cut off the kill switch.