2001 Challenger

[SAMoloGY]

Folks,

Im about to buy a 2001 Seadoo Challenger, the boat is in prestine condition with only 7 hours of use.. for some reason the owner just bought it and kept it in the garage and never used it again. it comes with a single Mercury V6 engine.

i was searching on the forums ive noticed that some of the challengers come with an engine called the optimax, which, apparently has alot of problems. is this the one on the boat im buying? or is it another engine?

also.. what problems might i face? and what can i do to prevent them?

Thank you,

 

[timmyboy76]

Seadoosnipe thru out a great explanation,....A) something wrong, and you take to Seadoo dealer, they say, oh, we dont work on Mercury's,..B) take to Mercury place, they say, oh-we dont work on jet boats...

 

[robin savell lloyd]

Seadoosnipe thru out a great explanation,....A) something wrong, and you take to Seadoo dealer, they say, oh, we dont work on Mercury's,..B) take to Mercury place, they say, oh-we dont work on jet boats...

:agree:I do agree You will need to find a mecury mechanic for the engine and he should allso Know how to repair any jet problems. If he knows any thing about jet boats. He could have a problem ordering parts but it realy is not hard to find them. If you could find a very good mercury mechanic that would work on it on the side you may save alot of money and he allso could make a litle more than if he did it from a dealer ship. You could run a add looking for a mechanic on craigs list. It is free or find some other way. As long as you can find someone with a lot of knowlege on the mercury engine and knows jets you should be good. :cheers:

 

[SAMoloGY]

you guys are posting like the engine is gonna blow and theres nothing i can do about it!!

what i want to know is how to prevent it, i mean.. what necessary precautions should i take.. what type of oil should i run? what maintenance should be done??

 

[SAMoloGY]

:agree:I do agree You will need to find a mecury mechanic for the engine and he should allso Know how to repair any jet problems. If he knows any thing about jet boats. He could have a problem ordering parts but it realy is not hard to find them. If you could find a very good mercury mechanic that would work on it on the side you may save alot of money and he allso could make a litle more than if he did it from a dealer ship. You could run a add looking for a mechanic on craigs list. It is free or find some other way. As long as you can find someone with a lot of knowlege on the mercury engine and knows jets you should be good. :cheers:

im from Bahrain!

 

[SAMoloGY]

This is a pic of the motor, can someone please shed some light here.. is this engine reliable or not??

 

[rookie101]

I've had no problems with mine. Runs great, and gets great fuel mileage. If you ever do need servive work, see if you can find a Sugar Sand dealer in your area, as they still use these engines.

Aaron

 

[SAMoloGY]

still waiting for more answers!!

 

[timmyboy76]

When someone who is familiar with the type boat you have reads this they will give you an answer.

 

[vilord]

There don't seem to be that many folks on here who have boats with that motor. But, other companies used that motor quite a bit as well...

Take a quick read of this site, from there:

the 240 is an oil-inject EFI motor. While significantly more expensive, the 240 SportJet really packs a punch, is fairly quiet, and gets excellent fuel mileage for a 2-stroke.

So at least some people like it.

But, be absolutely sure that the reason he parked it in his garage wasn't because he a) submerged it, or b) seized or damaged the engine.

I could only find a few places with rebuilt motors for example here, but at $3,145 + core, its just a little bit more than the $750 I've seen on ebay for a rotax...

 

[SAMoloGY]

i was told by the owner that the engine is a 200HP.. so it cant be one of the engines on the list.. im really mixed up here, im having mixed feelings about this boat.

 

[vilord]

Both the 2001 challenger 1800 and the 2001 challenger 2000 (18 ft and 20 ft, respectively) used the Mercury M2 SportJet 240hp 2-cycle engine, from what I've read.
Take a look here for info on the 1800... supposed to be a really fun boat!

As for reliability, it is a 2-cycle marine motor, so often times reliability depends on maintenance and use of the best 2-cycle motor oil. Properly maintained it should work out fine for you. rookie101's Utopia 185 uses a similar 200hp SportJet engine and as he said

I've had no problems with mine. Runs great, and gets great fuel mileage.

The only negative to these boats is that some dealers don't like Mercury engines, and many Mercruiser dealers don't like Jets... so if you find a good mechanic/dealer who knows about the sportjet engines/jet pumps, you should be fine.

Just be sure to properly maintain it!

 

[SAMoloGY]

that by far is the most informative post here.. thanx alot sir, i will be contacting the mercury dealer here and ask them about it.. wish me luck

 

[vilord]

I forgot to mention, since the mercury powerhead is so expensive, you DO want to have it checked by the mechanic first. It may cost you $50 to have them go over the engine and make sure it has no issues, but it is worth it.