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2001 Seadoo Sportster LE. Just got it!

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It's just a small inline restriction jet with a .035 hole in the brass barrel, they don't usually budge or fall out I wouldn't even worry about it at this point if correcting your manner of accelerating cures the issue and there's no ongoing problems with it.

I just wanted you to know more information over and above what you've learned so far for carb pressure testing and problem diagnosis. You'll pass this along someday to help someone else I'm sure.

I think it was simply due to your light handed babying of the throttle this time around. :) Let 'er rip next time!
 
Bonmotwang said:
Yesterday we did tubing and water ski. With 3 adults in the boat, it was pretty hard to get a good acceleration to get a beginner (my niece) out of the water.
She said she got up no problem a week ago with her friends with a bigger boat. I will try two person on board next time.

The boat ran well in about 2.5 hours. There is only one glitch on the lake after I restarted the boat, I push the throttle up as normal, when the RPM reaching in 2000-3000 range, it lost its power and dropped to 0 as if it was a "software landing". Then I restarted it right away, no problem this time. Is it because I didn't idle long enough? But the engine at that time was "warm".
Click to expand...

You didn't mention if the skier was on double skis but if yes then I'm a little surprised. Try easing into the throttle, in case you didn't already?

"it lost its power and dropped to 0 as if it was a "software landing".

Sounds like you experienced a lean hesitation in the mid range, similar to the one my boat was experiencing.
 
Bonmotwang said:
I was moving the throttle slowly up at that time. Is it possible the air in the bilge doesn't have enough oxygen?
Click to expand...

If you have any exhaust leak it will displace oxygen, the larger the leak the worse the problem. It doesn't take much of a leak but I think if there was one you would've been having constant problems.

The bilge fan may help you to diagnose an exhaust leak or "stale" bilge air, my bad habit is I don't use my bilge fan but I do keep a close watch for fuel leaks.
 
Sportster-2001-951C-Stock said:
You didn't mention if the skier was on double skis but if yes then I'm a little surprised. Try easing into the throttle, in case you didn't already?

"it lost its power and dropped to 0 as if it was a "software landing".

Sounds like you experienced a lean hesitation in the mid range, similar to the one my boat was experiencing.
Click to expand...

She was on double skis. But I think I don't know how to pull.
Not "software landing", I meant "soft landing".
Did you change your jets to correct your problem?
 
Sportster-2001-951C-Stock said:
If you have any exhaust leak it will displace oxygen, the larger the leak the worse the problem. It doesn't take much of a leak but I think if there was one you would've been having constant problems.

The bilge fan may help you to diagnose an exhaust leak or "stale" bilge air, my bad habit is I don't use my bilge fan but I do keep a close watch for fuel leaks.
Click to expand...

I have never used the bilge fan for start, which makes my habit really really bad then.
I should be able to smell exhaust leak, right? I was paying attention to this type of exhaust smell when I was breaking in the engine.
 
I don't think you will be able to smell an exhaust leak unless it's very obvious(large leak) but the bilge will fill with carbon monoxide so you may be able to detect that using a CO detector?

I only use the bilge blower to test it's still working, my bad. :( The blower help to detect an exhaust leak though by clearing the bilge air and comparing the restart result?
 
Bonmotwang said:
She was on double skis. But I think I don't know how to pull.
Not "software landing", I meant "soft landing".
Did you change your jets to correct your problem?
Click to expand...

Yes, this sounds like you experienced a lean hesitation. If lean, there is not enough fuel to sustain ignition and the engine falls on it's face and quits. If too much fuel the engine will 4-stroke until the excess fuel clears out of the crankcase but it's unlikely to stop running completely, just will "burble" and "chug" till the ratio reaches normal.

My lean hesitation was consistent up to 70% throttle where the main venturi flow is the major source of fuel.

I noticed if the throttle is applied fully too quickly when I'm being towed on the ski, the impeller slips and the engine hits the rev limiter. I suppose the impeller either ventilates or cavitates but I'm unsure if air is being sucked into the pump from somewhere or if the pressure differential around the impeller blades is enough to boil the water.

I tend to think it's the latter (cavitation) b/c at this time I can see steam (white cloud of smoke).

So I asked my driver to apply the throttle a little bit slower on the way to WOT in a more gentle ramp as the boat begins moving and gains speed. This results in a slightly stronger pull and the impeller doesn't appear to slip.

Before, I could actually feel the pull and acceleration decrease once the impeller began slipping from too much power.

I'm wondering if maybe this is happening to you as well.
 
Thanks Sportster. I saw very light of white smoke from the back too, but not always. Are you saying it could be stream? I thought it's from the premix. I should put my nose into it next time :-D
I was doing slow push on the throttle too, because I have already experienced the acceleration issue with 3 adults on board (not sure if it is me still doing something not totally right). That's probably why my niece was not used to the different "pull" from my boat. She told me all 8 girls got up before the second try with the bigger boat.
 
Yeah, I'm not sure if maybe you were applying too much throttle too quickly or if you were dragging the skier and not applying enough throttle as you could've. Skiers don't like to be dragged, it makes them tired. Perhaps you didn't apply enough throttle.

In my case of a single ski this boat can pull me up with two adults in the boat but it depends on how the driver applies throttle. For instance if the driver takes 10 seconds to go from part throttle no wake to WOT, it's better than if the driver places the throttle immediately to WOT. If I lay back and resist the way I normally do(make the boat pull me up), this boat will fail to pull me up. I have to lean more forward on my ski b/c this boat is not as strong as others.

My other boat can pull my arms off, this one cannot. Last time my "rusty" driver pulled me with this boat she first dragged me and I couldn't get up, I just got tired of holding on so I let go. Second try she nailed it hard and pulled the handles right out of my hands (I couldn't hold on), b/c she nailed the throttle. Third time was good, just enough throttle I could still hold on. This boat is 7.5L, V8 400+HP

IMO the Sportster boat has slightly more pulling power if the driver reaches WOT in 10 seconds than if the driver reached WOT in less than 1 second. This is b/c the impeller hydraulically "unhooks" from the water when the WOT throttle is applied suddenly.

I think if you reach WOT in 10 seconds the result will be a slightly stronger pull. Of course your issue may be just too much weight in the boat
 
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The steam I see also happens when trying to accelerate suddenly No wake speed-> WOT instantly. The impeller cavitates or ventilates and the boat actually takes longer to accelerate.

A slower application of throttle to WOT ~10 seconds instead of less than 1 second gives a better hole shot.

You didn't say if you actually used WOT. I think? I think you must, briefly, until the skier is clearly out of the water and has gained his balance then you can take 20 seconds to back down to 5200 RPM.

Try to remember, I'm not in the boat so I don't really know the RPM my driver actually pulls me (I guess it's 5200) but if the boat speed drops under 20MPH on the dreamometer the boat immediately drops off the plane. I can ski around 20MPH but the boat cannot stay on plane at that speed, thus I must ski around 25MPH or more depending on how rough the water is.

If I want to go faster I give the spotter a "thumbs up" signal or if I want to slow down I give the spotter a "thumbs down". Sometimes the driver forgets to slow down after I've begun skiing and just keeps WOT, LOL. DUH!

When I intend to let go after skiing I signal this by giving a chop to my neck.
 
And if your skier is inexperienced, you need to try making the boat lighter so there's more margin for your error and the boat is more responsive to throttle.

There is a learning curve involved, try to find an experienced skier and practice pulling him up.
 
Sportster-2001-951C-Stock said:
And if your skier is inexperienced, you need to try making the boat lighter so there's more margin for your error and the boat is more responsive to throttle.

There is a learning curve involved, try to find an experienced skier and practice pulling him up.
Click to expand...

Yes, solving the problem at one end first :thumbsup:
 
Waterluvr said:
You could always screw a trolling motor mount to the swim platform and stuff a Minn Kota in the floor locker. I actually thought about adding a second battery to the boat and doing that via a tiller extension for moving the boat when I want to fish with it.

Beats an oar anyday...
Click to expand...

Talking with my friend today about "stuck" in the lake. I have insurance and tow package, and Coast Guard dock is 5 minutes away from where I usually go. So no emergency issues.
But calling insurance and file claim are real "work" to do. So if a trolling motor can bring the boat back that will be great.

I did a little research about the trolling motor, it looks like 35 to 55 LBS thrust is OK for my boat. Have no idea about the speed.
But by looking at the engine mount trolling motor, I thought I got a good idea about a "nozzle mount" back up motor.

The idea is straight forward. and the motor assembly will be very small. A fully charged marine battery should be able to supply 20-30AMP current for a couple of hours? So you can just use the main battery in this case.

Just need make an adapter between the nozzle and the engine mount trolling motor.

Does it make sense?
31CudibUOCL.jpg
 
Bonmotwang said:
Talking with my friend today about "stuck" in the lake. I have insurance and tow package, and Coast Guard dock is 5 minutes away from where I usually go. So no emergency issues.
But calling insurance and file claim are real "work" to do. So if a trolling motor can bring the boat back that will be great.

I did a little research about the trolling motor, it looks like 35 to 55 LBS thrust is OK for my boat. Have no idea about the speed.
But by looking at the engine mount trolling motor, I thought I got a good idea about a "nozzle mount" back up motor.

The idea is straight forward. and the motor assembly will be very small. A fully charged marine battery should be able to supply 20-30AMP current for a couple of hours? So you can just use the main battery in this case.

Just need make an adapter between the nozzle and the engine mount trolling motor.

Does it make sense?
View attachment 27181
Click to expand...

Just wave somebody down and have them tow you back (after you pinch off the appropriate lines). Boaters tend to help other boaters as we've all BTDT (been there, done that). Just stand on your bow with a rope in hand and wave someone down. Cheaper and easier than dealing with a trolling motor.

Also, they operate on a deep cycle battery. I doubt the regular boat battery would last long running it.
 
It makes perfect sense, that's an interesting idea you came up with but I was just kidding about adding the trolling motor since this was your very first engine and carb rebuild all rolled into one job.

I keep a small bar clamp with rubber jaws to pinch the water inlet hose in my boat so I can get towed in at some point should it ever come to that, until help comes I'm putting my feet up and enjoying the peace of quiet of being stranded on the water. :)
 
Well great. You guys just saved me $200 for the motor and $50 for the hardware and unlimited hours of fooling around. LOL.
 
Sportster-2001-951C-Stock said:
We've rigged a few of these for customers on a nearby lake who cannot run gasoline outboards.

http://www.rayeo.com/
Click to expand...

The electric outboarders performed well in the video. Must be very quite too.
I play both electric and nitro RC models a lot before I got kids. The motor and battery technologies have been improved dramatically. But I see both pros and cons, and also depend on who is the owner and his/her working style.

But with all the electric motors going into the cars, we will be short of copper in near future. :-D
 
Sportster I remember you have mentioned that when you fog/squirt oil into the cylinder, you don't use the XPS because it is too thin and run off quickly?
I have been checking through the RAVE ports after I put XPS in. It does run off, almost 100% by looking at the piston. I forgot what oil you mentioned. Is it normal outboard 2 stroke oil?
 
Bonmotwang said:
Sportster I remember you have mentioned that when you fog/squirt oil into the cylinder, you don't use the XPS because it is too thin and run off quickly?
I have been checking through the RAVE ports after I put XPS in. It does run off, almost 100% by looking at the piston. I forgot what oil you mentioned. Is it normal outboard 2 stroke oil?
Click to expand...

I prefer to use the non-synthetic 2-stroke oil, mineral oil type for fogging b/c it doesn't absorb ambient moisture and should remain on the surfaces longer (cold surface tension is better) than synthetic oil.

Maybe you can find that fogging oil is not synthetic type?

How about aluminum wire for winding those electric motors, and carbon for the Li-ion battery electrodes?

I think it would be a mistake to mount some kind of electric motor onto your Sportster! :)
 
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