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2003 SeaDoo Utopia 205 250 Optimax M2 JetDrive Questions From A Noob

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KnotOnCall

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Hello all! Long time creeper here and wanted to thank the forums for all the helpful info here, (I've fixed a few issues with my lil boat by perusing through past posts like handling in low speed and choppy conditions by adding the Cobra Jet steering and Nautilus Smart tabs, figuring out how to add oil and run the motor with the small oil reservoir open to fill it when she starts that annoying low oil beep etc)

Had some questions....(apologies if they have been answered in past posts, I did search!)

I've had the boat 2 years now and notice that she starts and dies immediately unless I turn the wheel to get the revs up from the low speed turning throttle boost. Once shes warm there's no problem starting in neutral. She gets yearly plugs, filters, gas is always new or stabilized, battery is serviced. Anything else I need to do to remedy this? Any other yearly maintenance I'm missing? Hasn't been an issue since I have a slip where I can warm her up but won't next year...

Shes a Lake Michigan boat that sits in a wet slip for 5-6 months and gets pressure washed at the end of the season. We're planning a move to South Florida and were thinking about taking her with us for Bay cruising or sandbar runs. Would either do a boat lift or dry stack down there to avoid having to bottom paint. I know you're supposed to flush these boats with the motor off for 10 minutes after salt water use, but I can't seem to figure out where to connect the water hose? (Pictures would help...) What else needs to be done to make her salt water capable? Should I be concerned with seaweed and is there another grate/impeller etc I can swap? Anyway to clear the grate from the boat? Worth taking her to saltwater or should I just sell and buy an outboard boat?

Oh and whenever I'm moving forward at faster than idle and need to reverse, the boat lets out a ton of smoke. But only in reverse and only when its sudden or higher revs...any explanation??
 
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Welcome.

Well... let's start with, What engine do you have? and then we can move forward on the cold start thing.


As far as the maintenance... You really don't need new plugs every year. The Merc engines... when running right... can go a long time on a set of plugs. I keep extras in the boat, but the one's in my engine now are 7 season's old, and she starts, and runs great.

Yearly... I would drain, and refill the gear and stator oil, and that's about it.

If you move to a salt region... just make sure you have anodes that are Zinc. You may have Mag anodes for fresh water now.

No idea on the smoke... but let's figure out what engine you have.
 
@Dr Honda Thank you!
Its got the Optimax 250 and she’s a 2003 Utopia 205.

LOL................ OK... I'm an idiot. I realized it said what engine you had in the title. (sorry)

On the low RPM cold start.... I'm guessing you have low fuel and/or air pressure. As it warms up, everything works better. SO... I would start there.

The next thing could be a temp sender. As I recall... your air temp and water temp use the same senders. I would check those. If one is reading high... it won't feed as much fuel, and make it harder to start.

The smoke when putting it in reverse is a new one on me. BUT, it could be low air pressure, or even low compression. Is this cold, hot or both?
 
@Dr Honda Lol, no worries, I didn't want to point it out at the risk of sounding rude while asking for help... :p

Is there an easy way to check low fuel/air pressure? And how would I check the temp sender?

The smoke in reverse is only in higher revs reverse, like when trying to slow down while going forward fairly quickly. Haven't tested it while cold, only while hot.
 
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It's not supper easy to check the pressure on that engine... but it's not too bad either. There's a Schrader valve on the port side of the engine, toward the top (remove the plastic cover) for the fuel. You should see 90 psi. There is also a Schrader valve on the starboard side, toward the top to test air pressure. Should be 80 psi. More importantly, there is a regulator, and it will be 10 psi lower than fuel. SO, if they are both low, check the fuel system first.

You can check the temp senders with a meter. I really can't give you a number to look for since they are temp driven. There is a chart in the Merc manual.

Check that out, and then we will tackle the smoke thing next.
 
@Dr Honda you're the man!
I will check as soon as I can get to my boat on Thursday. Is there a gauge to read on their or do I need to buy a gauge for the air/fuel pressure?
 
I have a home made valve with a short hose, a locking tire chuck, and a gauge. Think all of it was $20. If you have a good tire gauge... you can use that. Just use safety glasses so you don't get an eye full of gas.
 
@Dr Honda looks like fuel and air pressure is ok...
 

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