2008 Speedster Over Revving At Throttle Up/Have To Baby Throttle?

[Joshdawg]

2008 Speedster 200 Over Revving At Throttle Up/Have To Baby Throttle?

I have a 2008 Sea-Doo Speedster 200 430hp and came across a problem that when throttling up, faster than normal, (not slamming the throttle wide open, just faster than a slow take off), the engines will over rev before the boat finally "catches". I never really noticed this before simply because I usually ease into the throttle with no problems. But yesterday, I took the boat out with 6 adults for some skiing. It seemed like I had a problem pulling skiers out of the water fast enough. I would give a little more throttle than normal and both engines would over rev before they finally "catch" and I was allowed to throttle up to about 20-25 mph.

My mechanic has said in the past that it's a "big boat" so you will need to ease into the throttle, meaning that there is no "flooring it" with these boats. Now I certainly didn't expect to be able to slam WOT and expect the boat to just hop out of the water. But I did kind of expect that if someone wants to be jerked out of the water or even pulled up a little faster, or even normally, that this 430hp boat would be able to handle it.

I didn't time it exactly but if I had to guess, I'm moving the throttle to about 40%-60% power within about 1-1.5 secs and the engines over revs for about 2-3 secs before it will finally catch. Of course when it over revs I pull the throttle back to relieve the stress on the engines.

I am interested to hear the throttle response that other folks have. Is there any point that your speedster 200 boats over rev when taking off? What should I expect? If someone wants to be "jerked out of the water", is it possible with these boats?

Any comments or thoughts are appreciated!

 

[Eclipse1701d]

Well, I think you SHOULD be able to go WOT from a stop. I have only done it a few times, but I NEVER had a problem. Have you checked your wear rings? Are you picking up an debris, while driving, like sea grass? I went out last Sunday, and had to stop a few times to let it fall out. I was cruising at 4800 RPM, 30MPH, and after a while, the speed dropped to 25MPH, with same RPM's. That is how I know to stop and let the debris fall out, then continue.

 

[Joshdawg]

Yeah, I was thinking that Sea-Doo wouldn't build a boat, or at the very least have a hard time selling one that required you to ease into the throttle. But then again, this is the first jet powered boat I've ever owned so I didn't know if it was physically possible or not. Jet skis with one of the same 215hp engines can do it easily but they also weigh much less than my boat so I don't know what to expect here.

About the wear ring, the port engine just had it's wear ring replaced with an OEM one by my mechanic and he said the starboard engine's wear ring was fine. I will inspect the intakes today thouroughly but as far as I can tell, there was nothing caught in the intakes.

He also said the impellers were both fine. I did notice about a dozen or so chips in the hull down to the fiberglass on the bottom running about 3-5 feet in front of the intakes that I figured were put there by the previous owner beaching it. I wonder if they are creating a bunch of bubbles when i take off and are get sucked in the intakes? I'll probably get him to repair those soon so we'll see if that's the cause.

 

[Scott0321]

I have the exact same boat. Usually, more often than not, I jump on it and it hooks up and launches. I have noticed when tubing and or pulling anything there is a bit of hesitation or cavitation. i can absolutely feel when I have someone back there but could pull shoulders out of their sockets if I wanted to. I'm on the original wear rings but will be swapping them both this year. They appear to have what I would call normal wear, the impellers are fine. I think there is just enough clearance or wear that is causing the cavitation.

I'm good on RPMs and still screams on smooth flat water.

 

[Joshdawg]

Thanks Scott. So you have experienced the over revving problem when pulling a tub? Or it just took a few secs before it would start accelerating at the expected rate? Either way, there is no ripping shoulders out of sockets on takeoff. Now once I get over the hump of over rev issues/cavitation, when it hooks up, I can get from 5-20 mph in a snap.

I guess I'll take it back to the mechanic and ask him to look at it again. It will fly once it hooks up. I've used my phones GPS and had it up to 60 several times, it's just the takeoff that has the problem.

Scott, since we have the same boat, I have a question for you.. Can you run the boat on one engine and get it up to plane? It did seem to struggle a great deal when I was testing each individual engine. Just curious.

 

[JPass]

Scott, since we have the same boat, I have a question for you.. Can you run the boat on one engine and get it up to plane? It did seem to struggle a great deal when I was testing each individual engine. Just curious.

I hope you're pinching off the cooling line when testing this theory. Anything over 15 mph requires this to be done otherwise you could have some trouble.

 

[Scott0321]

To clarify, yes I have experienced what I would call cavitation when trying to pull anything or anyone. Rarely has happened but it has and I was like what is going on ? Almost every time I throttle up, without or without something behind me it just goes. I've looked at a lot of posts on wear rings and cavitation. The pumps (wear rings / impellers / debris) always seem to be the culprit with high revs or RPMs.

I know that I've had debris (small sticks/reeds/weed clumps) that have caused vibration or cavitation. It's such a tight tolerance anything can lodge itself in there and create an issue.

I would NOT try to get up on plane with a single engine. As mentioned if the cooling lines aren't pinched properly you run the risk of water backing up into the engine and hydro-locking it. It's toast at that point. I had an exhaust overheat issue and limped back on one engine but that was only about 250 yards and I was almost at idle on a single engine the whole time.

 

[Joshdawg]

Gotcha. Glad I only tried for a couple of seconds on one engine then.

I did crawl under the boat with a flashlight and did t see anything in the front or back of impellers so i guess I'll just take it to the mechanic and see if he can figure it out. Thanks for the responses.

 

[Eclipse1701d]

You will also experience cavitation if the grates are clogged. When you stop, a lot will fall out. You may not realize how much is down there.

Last time the fork lift driver took it out of the water, there was so much sea grass hanging down, I pointed at it and said, "That reminds me of the 70's!"

Let's see who gets that...

 

[Nosnibor]

I notice this issue as well. When I go WOT it sounds like I'm hitting a rev limiter and bouncing on the rpm until I reach speed. I have checked my wear ring which looks fine and there is nothing in the grate. I had just assumed it was how they operate. I am in a C180 215hp.

 

[JPass]

Our 2012 210SE does this as well. Wear ring clearance is within spec. I just assumed it was normal. I'll try to post a video of how ours reacts this weekend when we take her out.

 

[Joshdawg]

I just spoke to my mechanic and he suggested a couple of Solas impellers would do the trick. I think I might go ahead and get them in the coming month. He said it would be 175 to install both and Amazon is selling them for around 200 each. It's a tough pill to swallow but from what I've read, they have much less cavitation than the stock impellers and this will lend to a significant improvement out of the hole and a little improvement on the top end. When I get them installed, I'll let everyone know how it goes.

 

[Nosnibor]

I just spoke to my mechanic and he suggested a couple of Solas impellers would do the trick. I think I might go ahead and get them in the coming month. He said it would be 175 to install both and Amazon is selling them for around 200 each. It's a tough pill to swallow but from what I've read, they have much less cavitation than the stock impellers and this will lend to a significant improvement out of the hole and a little improvement on the top end. When I get them installed, I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Thanks for the info. I have been wondering about the solas impellers myself. Some people on here also recommend to change them out. I may do this end of this season before winter.

 

[go_panthers]

I've never seen an impeller or boat prop that improved both hole shot and top end. Usually, those work against each other. Interested to see what you discover.

 

[Nosnibor]

I was talking to a friend today about the solas impellers. About a year ago everyone was talking about a specific one. I can't remember the numbers. Can anyone help me on that?

 

[rcguy]

Yeah, I can. I installed a Solas SRX-CD-14/19 impeller. I bought it on the internet and prices vary a great deal from $240 to $350 for the same impeller. So shop around. I have a 2008 180 Challenger with a supercharger 215 hp engine. The engine had 55 hours two years ago and runs slightly better now. I only increased my top end about 3/4 mph. Also when you replace the impeller you also should install a new wear ring. If you are going to do the job yourself you need some special tools. First an Impeller tool #80-113A is mandatory. If you are not mechanically inclined I would suggest you have a dealer do this job. Good luck.

The reason I changed impellers is to have a spare in case I hit something and bent the impeller. I had the old one reconditioned and have a spare wear ring. Now I can be back in the water the next day if necessary and not wait two/four weeks to get my SeaDoo back from the stealership.

 

[Nosnibor]

Yeah, I can. I installed a Solas SRX-CD-14/19 impeller. I bought it on the internet and prices vary a great deal from $240 to $350 for the same impeller. So shop around. I have a 2008 180 Challenger with a supercharger 215 hp engine. The engine had 55 hours two years ago and runs slightly better now. I only increased my top end about 3/4 mph. Also when you replace the impeller you also should install a new wear ring. If you are going to do the job yourself you need some special tools. First an Impeller tool #80-113A is mandatory. If you are not mechanically inclined I would suggest you have a dealer do this job. Good luck.

The reason I changed impellers is to have a spare in case I hit something and bent the impeller. I had the old one reconditioned and have a spare wear ring. Now I can be back in the water the next day if necessary and not wait two/four weeks to get my SeaDoo back from the stealership.

Thanks for the reply. I have a slightly later model than you. I've looked at some shop sites but never saw which impeller goes to which boat. Maybe I just missed it. Thank you again. I believe that was the one I had seen in the past on here.

 

[Joshdawg]

Yeah, just go to the Solas website, when in doubt, and use the impeller finder. It's pretty easy.. Here is a link - http://www.solas.com/newweb/pwcproduct/search/default.asp

For the 2008 Speedster 200 430HP, you need two model SRX-CD-14/19 impellers. I just ordered them a couple of days ago off Amazon for 201 each (402 total with free shipping) and they are already here and dropped them off in my mechanics hands this morning.... They are probably installed by now but I am also having him do some other stuff including some touch ups to the hull so I might not be able to try her out until next week.

I'm pumped to see how it will perform. Also, I could care less about top end speed really. I just want the cavitation to be at a minimum.

I was also talking to my mechanic about intake grates that have actual scoops or slats to direct water to impellers. So if it's still bad or not where I want it, I might consider those. He said it would take away from top end since it adds dragb, but you would have better water flow to the impellers which will help... So we shall see....

 

[Joshdawg]

I've never seen an impeller or boat prop that improved both hole shot and top end. Usually, those work against each other. Interested to see what you discover.

I think the hole shot improvement is going to be the impeller cavitating less. Not sure about top end speed. I can tell you over the OEM impeller, the Solas is more of a corkscrew and a bit more pitch to it vs the factory "fan blades". I'll definitely let everyone know how it turns out.

 

[Nosnibor]

So I took my boat out yesterday and did a few WOT's from a stop. The overrevving was not bad at all if any. I think I am going to give credit to my air filter I replaced. The last one was rusted pretty bad. Maybe that is something you can check.

 

[rcguy]

The proper air filter has no metal parts to rust. Mine has plastic instead of metal.

 

[Nosnibor]

The proper air filter has no metal parts to rust. Mine has plastic instead of metal.

I bought my boat second hand and I've never seen the proper one however it does look like the one from the manual. We also have different versions.

 

[Nosnibor]

The proper air filter has no metal parts to rust. Mine has plastic instead of metal.

So I researched the filter. It still has metal meshing or w/e that stuff is holding the filter in place. That is what rusted and it also was an OEM part. Your's also has the same filter per Riva.

 

[rcguy]

You do not want wire mesh holding the filter. Metal will rust and get into your engine. The proper air filter has a plastic mesh and we all know plastic does NOT rust.

 

[Nosnibor]

You do not want wire mesh holding the filter. Metal will rust and get into your engine. The proper air filter has a plastic mesh and we all know plastic does NOT rust.

So you found an air filter that is not wire mess that is OEM and proper?