67 hours, out of warranty, Riva says....

[RXPFTW]

Hi, I'm a new member from South Florida and wanted to begin by asking a question to those who may know.

My jetski is about two years old (never really used it much until now) with 67 hours currently on it. All maintenence was followed. I took it to Riva because I know something had gotten shorted out and they called me back and informed me that they fixed that issue. I had them change the oil and gave them the oil I wanted them to use (Royal Purple 10w-30 full synthetic), but they denied use of the oil and said it will 'make the supercharger slip and cause damage'. Whatever.

So I get a call back with good news and bad news. Good news was that they did the oil change and fixed the short. Bad news was that I have bad washer something kit, need a supercharger rebuild, and a new oil pump. I had my jetski out previous to taking it in about 3 days prior and it ran like a monster, as always. 68+ mph on the speedo, massive torque, I couldn't keep it in the water. Now, at 67 hours, a supercharger rebuild and oil pump replacement doesn't seem to make sense to me, since the jetski seems to be efficiently boosting what it needs to and cooling itself effectively (no overheating).

They said it'd be $3,000 for all this work done. Am I getting pushed around for being out of warranty? Surely I don't need a supercharger rebuild if the jetski runs good as new. I will do the washer kit thing because I've heard it's very important and if it fails the motor blows.

Any comments?

Thanks!

Mike

 

[seadoosnipe]

Most expensive shop!

You only took it to the most expensive shop in the United States, so I guess that price is "their price".

What they are telling you is, by not following the oil requirements in your operators manual, using the synthetic oil in the supercharger system which contains the ceramic washers, you've dissolved the ceramic and it's gotten into your entire oil system and ate the gears up in your pump.

Now, is the extent of the damage what they say? I don't know. I'm not there to see it. If you ask for proof, they may have a jar of synthetic oil containing ceramic particles just for people who ask. It is possible that when you brought in the ski, they saw you were running the synthetic oil without changing over to the steel slip washers. Now, they see the chance of making money? Yes.

You can look at this a couple ways. They saved your engine by finding your ceramic washers were about to explode and destroy your motor and pay them for the fix. Or, you can thank them, bring it home, order a couple special tools, remove the oil pump and filter, clean out the oil system and replace the ceramic washers for steel washers, for about $150 bucks. Or, find another shop for a second opinion. But I can tell you know. That because you have been using the synthetic oil with the supercharger, they will all be telling you the same thing. You just may be able to bargain a better price. Surely, there has to be another dealer beside Riva somewhere near you!........

Your a premium member. I recommend that you go to the 2007 PWC and go to chapter 5 and read about this supercharger and look at the expolded parts view to understand how it works and what parts are being discussed. Then, you'll know whether you the skill to tackle the job yourself. If not, then you'll have a better understanding of what's going on.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune

 

[RXPFTW]

Thanks for the response.

I haven't put oil in the jetski at all, Riva has done all of the servicing. I brought them full synthetic oil that my friend told me to use (as per another forum), and I asked them to use it and they wouldn't. The oil in the jetski has always been the manufacturer recommended oil. So the only oil used in the jetski has been the oil added by Riva.

Secondly, I can't believe that SeaDoo wouldn't issue a service bulletin or some form of recall for this if superchargers and motors are blowing. The motor seems to be running fine & fast, but I never really paid attention to it jusr because it seemed to run fine.

They told me the clutch washers were disintegrating and getting blown into the system. They said they know this because they felt the charge pipe and said it wasn't 'hard' or becoming full of charge air (boost) when they revved the jetski. My understanding from the last time I used it was that it was boosting fine.

So at this point, I'm not sure what to do. I'm looking for other local shops to do the clutch washer replacement with the steel washers and to check the old washers to see if they are damaged. I'm just not sure what's the best way to determine if I really need the supercharger rebuild and new oil pump.

 

[meirvin]

hmm sounds weird. Remember what your RPMs were last time out? Basically if your rpms suddenly drop (Below 7900) you had a washer failure, if you can remove the air intake hose and reach in and spin the SC you had a failure. They are charging that amount cause they are going to do it right and remove the engine tear it down and clean out all the pieces. Most dealers just clean out the oil pump screens and put you back out with pieces floating around waiting to break the cam chain or something else.

 

[seadoosnipe]

Ceramic and synthetic...

I understand what your saying and like I pointed out in my last post. I'm very much a pessimist and don't easily trust "repair facilities" with my vehicles.
I have only done it once, my transmission, because I was working 6 days a week and they seemed to have a good deal. Two weeks later, and over $700 bucks, my transmission was still screwed, as it was when I picked it up. Never again.

That's not saying all are bad, I just have a hard time in "trusting" one.

What the difference is here with your SC verses one that has blown, is this is in the beginning. I still wonder if it's happening at all because when they found you using the "synthetic" oil, then that's when they realized you could have ceramic washers being dissolved in your engine. Or, they are telling the truth.

There is no mis-representation on behalf of Seadoo. They didn't have a recall because as long as you used the recommended "mineral" oil, then your ceramic washers would not be a problem. Seadoo just realized that those that were swapping over to the synthetic, were having problems with the SC so they came up with the solution of using the steel clutch washers (which are not as efficient because they retain heat from friction, ceramic does not) instead. I think the reason there was no recall, was because the problem was a very limited one, not due on their behalf.

This is not to say that your SC is going to blow, what they are saying is with the ceramic dissolving, your in danger of it blowing.

Read your owners manual, it does state to use mineral oil, not synthetic.