RESTO Amazing discovery

[wvanderc]

Last year I bought a 2001 Challenger (not the 180 or the 200). It had been left out in the sun, in a driveway for 3 years and was a mess. I spent the summer working on the engines and doing some paliminary clean up of the interior. I knew nothing about jet boats or Rotax engines going in and have survived mostly due to forums like this one. Two weeks ago I reached the point where both engines were running well and it was time to find out if it was worth redoing the seats. So I launched it into my local lake and started the engines. It all worked but with both engines, as soon as I got above 4500 rpm each engine would rev to redline and there would be no power. I've been reading the forums so I immediately knew that this was cavitation and I would need to pull the boat out of the water and rebuild the jets. That would be my winter project but for now I would just use the boat as is even though it had a max speed of 6 mph. There were still plenty of little things to do like getting the stern navigation light to light and finding the fuse for the automatic function of the bilge pump. As I was looking for the bilge pump I noticed that there were grease fittings on the drive shafts. I am a former grease monkey at a car dealership so if there is a fitting, I'm going to grease it, which I did. Still no luck with the pump, I decided to go for a slow spin. Wow! I suddenly had power above 4500 rpm and boy, does this thong go. I was doing 50 mph (GPS measured) without taking the throttles to the stops. It was so fast that it was scary. Needless to say, I was thrilled. Because I had made several changes that day I was not sure which one had made the difference and went back to the forums to figure it out. I still couldn't determine what had made the difference but the following day I found the situation back to a 4500 rpm cut off. I pulled out the grease gun and did both shafts. The result was as I had hoped and I got full speed from the boat again. So does this mean that I need to grease the safts every time I go out? Can anyone tell me where the contacts for the auto bilge pump function are located? I'm hooked on this boat and will be rebuilding the interior this winter.

 

[rusty nail]

the grease could be providing a little pressure on the carbon seal which could be the source of your air leak (cavitation). Your carbon ring may need to be replaced soon and when you do that look for the rubber bumpers that should be at either end of the driveshaft. if they are missing or damaged the driveshaft would be lose in the pto and therefore also make the carbon seal lose.

The contacts for the bilge pump should be mounted on the same bracket as the bilge pump itself. it looks like to unfinished panhead bolts separated by about 1.5" that the water itself bridges the contact and engages the pump. those bolt heads need to be clean to generate an electrical contact through the water.

 

[wvanderc]

the grease could be providing a little pressure on the carbon seal which could be the source of your air leak (cavitation). Your carbon ring may need to be replaced soon and when you do that look for the rubber bumpers that should be at either end of the driveshaft. if they are missing or damaged the driveshaft would be lose in the pto and therefore also make the carbon seal lose.

The contacts for the bilge pump should be mounted on the same bracket as the bilge pump itself. it looks like to unfinished panhead bolts separated by about 1.5" that the water itself bridges the contact and engages the pump. those bolt heads need to be clean to generate an electrical contact through the water.

Thank you so much! I have a much better idea of what I will need to do when I take the boat out of the water this fall. I have located the bilge pump but those bolts are eluding me. Are they behind, in front or to the side of the pump?

 

[rusty nail]

i do not know which side of the pump it is located on. if it is the stock pump the posts (with the bolts i am talking about) are mounted to a black plastic plate which is apart of the bracket that is riveted directly to the floor of the boat hull. the bilge pump clips into this plastic bracket. try and take a photo of what you have and post it here and i will try and point it out if you have a stock set up.

 

[wvanderc]

i do not know which side of the pump it is located on. if it is the stock pump the posts (with the bolts i am talking about) are mounted to a black plastic plate which is apart of the bracket that is riveted directly to the floor of the boat hull. the bilge pump clips into this plastic bracket. try and take a photo of what you have and post it here and i will try and point it out if you have a stock set up.

I believe it is the original pump. It is well back under the surrounding fiberglass and very hard to see. I got a couple of photos but the filth of the bilge is hiding what I want to see. Unfortunately I do not have enough hose to get the pressure washer to the boat.

 

[rusty nail]

look at my photo...if you follow the two white wire they lead right between the two bolts (mounted to that black plastic assembly) which i marked with arrows

 

[wvanderc]

Thank you! I will climb in and find mine next week. I really appreciate the photo!