Bought it today! Stupid newb questions...+

[wantaspeedster]

I just picked up a 2003 SeaDoo Sportster 4-Tec. 76 hours, pretty clean, $8000 w/trailer, CB radio, and cover. There are 4 oval shaped mounts that I think are for a tower but no tower was included. I only got to see/hear them run it with a garden hose so the first ride is tomorrow (fingers crossed). I read the buyer's checklist that is up here and from what I could tell, everything looked cool. I have 2 questions so far for my very first post:

• If the thing actually works, did I get a good deal?
• Is it silly to keep a little electric trolling motor on board as an emergency backup?

I'm a first time boater and kinda nervous about being stuck out on the lake.

 

[seadoosnipe]

Good deal!..........?

You really shouldn't ask the question, "did I get a good deal"......because it's a question of opinion.

If you bargained for the boat and you feel you got it for what you were willing to pay, then it was a good deal. That's the only way you should look at it.

Trolling motor?.........where would you mount it? I've thought of that before, but there just isn't any place to mount it. As for pushing the boat, that depends on how much thrust power the trolling motor has.

Don't be nervous. When you get it in the water, start it up, lift the engine cover to look for any obvious leaks around your shaft and in your open loop cooling system.

Testing. Until you have tested the boat, I'd only run it within your marina or docking area, if it's to do nothing more than run in circles for half hour. This way, if something goes wrong, you'll be near enough to paddle in or get help. Don't venture to far away for your first ride. Watch your gages and any signs of overheating or lack of propulsion. If it's not working, don't push it, you'll only cause damage. After doing circles for about half an hour, if the gages look good and the motor feels smooth...........it'll be fine!......:cheers:

 

[wantaspeedster]

Thanks Snipes!

You're absolutely correct! Once we got it on water and to where we could open her up a little, all thoughts of $$$ went away. We had a blast and I can't wait to get back out there!

At the end of our ride today, the Check Engine light came on and we got that loud beep. It seemed like it didn't want to rev past 5000. So we did the 10 minute ride back really slowly. Once I got it on the trailer I noticed a huge clump of seaweed hanging out of the impeller intake. So hopefully that's what was causing the Check Engine light.

Thanks again!

 

[timmyboy76]

yah, loud beep was it overheat'n warning, so thru boat into limp-mode...

 

[wantaspeedster]

Limp.

Yeah, I went back the next night and flushed the exhaust system and rinsed out the impeller. I only ran it for a few minutes but no Check Engine light and no beeps. That's an awesome self-preservation feature it's got. I just love this boat btw. Can't wait for next weekend!

 

[timmyboy76]

cool....you should change ur name from "wantaspeedster" to "gottasportster"..:rofl:

 

[seadoosnipe]

Rofl!

:rofl:.........that's a good one timmy!:cheers:

 

[wantaspeedster]

GotASportster, beeps when slowed down too quickly

Yeah, if I can figure out how to change my name I will or I'll re-register.

So I had it out today, it runs great but I'm still having this single beep, engine light thing happening. I've figured out that it happens if I back off the thrust from 5000+ rmps, too quickly. To fix it, I limped out of harms way, put it in neutral then reverse, shut down, waited a little bit, restart and everything's cool. I tried bringing it down much more gradually and I didn't have a problem.

Of course I'll make this a habit now but I'm sure is this an indication of a larger issue? Perhaps the oil pump?