Ceramic or not (pics)

[Boater59]

First new to PWC’s but been a lifelong DIY boater on everything including offshore twin powerboats. Picked up two 2008 Wake 215’s for song from a friend of the family in Florida, I’m in Va Beach.
Background: They haven’t been used since 2020 so first thing was empty the tanks and clean them out and replace both fuel pumps including fuel rail and cleaned injectors. Fired’em up and “idled” spot on. But one has 99 hours and the other 104. So pulled the 104 ski charger to inspect and do the rebuild. Don’t know squat as to what the infamous ceramic washers look like. Anyway here’s some pics. Shaft spins freely and the five washers look black to me (assuming those would be the ceramics.

 

[ski-d00]

The 5 washers are the spring washers and they are steel. The 2 ceramic washers are on either side of the gear. Those do look like they are ceramic. You can remove them and hit them with a hammer and watch them shatter. Some 2008 skis have ceramic washers and some don't as it was a mid year change. The good news is that you caught them before they broke so a simple rebuild and you will be good to go.

 

[Boater59]

Ok I’m gonna think out loud with some observations and thoughts:
Well after some perusing various posts I think I’ve mis identified what I thought were the possible ceramic washers/s when in they are the slip washers (5 of them). I now “think” the alleged washers are the ones on either side of the sprocket or gear? So is there a visual indicator to look for such as color or texture to tell if this has the metal or ceramics? Visually as seen in the above pics all the washers and gear looks pretty darn good with a smooth rotation of the shaft.
Also I noticed the one bearing I can see appears to be open on the one side facing outward towards the gear where I can actually see the balls inside. Are the new bearings in the new kits the same, or are they somewhat enclosed both sides like most bearings on other things? Must be a purpose?
I got a tool kit but haven’t done anything other than remove from the ski (PITA first go at it) and mount it on a vice for visual reference as I search thru many somewhat useless vids for a DIY job on this particular model.
Is this the same supercharger used on other models from a certain year block? Some vids seem to show differences such as the red ones?
I spoke to the dealer for maintenance history and know they recommended a rebuild but was turned down, but don’t know if they did via another avenue or DIY.
One last thought for this posting, how do I check the current slippage as it sits on the vice?
I’m in no hurry being patient and pretty much have all winter to accomplish, but very curious on ramping up doing this myself (parts aside). All insights are welcome and no need to push sending and all that, I’m looking some experienced DIY feedback, I will determine that down the road. In the meantime I’m getting educated. And yes, I am a very experienced “go down swinging” mechanically inclined dude.

P.S. Is there a good how-to video link for this particular S-charger. My searches thus far have been fruitless.

 

[Collinwake]

I have always heard that if you have the ceramic washers, you need to get your SC rebuilt and get the steel washers. I have a 2008 Wake 215 and have been told that year has the steel washers. Needless to say Ski-d00's info just caused me some stress. I purchased this thing earlier this year and don't know the maintenance history.
Is there a serial number of the the 2008 motors that would indicate where the break point is for a mid year design change?
Where I am at now is that I need to get the supercharger rebuilt prior to riding it again (which I planned to do this winter).
When I pull it off, how do you tell if they are ceramic or steel?

 

[ski-d00]

It's hard to tell by just looking at the clutch washers when they are still installed if they are steel or ceramic(unless they are gold colored then they are an old version of the steel) but the ceramic ones are a little more grainy than the steel ones. The smartest way to check is to remove the nut, spring washers, and front clutch washer and hit it with a hammer. You can reinstall if you want to but more than likely it's overdue for a rebuild anyway if you're checking for ceramics.
No way to look up by engine numbers to see if you have steel or ceramic that I'm aware of. For the boats, they were typically a year behind the PWCs so all of those 2008s have ceramic still.

 

[Collinwake]

Thanks for the reply Ski-d00. The machine is parked until the supercharger is rebuilt. I'll pull it off but don't want to do the rebuild because I've never done it. Any suggestions of where to send it for a quality rebuild?

 

[Boater59]

I’ve pulled the first and went ahead and broke it down. Here is a pic of my new washers received from Pro Marine this weekend on the left. Nothing special looking about them. The originals, or ones I removed, are on the right and are dark colored and textured. They don't look too worn. I’m guessing if I do the hammer trick maybe the coating chips off or they break assuming they are the ceramics? Haven’t seen any pics on here to compare them to.