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Challenger 4tec Upgrade

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I actually tried rubbing it with acetone. Maybe I didn't use enough acetone though as it was still tacky. I mixed another batch of resin with a ton of catalyst and added some gel coat wax. Got it baking in the sun right now, hoping it'll finally polymerize.

Thanks for the video praise, it was my first attempt at video editing. Glad you guys liked it tho. And ya, that sc whine is awesome. I will probably lose it once I put the lid on though

I can't wait to get back out there and test out to see if sealing the ride plate makes any difference in cavitation.
 
dcia3231 said:
Do you need a new seadoo brand one? you know that amazon has jetski lanyards for under 20 bucks. I typically hook my dess on and toss the remainder of the keys under the hood ha.

http://www.amazon.com/YAMAHA-POLARI...=1461174214&sr=8-9&keywords=yamaha+jetski+key

i slid my dess post onto one of these. but i did have to pry the original lock apart and pinch it back together
Click to expand...
Ya, I had one of these and it feel apart in short order. Besides, I don't need all that lanyard. I never used to clip this onto myself before and probably will not start now.
 
Finally refinished and resealed the ride plate. Going to go to Harris Lake to do some more testing of the following fixes:
-new steering cable
-readjusted steering activated throttle
-new cooling line pipes (cut to final shape)
-resealed drain plugs
-resealed steering thru hull
-crank case pressure (attempted to clean the oil switch)
-resealed ride plate
 
Well, again, she ran great, but the cavitation is a real issue. The ride plate didn't help matters. Either my carbon seal is garbage, or more likely, the pump is all wrong for this setup. I think mpower is right. I need to change my pump dynamics. I can't even go WOT because I hear it bouncing off the rev limiter. I need to either widen my nozzle or get another prop. Anyone know if the nozzle diameter of the 215 Sportsters was any wider?

Also, I haven't bolted the seats down yet. I was waiting until I polish the hull and then bolt them down. Well, the top half of the seats flew out of the boat on teh way home. All the white seat backs and the two arm rests are torn :facepalm: We just refinished them. They were near perfect. :facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm: Anyone know where the best place to get good cheap vinyl in this green color? My buddy said Keith from seadoo upholstrey. I wonder if I can get just the seat backs and a little fabric from him...

I still have a few leaks, I think they're coming from the holes I had to drill for the ride plate supports, which I really tested today. We had the boat nearly out of the water when we hit some wakes. No damage that I could notice anywhere on the hull or ride plate. It took it like a champ. After cleaning the oil pressure sensor, I was still having problems with overpressure. It again made a mess of the engine, and I'll again have to degrease, but this will be the last time. I'll be pulling the TOPS valve soon.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Keith at seadoo upholstery should be able to hook you up with the bits you need.

He is really helpful and the kits I got for mine were spot on.

Andy
 
I would think so, I was told I could have any colour I wanted when he made my full kit although we went standard white and purple.

Andy
 
I want the same exact green that my boat came with. I could not for the life of me find something that matched online. All the colors were a few shades more dead. I ordered a few samples, including one from Keith. I want this exact color, it had really grown on me and I don't want to reupholster the rest of the boat, which is still in good shape.

On another note, today I plan on gutting that tops valve finally. I had the motor throw a check engine light on me the other day when I forgot to pull the dip stick out partially to vent it while we were riding. I was testing the system, hoping the valve would open if I pulled the plug off that oil pressure sensor. It's supposed open when the pressure exceeds 6psi. No dice.

Once I fix the tops, I want to go back to the lake and test my carbon seal. The way to do that I realize is so flood the engine compartment till the seal is submerged.
 
IDoSeaDoo said:
Ya, I wish this thing stayed lost in the mail. I can't even get polyester to cure on top of this crap. What the hell do I do now... can't sand it off, it's still tacky, can't seem to put a crust on it....
Click to expand...

Sometime you get a bad batch of gelcoat, this is why I deal with US Composites because the gelcoat is always fresh, also gel coat will not surface cure without adding something to it, wax additive or shoot over it with PVA or you can mix in patch aid or Duratec clear.
 
Nike12000 said:
I have been waiting for this video for months!! Congrats on your first run , Good luck with your pump/cavitation issue hope that gets sorted out easily for ya!
Click to expand...
Thanks man! Ya, I've been waiting for it for over 2 years. I've been dreaming about doing this way before I started. This boat had always been under powered and unreliable, not to mention a fuel hog. It's probably still a guzzler, but at least I get more bang for the buck now [emoji3]
 
Question for you 4tek-ies: I've been looking on the diagram here, and it shows that you're supposed to apply Loctite 454 to the pump seal before installing the pump? I got a new rubber pump seal 2 years ago, and it was still in perfect shape when I installed it on this motor, but I didn't put anything on it. Could that be the source of my cavitation? I'm used to the 2-strokes, where you stick on a neoprene seal and forget about cavitation. Do you have to glue 4tec pumps to the ride-shoe? I don't have a neoprene seal on it either, just a rubber gasket that goes on the pump. This is how the GTX came when I bought it.
 
Man, getting to that tops valve was a pita. Finally ripped it out though. Decided to just get rid of it altogether. Made a block off plate and a thick rubber gasket
336.jpg

So far, it starts and runs well and doesn't build pressure on the crank case anymore.
337.jpg


I also finally secured the heat exchanger with bolts and cut all the hoses to their proper lengths. The cooling system is finalized.
338.jpg

Here's what the motor finally looks like
339.jpg

Going to take her out and test the carbon seal by flooding the compartment. I really hope that's my cavitation issue
 
Oh BTW, I stuck a 2500ohm resistor into the tops plug to fool the ecu that it's still plugged in. I tired a 10ohm first, and it got cooked right away. The bigger one seems to be holding. We'll see if I get any cel
 
Just was curious once you put the lid on. I see you mounted it right under the intake. Keep your eye on the heat it pumps off so your not feeding the intake hot air.
 
Ya, i want to mount it in that void by the fuel tank, but honestly, I bet it'll be pretty hot everywhere in that space
340.jpg
 
Yea, Amazing that that's all it takes to cool this beast. You're right About it being full, but it's still nowhere near as dense as in a jet ski
 
So I finally did the submergence test on the carbon seal, and yes, it's definitely a big part of my cavitation problem. I will be ordering a new one tomorrow. What's more troubling though is the pressure that's still building up in my crank case! WTF?! There is no TOPS valve to block it anymore, and an hose going from the breather outlet to the intake tube. I used the original exhaust thru-hull elbow from the GTX, which conveniently had a 1/4" barb built into it, as well as a good place to mount an air filter. For the PCV hose, I used a reducer I had laying around and reduced the 3/4" or 1" PCV hose down to 1/4" to plug in just behind the air filter. This is certainly a weird problem, and appears to occur intermittently. When I first launched, I thought I was okay, as the PCV hose was billowing a bit of smoke and I could feel a hot gas emanating from it. I plugged it onto the intake and went riding. A few min later, it built up so much pressure that it set off the CEL! I popped the dip stick and got a huge whooosh of escaping gas. Also, it seemed the PCV hose was blocked up. After letting it blow off and resetting the key, the boat again seemed to be venting to the PCV hose and ran fine, but this time, I ran it with no dipstick. It runs just fine like that, and that's how we rode it the rest of the day, but this has me deeply bothered.

I checked the oil level, and I"m just above the half-way mark between the two bends. Oil looks good too, nice dark amber. Engine runs good and strong. Can I be getting excessive blow-by? Could it be that the 1/4" hose is getting blocked with oil regurgitation? I have 0 clue as to why this is happening...
 
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