Cracked exhaust pipe

[old44272]

I have a 1999 Seadoo Challenger 1800 with the twin Rotax 787's.
went out yesterday and starboard motor was surging above 4000-4500 RPM's. Opened the hood and looked at motor. The exhaust pipe appears to be cracked as it was spraying water from what looks like one of the weld in plugs. So here are my questions:

1.) Would a cracked exhaust pipe cause this surging?

2.) Can the pipe be repaired or am I looking at a new one?

3.) Is that pipe one peice or two....there appears to be a metal clamp with a rubber insert that looks to hold two pipes together, but the engine diagram and part number (274000161) lead me to believe that it is one peice. I have not taken it apart yet.

The engine thankfully did not overheat and we limped her back to the trailer.

Thanks for your replies!!

Mike

 

[old44272]

Ok, no one answered.

So I took the thing apart. It's not cracked. The welded-in circles have corroded. I did a little research and found that this looks quite common. In fact, there's a guy on ebay that repairs them.

So has anyone had these things fixed? What is it, TIG welding? Can I take it to any welding shop?

And would this have affected my RPM's? The thing was ok up until about 4500 then it wanted to bog and surge to 5500-6000 then back to 4500. Maybe the water that was spraying out was getting on the plugs or in the carbs?

First thing though is to get the exhaust repaired.

 

[timmyboy76]

yup..had mine tig welded, you can also, slap few layers of jb-weld on also, but prep the crack/hole first...wirebrush..etc.

 

[Chester]

JB weld is only temporary. The only proper way to fix it is to weld it.

Chester

 

[WaveShredder9110]

I own my own weld shop and I have now repaired 5 of these for people , and yes it can effect running condition due to out tuning.
Tig weld with 4043 rod ,(if ya got a buddy that tig welds) make sure its clean and free from paint. 10g aluminum plug and weld all around and your good to go.
Find a metal fab company that stamps out aluminum and get the slugs , they probably give them to ya for free ,ya only need 2 anyway.
Just make sure they are degreased before welding or it will turn black on ya and not fuse properly.
I do it for 20 bucks ,you pay ship. I've been welding aluminum and stainless for 20 years. Comes in handy when you have a busted case and need a good core.