Dr Honda's Islandia Project. (Engine rebuild, and other stuff)

[Dr Honda]

Hi Guys,

OK... I know I'm the guy who preaches to stay away from the Merc powered SeaDoo boats... but I wanted an islandia, and I just couldn't bring myself to buy a +2006 model. The wife and I talked about it... and she actually gave me the OK to get a 2006 that was $22k... but in Pittsbugh PA... the boating season is only about 5 months long... and it was killing me to think about making a $230 month payment for 6 months that the boat would be parked. Because of that... I figured I would have to try to find an older boat. Also... for the guys who know me... most of my toys right now have been projects. So... with that said.......



The new project is a 2002 Islandia, with a bad engine. The reason I decided to give the Merc boat a chance was because it was cheap enough that I could just pay cash for it. The engine will start... but it's not happy. I have a gut feeling that the oil drive gear broke, and the engine dried up. Regardless... there aren't any holes in the block... so I will be doing a rebuild on the engine in my shop.

The boat itself is relatively clean. The interior is almost perfect, and the exterior has the normal bumps and scuffs associated with a 10 year old boat.

Along with the engine... I will be buying a Poppy cover, and Hydro Turf right away.

This thread will update as I start to work on the boat.

Here's a few pics to get us started.

Oh.... as a final FYI... I have to give A HUGE thanks to SeaDooBuddy, and Mrs SeaDooBuddy. They are near Ann Arbor, and made a gracious offer to me, to stop for dinner, and have a rest before the last leg of my drive. They didn't know me, other than on this board... and they opened their home to me. (And fed my a nice Italian dinner) Thanks :cheers:

 

[harryb]

Hard to say who is more excited, you or your daughter! Great deal, good luck with the project.

 

[Dr Honda]

Well......... prob my kid. (the older one in the pic) Last spring... we sold the boat in my old Avatar pic because we had a new baby. (You can see her behind the older kid) We sold that boat because 1) I wasn't sure how well the wife liked having the boat. 2) I wasn't putting an infant on a 14.5' seadoo. 3) If I was going to the water by myself, I would take the ski's. AND finally 4) I didn't want to leave the old boat parked for a year or two, until we figured out if the new baby would be OK in the water.

Oh... not to mention... Fathers day, was the last trip out for that boat the year prior since the wife was pregnant. (So it was already sitting)

When the old boat got sold... my Nicolina (my older kid) was outside with the buyer, and was crying, because she didn't want "Boatie" to leave. Also.. the wife was hinting about a bigger, boat, and ever since I showed her an islandia... she wanted one.

I drove up to Michigan and back to bring this one home (1065 mi round trip) and when I got home... She was smiles... ear to ear. After I took a shower, I found her up on the boat, and she begged me to put water in the kiddie pool... so... I did. She wanted to take it out this weekend... but I told her that I needed to do work on it first.

 

[BMANN06]

Just subscribing to thread ...

 

[El Toro 33809]

Looks very clean! Any idea on how long until you will have it back in service? I am interested to watch the progress of your rebuild. We have a Challenger 2000 with the Merc engine and it's nice one of the experts here now will have first hand knowledge of the Merc engine.

 

[Dr Honda]

With a project like this... it will become a priority because of the family. Unfortunatly... I do have some shop things to do first. I have a prototype that I need to get done for a buddy in Florida (non seadoo parts) I have to get some orders filled/shipped... and I have some stickers to make for a member here, that have gotten put on the back burner for 2 weeks now. (If you are reading this... sorry. I will do them over the weekend)

So... I will probably drag it to my shop by the end of next week, and get the engine out. At that point... it will be a tare-down, and order what's needed.

It's getting warm here... but I would like to have it running in no longer than the end of the month.

 

[biffdotorg]

Tony,

You have been such a great resource on this board for all things Rotax. I'm excited to see you tackle a Merc project now. Not to mention I love the Islandia boats! I can't wait to see you get it running and in the water. What parent on this board won't show your pics of the kids playing with their family?

Very nice rig and nice project. I will be watching! Good luck!

 

[igneous]

I wish the repo I picked up for 3k last yr. would have been an Islandia. Better seating (recreational oriented) than the X-20 I have. And since you're rebuilding you shouldn't have to worry about the oil drive gear for awhile.

 

[Seadoobuddy]

Thanks Tony for the mention and for allowing me to pick your brain a bit about SD.
Can't wait to see the progress pics. Stop by anytime you're back this way.

 

[RFoster130]

That boat looks good. I'm excited to see you rebuild it. Where did you find this good deal?

 

[Dr Honda]

Thanks Tony for the mention and for allowing me to pick your brain a bit about SD.
Can't wait to see the progress pics. Stop by anytime you're back this way.

No prob. You guys were great in letting me stay to rest up. If you and the Mrs. get down to Da' Burgh... give me a yell. Although... with 2 kids, my house isn't as clean. (lol) The wife try's... but she can't keep up.

That boat looks good. I'm excited to see you rebuild it. Where did you find this good deal?

It was way up in Fife Lake MI. About 520 mi from me. It was a long drive... but it was less than $300 for fuel, and food. (but I would have eaten anyway)... so... that's an acceptable shipping price.


Oh... and I have a 2010 Dodge ram 1500... and unloaded, with the cruse set at about 73 mph... I got almost 21 mpg !!!!! I made it almost the entire way up on a tank. Now... on the way home... pulling the +4000 Lb monster... I got about 13. still not bad... but I had to fill up twice.

 

[Dr Honda]

This one is just an FYI for the newer guys. Here's the before and after on my old Sportster. It was absolutely chalk white (no shine) and BADLY neglected. (and before I paved the driveway. LOL)

 

[Jfrymania]

I have to say congrats on the boat! I also agree with the other guys you are very helpful and obviously extremely knowledgable on seadoo! A big thanks from my family and I, and good luck with this new adventure.

 

[RFoster130]

It was way up in Fife Lake MI. About 520 mi from me. It was a long drive... but it was less than $300 for fuel, and food. (but I would have eaten anyway)... .

I already figured out the MI part, I guess it would have made more since to ask HOW you found it. You always find great projects cheap.

 

[Dr Honda]

Oh... OK. In this case... I used searchTempest. It's a search engine for craigslist, that asks your ZIP code, and how far you want to look. Then... it just pulls the results.

Back when I found the Sportster... I was manually searching different craigslist, lists.

Also... you have to check it at least twice a day to find the relay good deals... and be willing to jump when you find them. I call on stuff all the time, and in more than one case... I've been told the item was sold, and the post would have only been up for a couple hours.

Finally... don't give up. I searched for a while before this popped up... and I looked for an XP for a couple years before getting a good one, at a good price.

 

[Dr Honda]

Well....... the first thing was ordered for the boat !!

Yesterday, I was in contact with Terri at Poppy Covers... and she had an Islandia cover on the shelf... so I told her to send it. Over night, she sent me a tracking #, and I should have it on Tuesday. Now that's service !!!


I've owned a couple poppy covers over the years... and they are great. Not to mention, they are probably the lowest price. The cover I had for my Sportster was probably the best test for a cover. The boat sat outside all summer long. (too hard to get in and out of the garage) So... that cover took 3 years of summer weather and it was still in very good condition. There was a little fade... but it wasn't showing any signs of deterioration.

The cover was first, because I didn't want to start working on this thing... and have it get dirty again. Not to mention... the Robin's are crapping all over it.

The next mod will be the hydro turf. I'll order it from our sponsor using the coupon codes they post here. BUT... I'm going to hold off on ordering that until I get a better assessment of the engine. If I have some time later today... I may pop the heads off, just to get a look.

 

[Dr Honda]

UUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Well....... I found out what's wrong. I found that a rod let go... and it's though the block. I didn't see it at first because it was hiding behind the pulse fuel pump. I can weld up the block... but I just hope the crank is OK.


I guess in some ways it's better than an oil pump that gave up. This way... I'm only dealing with one "Jug" that is bad. If it was run dry... all the cyl's would be scared.

 

[griz400]

seadoobuddy missed that ????? :cheers:

 

[LouDoo]

Check the compression, take two aspirin, and let us know the results. Thrown a rod is that serious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsO9WEwitfo

Lou

 

[Dr Honda]

Blues Bro's. Funny stuff.

I guess I can just take the piston and rod out of that jug... and run it on 5 cyl's.

Oh... and there isn't much compression when the piston isn't moving up and down. (lol)

 

[bigJake]

well, the kids can still play in the kiddie pool while ya git er done.

 

[Dr Honda]

well, the kids can still play in the kiddie pool while ya git er done.

They were this afernoon again.



****** UPDATE ******


Now that's I've studied the Merc manual... I think the rod came out the bottom half of the case. And... since none of the cyl's share internal passages... I may have lucked out. That means there is no cross cyl damage from flying parts. AND... since it may have come though the bottom... they cyl wall, and cooling passages haven't been smashed out. (fingers crossed)

I'll get a better look tomorrow. Wish I had time to actually pull the engine.

 

[BMANN06]

Hey Doc, sorry to hear man. I know that you know that you were into work so at least its in "the expected" realm albeit a serious irritation. I'm not even going to pretend to sound like I know these engines, but Ive heard that most of the modern merc's are gm small blocks with merc cranks and cams (with other internals) it may be similar with their older rigs and theirs tons of those laying around. Maybe explore that route ... Just looking at the pics you've posted, its definately worth getting that boat back on the water. At least you've still got about a month before the boating season really starts.

 

[Dr Honda]

You are right in the fact that I bought this boat as a project, so it falls into the "Expected" realm. And... Unlike 90% of the people here... I own a big Miller TIG welding machine. SO... I can fix the aluminum block.

I was hopping for a regular melt down... but the owner said it sounded like A rod. The silver lining is... the 5 other cyl's should be fine. I'm still planing on a full rebuild... but until I get that engine out... I won't know what I'm doing for sure.

The part that you are a little confused about it where that engine came from. This is the 2.5L 2-stroke engine. It is the creation of Merc. In a conventional boat... using an outdrive... the engines are regular car engines... and the majority of them are GM or ford.

 

[griz400]

with any luck, rod broke in half maybe, and didnt spin rod bearing, and maybe crank will be good :thumbsup: