First mission out on my Seadoo GTX Millennium Edition FAIL

[crankshaftster]

Hi All

Really hoping for some insight here and someone to tell me its all going to be ok.... lol

SO me and the misses took the maiden voyage of my newly attained second hand GTX 2000 that has a measly 25hrs on the motor.

Started off ok, we had to stay within non-wake speed to get out of the marina. Alas, we never made it out the marina.

After about 10 min of puttering our way i thought id give it a little stick to see if the engine was awake..

And no power, it started to choke. Started to feel heavy... Sluggish.....

I was not pleased and so returned to dry land, only to take off the seat and discover water in the engine bay.

I immediately got the ski out and drained it. I got the ski home and was concerned for the engine. Gave it some time to try and tried to start her up. EURIKA, she turned over and started to growl. Plugged the garden hose in to let her have a drink .

THIS is when i noticed something rather strange... The exhaust was pissing water out of a hole and the water was once again filling the engine bay slowly.







Now for some of your wisdom PLEASE!!!

Q1 : Is there supposed to be water in this part of the ski? I am aware that water is mixed into the exhaust fumes and expelled through the jet area. But if there is a hole in this section would this be what the result of such a hole would be <waterworks>?

Q2: Would said hole cause the ski to loose power and couch and stutter?

Q3: Can one merely patch this hole or does it require an entire replacement of this section of the exhaust pipe?

Basically, how concerned should I be?

Is this the kind of scenario that would see my wife taking my bank cards away again?

 

[Spxxx]

This is a very common issue as water runs through the exhaust as part of the cooling system. Often it will sit in areas over the "welch plugs" and rust through. You can have the exhaust removed and welded but I recommend some jb weld and jb weld steel putty over that. It will seal the leak and last years. And yes it will cause the ski to loose power and bog out. Either way no replacement of the exhaust is necessary.

 

[crankshaftster]

Wow and Awesome

Thank you so much for the fast response. You have lifted my spirits dramatically.

I shall attempt to patch this and if all else fails, have it welded or replaced.

Now time to seek youtube how to's.

So just to confirm 100%, this issue would make the engine cough and want to die right?

Do you know exactly why? I dont mean to get all technical, just a simple answer would be awesome.

Is it a drop in pressure in the exhaust that would make the engine sound like it wants to die?

 

[Spxxx]

Wow and Awesome

Thank you so much for the fast response. You have lifted my spirits dramatically.

I shall attempt to patch this and if all else fails, have it welded or replaced.

Now time to seek youtube how to's.

So just to confirm 100%, this issue would make the engine cough and want to die right?

Do you know exactly why? I dont mean to get all technical, just a simple answer would be awesome.

Is it a drop in pressure in the exhaust that would make the engine sound like it wants to die?

I'm not sure if the exhaust runs pressurized but with water in the hull it will significantly weigh it down. I would also check fuses in the electrical boxes too see if they were damaged. You might want to open the boxes to dry them and add some silicon grease to avoid rust. For the repair you can just use some heavy grit sandpaper to get the surface rough and paint off then apply acetone and stick on some jb weld.

I reccomend these products : www.jbweld.com/products/steelstik-epoxy-putty-stick
http://www.jbweld.com/collections/metal/products/j-b-weld-professional-size

Apply the black stuff into the hole and then a glob of putty over that.

 

[crankshaftster]

I am very appreciative for this response and advice. Thank you so much.

I will post some pics and update for any further possible advice

 

[soccerdad]

While epoxy does work, the best fix is to have a new piece of aluminum welded over it. That will fix it for good and never let you down. The water will make the ski heavy and if it gets high enough, will drown it, but I don't see how it will make it run poorly. Sorry. How much water was actually in the engine bay? Have you done anything else to the ski? Sounds like it may be a fuel delivery issue. Do you have fresh fuel in it? Are the carbs clean? Does this ski have the gray "Tempo" fuel lines? None of this should be a disaster or add up to huge money, but we need some more history or information to get you blasting along with the wife!

 

[soccerdad]

Is that a carbed or fuel injected motor? Is this a Blue and White ski? That should be a 787DI if I read stuff correctly. I don't know much about the DI system. Perhaps someone else can chime in.

 

[Ruskie787]

Looks like it is carburated, based on the intake I can see.
I would follow what soccerdad said and go through the fuel system.

 

[Jet Set Performance]

What crankshaftster has is a GTX RFI, 787 fuel injected engine. If enough water was in the hull, it could cause the bogging problem. Personally, I would check all electronics, their housings for water, and have the pipe welded. While I have used jb weld successfully in the past, it has also failed too, so I don't like to do the same job twice

 

[Coastiejoe]

Again,, very common problem. Best thing tondo is pull it and have all of the bottom plugs ground off and welded. [MENTION=41828]Minnetonka4me[/MENTION] sells plugs for the exhaust.

 

[Mickirig1]

Feel all the round spots on the tuned pipe that comes off the engine. Any roughness found, I bet a few are corroded thru. Take the pipe off and have a welding shop replace ALL the plugs. Check all the water lines too. You can have a hole you can't see. You can do a check by leaving it tied down to the trailer. Back it into water enough to cover intake grate. Start up and look for leaks. The exhaust and pipes should be just warm. Rev engine and look for leaks. You can get repair manual off the Inter Net. Replace the gaskets if you take pipe off. osdparts.com Is a great source for parts.