Hole in my Tuned Pipe.... I think.

[jisaac325i]

Hi everyone, I am a brand spanking newbie. I was a LT (O3) in the Coast Guard, been around a lot of boats but never worked on the engine side. Pretty Handy with tools but not a mechanic. Ask me to build you a house and I can do that. I think I can probably reverse engineer anything. All that is just to let you know what you are working with which is not much.

I acquired a a pair of Sea Doo GTX from a friend who had a bad accident and can't use them any more. They sat around who knows where for 2 or 3 years. I took them to a guy I know who got the 1996 GTX running. It has a brand new battery and spark plugs and starts right up. After about 2 hours on the water I felt like the ski was getting really heavy, then it started to stall. It would revved up and go then 3 minutes later bogg down and would not go over 4000 RPM. The 12 volt low light came on and it would turn off. I got it started again went about 500 yards and same thing but this time it would not restart. Hence I am not stuck in the middle of the intracoastal in Long Island and had to tow my back to the boat ramp. Long Swim but I am Good swimmer, had a cell phone did not call for help too embarrassed. If it was dark and cold maybe I would have.

I when I got back the ski out of the water I unscrewed the drain plugs and the entire ocean came out of the hull I am shocked I did not sink.

Finally got home to try and trouble shoot but decided to flush the engine first, I charged the battery with a trickle charger and the ski started right up. When I attached the hose to flush it noticed water shooting out of the Tuned pipe, I know enough to know that is not a good thing. Pictures of the hole I found are attached. It is on the underside of the pipe. Really hard to get to.

My first question is can this be repaired at a local welder or do I need to get a new pipe. Also it looks like it was repaired once before. My second question is will filling the hull up with water cause the battery to drain or do I have another problem. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Dr Honda]

That weld plug seems to be sacrificial since they always rot out. Yes... a welder should be able to close that hole for a few $$$.


The shutdown was probably because the engine bay was full of salt water, and shorting things down. SO... make sure you wash down everything with fresh water, and then spray down the entire engine bay with anti-corrosion oil.

 

[jisaac325i]

Thanks is there anything special I need to know about getting the pipe out. Will I have to replace the gasket after removing it.

 

[vaser21]

i had the same problem.... i sanded it down real good and then put jb water weld on it, and its stiill holding up perfect... i know its not the right way to do it, but it saves alot of time because you dont have to take the pipe out

 

[jisaac325i]

Thanks i will try the JB water weld and see if it works I don't feel like taking the pipe out. It is on the underside though hard to get to. What level grit did you use to sand it. Did you wet sand it.

 

[Tacomatrx450]

Get the holes tig welded with aluminum they might charge about 20 bucks .

 

[hypersniper2010]

just had the same thing happen to my girls 95 xp. she sunk it and i pulled the pipe and took it to work and tig welded them both and it is now dry as a desert. thought i bought a ski with blown out water jackets and ended up being a rotted out pipe. cheap fix and very easy.

 

[Tacomatrx450]

Yea I had tig welded mine last year it was an easy fix I wouldn't try any quick fixes

 

[El Toro 33809]

We had the same thing happen to our 96 GTI tuned pipe. The first time I did the JB Weld. It lasted about 6 months. The next time I removed the pipe and took to to a welder. The charge was $20 for the repair. You probably should get a new gasket, although sometimes I've seen them be able to be reused.

 

[vaser21]

if you take off you must get new gaskets!... but to be honest i dont even remeber what grit, i just sanded it with a file and whatever sand paper i had at the house

 

[jisaac325i]

Thanks everyone after reading all your advice I think I will take it off and take it to a welder. Where is the best place to get the gasket.

 

[donkey]

i got my gaskets from sbt,,way cheaper than the dealer

 

[brock1]

same thing just happened to my gsx in the same freakin spot...BUT ...i didnt realize that it was aluminum pipe..i was gonna mig weld it with my flux core wire..but apparently that wont work