I got the rope out, is it fixed?

[trickyslip]

Hey All,
Last weekend I ran over a ski rope with my Speedster 150. :ack: Luckily it was at the end of a long day of fun, and I was close to the launch ramp. The rope sucked in, and I immediately killed the engine. After clearing the torn rope from the water and starting the boat back up, I was able to get 3-4 MPH out of the boat, any higher RPMs and I would get vibration and what I assume to be cavitation, and no increase in speed. So I just slowly drove to the ramp, and pulled it out of the water. When I got home, I got under the boat and I could clearly see the rope wrapped around a long bar, that I am assuming is the impeller drive shaft (I am not the most mechanically inclined person, but I figured I had to learn this stuff so as not to pay someone 90$ and hour for something I could do). I read the forums for a bit and decided to not try to remove the grate, but instead found a long scissors and cut small bits of the rope away until I could hook some of the loops of the rope and pull it out. After about an hour, I was able to get the rope completely unwrapped, with one end still going into what I assume is the impeller. I gave it a tug and it ripped off.. (Seems like it was already pretty munched up as it was). So my question is, can I put the boat back into the water, or is there more insides I need to open up and inspect? I was going to connect the hose to the back and start the engine in the drive way and see if I could get the RPMs up, without vibration.. Is that a good plan?

 

[fzandome]

Get a GOOD flashlight and look into both ends of the pump to see if there is damage to the impeller (bent).... I don't know if you will see much from the intake if you did not take off the grate.

you can start the engine(s) without the water running to see if the pump still vibrates. Just don't run the engines too long before you start the water...... 30 seconds should get you up to max "out of water" RPMs.

If you want to use water for longer analysis, I recommend you get a manual and follow those instructions.

On mine there is a water hose I need to pinch off. After the engine is running I turn on the water. When I shut down, I turn off the water then after a couple of seconds, turn off the motor. If I don't follow these directions I can get water in the motor.

Yours might be the same or different. So get the book, available as a premium member on this site, and follow directions. I use mine all the time and on some of the easy maintenence you can save big $ if you do it yourself. It's not that hard.( It's also good to have one around when the shop you take it to for repairs starts BSing you about repairs)

 

[nswillin]

Hey tricky. The only way to really tell is put her back in the water and try it. Running it out of water might give you a false reading on the vibration and only way to tell if cavitating. If the rpms are still revving up and not accelerating then you could have screwed the wear ring, bent the impeller. If it is vibrating in the water you probably bent the impeller shaft or dinged up the impeller. All easy fixes. Let us know how the water test goes. :cheers:

 

[trickyslip]

It's fixed!

Sorry to say to all the snow blanketed people out there right now but it got up to 75 degrees here this weekend, so I finally got to take the boat out in the lake and see if my 'repair' worked.. and it did! Boat ran smooth as new - thanks for all the help and suggestions!

:hurray:

 

[sporsterjoel]

As mad as i am that you get to go boating im glad its fixed and didnt cost you anything to fix it:cheers:

 

[nswillin]

:agree: thanks for the update.