Seadoo Rotax 717 (720) carburetor question...

[trdehmer]

Dropped my 1998 Seadoo Sportster 1800 in the water Friday night, unfortunately I can't keep the left (port) side engine running. I can choke it and it starts up pretty easy. But stalls out, even if giving throttle it will stall or won't stay running very long.

I've heard there is a tiny filter inside the carburetor that can clog - what are the chances it would be as simple as changing that filter out?

Anything else I should look at that might cause the engine to not stay running?

Thank you!

 

[snikwad003]

If you have never rebuilt the carbs then you should with OEM kits to prevent a lean condition and burnt up motors. The internal filters can clog along with the external filters and fuel selectors. There are some small screens in the fuel pick up as well. You can test if it's the external filters or selectors by bypassing them and using a short piece of fuel hose to jump from the fuel baffle straight to the fuel pumps or carbs if your boat has the internal fuel pumps

 

[ialonso]

Does your boat have one or 2 carbs? BN-40-38-24 carb can be found for around $200 or less (one on ebay right now for $190, you just reuse your rear plate where the fuel pump parts come on the BN-40-38, since it has a built in pump and we have an external one, at least on my 99 Sportster 1800). My 99 has just one carb per engine. Between buying rebuild kit and labor it was always better for me to just buy new if the carb was messed up. new always worked like a charm every time. Maybe buy one and rebuild with time and effort to have a spare on hand? I have done almost everything to this boat, and I could never rebuild the carb just right.

I also upgrade my fuel filters to a spin on type fuel/water separator, and my carb issues have greatly decreased.

I had some lucky shots where just cleaning the little filter helped greatly. I replaced the screws on my carbs with hex bolts, and I could remove the back plate without removing the carb from the boat with a 8mm ratcheting wrench as it is thin and flat. (this tells you how often I had issues with this) You can't do that with the Phillips head bolts from Mikuni.

Good Luck!

 

[trdehmer]

I believe it just has one carb. I took it to a local shop - he rebuilt both carbs. and fuel pumps for both engines. I think the fuel pump was my major cause, but since neither had ever been done it was time to do both!

Dropped it in last night, it ran good and strong. Only issue I noticed was I had about 3" or so of water in the bilge. Don't know where its coming from, but I did see water dripping down the right side waterbox/muffler and I couldn't tell why or the source. Hose clamp near the area was tight and dry. Do the mufflers ever crack??

 

[trdehmer]

Oh, what is the max RPM's a person should be running those 717's?

 

[RodInEscondido]

Do not have any answers for you, but that is one clean engine room!