slowly losing top end Part 1+2

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scooper77515

scooper77515

freebie fixer
Premium Member
Took it out to the beach in salt water on a rough day. Ran GREAT for about 2 hours, then started to lose power at full throttle, then slowly started to act like it would die at 90%, then 80%, then 70%, then I took it back to shore before it died on me "out at sea".

I assumed I got saltwater on or in something, as there was about 2" of water in the engine bay. Hosed it out, dried it out. Haven't ridden it since. Then last weekend, we were going to take it out after almost 2 months of sitting and the battery was weak and died before i could get it started.

Not sure if problems are related or if just coincidence.

Anyway, battery has been charging all week, started it up on land a couple days ago just for a few seconds to make sure it would still run and the battery was charged good.

We will take it out again today and i wanted to know if anyone had any input about the losing power at full throttle?

I added seafoam to the gas tank thinking i may have sucked some water into the fuel system or carbs.
 
I never just put an additive in my fuel unless I plan on not riding for a long time.(months) I would check the fuel filter for water, dump it if it is contaminated.
I think if It was my seadoo, I would check the throttle linkage, and go over the carbs that you just installed and see if something became loose after the first voyage. Check the allen bolts, and hoses, for any air leaks, and the cables (throttle, Oil injection) for out of adjustmemt. Fire it up on a hose and look for water coming in from the exhaust gasket area. Personally, what I do is before I launch my Challenager I go over all the bolts, screws, hose clamps, and anything that might become loose, and check for tightness. I also wipe off any condersation that the engine might have on it before I fire it up, which gives me a chance to feel for somthing that isn't right.( gasket sticking out, oil around the RAVE valve bellows ect.) It's a good habit to be in to be looking for something all the time. My breakdown ratio is None! I run the intercoastal water way and travel 40 miles from home sometimes oneway. Towing a broken seadoo is expensive. Preventative Maintainance (PM) Nothing but a few minutes prior to launching. Let us know if we can help anymore, and keep us posted so we know the cure of your problem.
Karl
 
Engine has not died yet. It runs fine if I just let off the throttle a bit.

If it does it today, I will see if it is hot.

We will be on the intracoastal waterway today, and some of the little "lagoons" off of it. So no wave jumping today.

I will go over it and check all of the above before hand. With all the waves we jumped last time, I very EASILY could have knocked something loose...
 
Well, went out today and it ran great for about 2 hours. No burps, hiccups, nothing.

Only problem we had was it was apparently set too rich on the idle speed and if it didn't start up immediately, it would flood and we were popping out the spark plugs and hitting them with starting fluid to dry them out (new carbs have no choke). Once it started, we were up and down the intracoastal several miles each way with no problems.

When I got it home, i ran the idle screws all the way in to see where they were, they were a bit rich, maybe 1-3/4 or 2 turns out. I ran them in to about 1-1/2 and it started better, so I ran them in another 1/4 and it started even mo' bettah. So I left them there for now. May adjust them when we get it back in the water (next weekend???).

Water is about 10-15 degrees colder than last time, might have led to hard starts.

Took everything apart down to the carbs and all looked OK. I am wondering if I was running too hard and overheating last time...:confused: Maybe some water in the intake...:confused:

I don't know, but problem seems to have resolved itself.

Great day on the water. 75-80 degree air, 65 degree and smooth water, nobody out but us (me and dad on the ski one at a time). Didn't wear a wetsuit and got pretty good sunburn :D
 
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Jetting?

I think you pretty much answered your on question. With the water temps cooler and the engine running cooler, the carbs probably needed to be leaned out a little. Be careful and read your plugs after a ride to make sure your not to lean. You'll blow the engine fairly easy. By your post and your experience adjusting the carbs, I'd say your already well aware of that fact. Jumping the waves and riding hard when you first encountered the problems could too been the carbs being rich. The extra water in the hull, man........that could be anything. Hard riding, bailer tubes,.....you name it. Keep an eye on things but sounds like you know what your looking for.
 
Bailers

The bailers have never worked right, so I have the hoses plugged and just pull the boat out every couple hours and drain it. When I do a new wear ring in the spring, I will figure out what is going on with the bailers and put a new carbon ring it (it flings a very fine mist entire time it runs, bailers blow a cup or two of water INTO the hull when I come to a stop, so the water in the hull is a never ending battle). I think a new wear ring will solve many of my problems.

I will keep an eye on the plugs but I don't think I leaned it out that much. Never hurts to spend a minute to pull them and verify it.

Thanks for all of your support and kind words.
 
Bailers Inop

I got some personal experience to share about bailers.
The hoses coming from the bailers need to be attached to a point on the ski that is higher than where they connect to the pump ports at the rear of the ski. Water can back feed into the hull thru the bailers if the hoses are not attached hi when the ski isn't moving.
Also, if you look in the jet pump from the rear of the ski you should see 2 tubes coming out of the center,towards the top, of the venturi (stationary nozzle behind steering nozzle). Sometimes these get loose and get blown out.
Water pressure in the venturi can force water back into the hull thru the bailers if one or both of these tubes are missing. Thanks, Dennis
 
Yeah, my tubes attach way up at the top of the hull just under the seat. I pulled the jet off and replaced the o-rings at the nozzles, and blew through them to make sure everything was clear. There was some sand in them initially, but are clean now.

Then I rode with the seat off and watched the hoses. They sucked water out, but not very quickly, and there was only a very light vacuum on the bailers. Then when I let off the throttle, water rushed in. At that point, wanting to play and not work, I just pulled the bailers off and plugged the ends of the hoses.

Messed with them long enough, and I wanted to RIDE!!!

I may replace the entire bailing system when I do the carbon ring and wear ring this spring. I don't see any one thing wrong with the bailers, but figured rather than fix one thing at a time and not fix it, I may as well just replace it all at one time.
 
Bilge pump?

I know of several that have plugged and removed the bailers and put in a small auto bilge pump. This may be an option for you. Good luck!
 
Do the bilge pump with a auto switch, and a manual switch for lots of water from doing subs.
Karl
 
I never thought of a manual bilge...

I have been looking at all kinds of auto setups, but stopping every 2 hours and hitting a button for a manual bilge would be SO much easier, and would suck that thing dry in seconds...:cheers:
 
Your not the first to have the back flow problem. I'm used to having a auto bilge on my standups,with a manual switch for doing submarines dives and leaving it on to dump water quickly for the next trick...works for me.
Karl
 
Only thing I found at walmart was pretty big. Made for a boat. I was expecting something smaller...

Any part or model numbers to look for?

Or just use the big one and somehow hose it into the bailer "boots" at the bottom?
 
Slowly losing top end, pt 2

Hope you don't mind a 2nd thread to give updates on the progress of this problem...

Today, dad and I went out off the beach again (yes it was a chilly 58 degree air, 65 degree water, and 20 mph winds gusting to 30!!!)

Well, it ran fine on flat water, and off the beach today ran fine a while and started to do the bogging at high throttle.

We put it back on the trailer and took it home (a whole 1/4 mile...) and pulled the plugs, and checked the filters. Well, i noticed that one plug had the insulator twisting separate from the metal base when it was torqued down. You could just grab it with two fingers and spin the white part while the metal part stayed still. I splashed some soapy water on it and turned the motor over and it of course was blowing by the plug...

Dad just swapped some Bosch 4-electrode plugs out of his mazda, so we matched them up and they were the same thread and same depth. So stuck two of them in (they have 100k miles on them) and the bike ran GREAT!!! I mean jumping waves, took off faster, rode faster, just ran wonderful.

We also sprayed all the electrical with PB Blaster...

But it started to bog down after about 30 minutes of hard riding over and through waves. When we pulled it out this time there was LOTS of water in the hull. So I am still leaning toward something getting wet.

Only does it when we are jumping waves or having then wash over us and the bike...Runs great on flat water when we only take on what leaks through the carbon ring.

So, I am still looking at putting in an electric bilge.

What do I wire it up to when I get it installed?

Sorry for the long post. But lots happened all leading toward resolution of this long-standing problem.
 
If you are running a automatic bilge, I would wire it to a Positive+ connection on the battery, and Negative- so it will have constant power all the time just incase it stalls and is full of water, or if the teither is pulled and it is full of water, if you fall off. I then would also wire it to a positive feed switch that only has power when the watercraft is running, so you can flip the switch on but not forget it and run the battery down or kill the bilge from lack of water and burn it out. I'll check the manual to see what is powered with the teither in place and get back to you. I believe the bilge uses a 10 amp fuse.
Karl
 
Cool, just the kind of info I need.

Aparently, when we get a lot of salt water in the hull, it is flinging or splashing onto "something" and making it run poorly. Might be splashing into the intake, wiring, ???:confused:

Runs fine when it is dry and/or not bouncing around. Then when we hit waves, it starts to bog...
 
You might want to get a can of spray silicone and spray all the wire connectors and plug ends to coat and protect them from the water being washed around the hull. I buy the cheapest you can find ...like Walmart. silicone is silicone. I used to fill my race Skis almost up to the top of the sparkarester doing subs off high waves, and it never stalled thanks to a bilige pump, and lots of silicone spray!
 
Go to West Marine or their website, and ask the salesman what ones they have that are water resistant with a auto and a manual switch for your application. Atwood is about the best, least expensive on the market. Walmart ones are not going to work for your application. Good for a boat or a bait box, not for a seadoo.
 
Wet Bogging

Hey,
Your description of your problem just reminded of something. Look at your plug wires real close. Make sure they aren't damaged. The plug caps that go onto your spark plugs are removable from the plug wires. Remove the plug caps from the wires by unscrewing them counter clockwise and check for signs of arching. It's OK to cut back the wire a little but you have to make sure it is still going to be long enough when your done. Apply some dielectric grease to the plug cap and then reinstall the cap by pushing it over the end of the wire as far as it will go and then turning it clockwise about 2 turns. I've seen arching plug wires and wire ends cause a bogging problem once they become wet. You could check for arching while on the trailer by starting the ski and then wetting down the wires and ends and see if it starts to run bad.
Thanks, Dennis
 
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