Water bleeder question

[GADABOUT]

I have been driving my 97 gsx since 1999 when I bought it new. I know the history of this boat and have had great success with it. I have noticed lately that there is water in the boat sometimes but not allways and the "pee hole" is intermitant to no flow at all. I thought it might be pluged at the end as I am in the Ohio river which is not known for it's crystal clear water. (We still love it anyway) I have looked for leaks and can't seem to find any. My question is if I use the garden hose hookup should I be able to find the leak? Is this the same as running the boat in the water? The manual I think says that your are backflushing the cooling system when using the hose. Is this correct? Backflushing sounds good as it may remove a partial blockage. I understand the procedure for use of the hose. What does anyone think? Thanks, Craig

Update to myself: removing a partial blockage wouldn't fix water in the boat so I think there must be a leak that I am just not finding. I do need the info on the hose hookup as I need to work on this out of the water. Thanks again Craig

 

[kustomkarl]

The Hose is for flushing and running it out of the water. Here is some info for running it on a hose;You can hook up the hose to the 2 stroke Rotax engine, and have it run for up to 5 minutes to flush it out. Connect the hose and start the seadoo. Turn on the water after it is started. Turn off the water, than shut down the seadoo. Always do it in this order.

Karl

 

[GADABOUT]

Thanks Karl

I guess my real question is does running the boat with the hose hooked up put water in all the lines so I should be able to find the leak? I did read the manual and misread flushing as back flushing. I just can't work on the boat in the water very well. Thanks for any more info on this. Craig

 

[kustomkarl]

You can run the seadoo for a while and not have any real big problems. I find if your looking for a water leak any longer than 5 minutes is just too long a coffee break. Run it on the hose and get r done! Don't day dream, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes to spot a leak. The hose does everything the jet pump does in the water. I hate working on any seadoo in the water, I keep spilling my cold drink...:ack: :rofl:

Keep us posted on how you make out,and if you need help give us a shout.

Karl

 

[GADABOUT]

Thanks Karl. I will give it a go this weekend. I just hope this is not one of the times the leak is intermitant. The boat is at a campsite-marina and I hope I can "borrow" a water hookup. if not I will bring home to work on. Thanks again Craig :lurk:

 

[seadoosnipe]

Tuned pipe?.......

Your correct on back flushing. Water coming in through your flushing connector is driven in the reverse direction......

I think the first think you might look at is the tuned pipe. With the age of your doo, the tuned pipe must be running thin. You'll see a lot of post in this forum that are about this pipe leaking.

The tuned pipe is the preheater for the water before it goes into the engine. During preheating, any mineral deposits will percipatate out and cling to metal surfaces. Then, aluminum oxide (a type of galvanic corrosion, except it's aluminum) will start to eat away at the metal from the inside.

I had one small leak, when I pulled the pipe and tapped around on it, it turned out to be 4 or 5 of them........

If you find this to be your problem, I have a simple fix, didn't cost me much and it's still holding like brand new..........so, let me know.

The best way to check is to get a small comact mirror (the reason we keep wives around) and a flashlight, when you start the doo, use the mirror to look under the tuned pipe and into areas you can't see from above. Shine the flashlight from a different angle into the mirror (so as not to blind you) and you should be able to see well..............

Good luck!..........:cheers:

 

[GADABOUT]

leaks

Seadoosnipe thanks for the input. I think you might be on to something as I have looked as well as I can but with water sloshing around in the bottom it can be hard to see leaks. It also is only sometimes as many times I look and it is bone dry. Supposed to rain all weekend here so I am not sure when I can work on this but will try. Thanks everyone Craig :ack:

 

[GADABOUT]

flushing update

Ok, sorry it took so long to get back to everyone but Ike rolled thru and we had wind damage so bad it is now 3 days later and I don't have any power at home or work. Worked on the boat Saturday with the hose and no leaks at all. Put the boat in Sunday and everything worked as it should. I am now wondering if that leaking is that bushing near the pump shaft? I have had that replaced a couple of times in the past but usually there is a high rev sinareo when you are taking off that lets me know that is going bad. I will keep checking and am open to any other ideas as to what this may be.
:ack:
Unrelated...You know you are a dooer when your working on your boat and you have the worst head cold that you have had in 10 years. Then you are boating and just miss hurracane Ike rolling thru by 2 hours or so. Some days I wonder if I will ever grow up.:lurk: See ya Craig

 

[GADABOUT]

Cavatation station

Well it appears it was the shaft gasket/boot whatever afterall. This weekend I got bad cavatation when starting up a couple of times. I think cavatation is the correct term. It's when you have been sitting or ideling a while and hit it hard and the engine revs way up before hookup. Thinkin back it's been a few years since I replaced that. Maybe 3 or 4 years. At that time the boat would leak but the auto bilge would take it out. I didn't know what it was at the time so I let it go too long and the leaking was much worse. I must be in the beginning stages of it as it doesn't leak or cavatate all the time. Is this something I can do or should I let the pros do it when I get it winterised?:ack:

 

[GADABOUT]

Bleeder hose was plugged up

Well I took my gsx in for winterising and they checked the bleeder line and found bits of wood stuck in it. I really think the Ohio is a very clean river:banghead: Ok well maybe not that clean. I am still not sure about the water in the boat but I think that bleeder line leaked when it was plugged up at times. Not sure though. Anyway thanks for the help all. Craig