Wear Ring and Pump Rebuild

[DavesNotHereMan]

Well, the kids had the 01 GTX RFI out for the last few weeks. Son said it was perfect. Daughter takes it out over the weekend says it is "stuttering" and has lost its acceleration and has top speed of 30.

So I took it out. WOT gets to 7K rpms and the "stuttering" sounds like it is bouncing off the rev limiter. No acceleration like before. Sounds like a classic case of cavitation.

So here is the question. If the wear ring really is bad and I pull the pump, do you guys go ahead and rebuild the pump while it is out or just replace the wear ring? Ski now has 127 hrs and manual says replace seals at 150 hrs.

There are 2 O rings ( item 35 on the parts list) from the bailers to the pump. Can these be reused? I don't see them in rebuild kits. Same for Gasket, item 23 (which doesn't even show in the shop manual).

I also do not have an arbor press. I do have a drill press that can be setup to do some arbor work, but it's not the same. Reading the shop manual, it says to use a bearing install tool to press the bearing / seal assembly in. I know we would use bushings or ratchet sockets in the old days. How do you guys do this?

I will know more when I get up to the lake, pull the ski and inspect it, but since I have not done this before, I am in research mode.

Thanks in advance.


-Dave
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[hotrodssnova]

I just did my 94 wear ring. I pulled the pump apart to cut the ring out. I put the pump back together dry and did an air pressure test on the pump. It passed and has been working well. You can put the wear ring in the freezer, and it should drop in with little to no pressure. When it thaws out it will expand and stay in place.
This was for a 94 gtx. Yours might be different.

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

I have read about the freezer trick. That should work well. I take it you just replaced the wear ring and did not rebuild the pump with new bearings and seals?


-Dave
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[statikuz]

I pulled the jet pump on my RX DI and all I think it needed is the wear ring. You can get jet pump rebuild kits that include the O-rings, needle bearings, thrust bearing/washer, and seal for about $60. After getting mine apart it didn't look like I needed any of those as they were all in fine shape. So I just replaced the wear ring. Make sure you get an OEM one as I have read that the aftermarket ones do not always fit quite right. I had to cut the old one out. Was able to put the new one in the freezer for an hour or so and just push it in by hand.

Also check/replace the neoprene seal that the pump seals to the pump support with (I believe #6 on the parts manual).

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

I am looking at the partsfinder microfiche at seadoo warehouse. Item 6 is a 8mm washer and I do not see a seal between the pump and pump support. I see the o-ring number 11 for the cone. Am I missing something?


-Dave
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[Coastiejoe]

If the oil in the cone is good but simply needs changed, the bearings are probably fine. If so, then replace the wear ring and cone oil and put it back together. Most O-rings are re-usable. Put a little grease or oil on them as it makes it easier to put them back in and helps to seal things as well.

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

Perfect. I had the oil in the cone serviced last year, so I am guessing that it's fine. Good news in the O rings.

I will take some pics when I get this out.


-Dave
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[statikuz]

My mistake on the seal. I was thinking GTX DI.

 

[hotrodssnova]

I didn't replace the bearings or seals. Just an air pressure test and new oil and wear ring and neoprene seal. Also new rubber buttons on the shaft.

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

Thanks. It seems the consensus is to leave the pump alone and just replace the wear ring unless the bearings are chunky or the cone oil is contaminated.


-Dave
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[reedsposer22]

Thanks. It seems the consensus is to leave the pump alone and just replace the wear ring unless the bearings are chunky or the cone oil is contaminated.

DavesNotHereMan, what is the pump you refer to? I was watching videos of wear ring replacement tutorials on youtube, people mention the impeller housing and impeller, but nothing about a pump. Please explain what this pump does! thanks so much

 

[Coastiejoe]

The "pump" is what it is called as a complete assembly. It would be the entire part that holds the wear ring, impeller, bearings, ect ect


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[howie099]

You will tell if you need bearings when you get the pump off and you spin it. You can feel and hear the grinding when it is time to service it. A place on Flea-Bay is selling those blue Delrin wear rings for $10. He sells yellow ones for the 155mm pumps for $13. They are the same as the white delrin for $25 less. This was the easiest one I ever installed. I just put in freezer for about an hour and it dropped right in. No hammer or nothing. The impeller dropped in perfect. It was the best aftermarket ring so far I had. I like the OEM sea-doo ones but for $35 less had to try it..

 

[hotrodssnova]

I used the same blue one, and I had the same experience. It fit perfectly.

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

DavesNotHereMan, what is the pump you refer to? I was watching videos of wear ring replacement tutorials on youtube, people mention the impeller housing and impeller, but nothing about a pump. Please explain what this pump does! thanks so much

What CoastieJoe said. Google it and you can see dozens of images so you can see what we are talking about.

I have read good and bad all over the forum about wear rings. While $10 seems tuff to pass up, I think I will stick to OEM.
BTW, OSD has the impeller removal tool for $12.95.

 

[hotrodssnova]

Since we all like pictures, here's what it looks like installed.

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

I pulled the ski out of the water today. On the way to the ramp, I slowly added throttle. At idle, you wouldn't know anything was wrong. Increasing the throttle slowly to 4000 rpm, the ski would not get over 10 mph. The vibrations right around 4K were noticeable. Continued throttle up to 6K and finally got it on plane at about 20-25 mph on the dream-o-meter.

Got underneath it to check the intake grate and driveshaft. Nothing wrapped around the driveshaft. I am not sure if you are supposed to be able to see any of the wear ring, but I did not. I was not able to get my hand up between the grate bars to feel anything. Regardless, I am pretty well convinced that it is the wear ring unless some of you experienced guys have other ideas. So the nozzle / Venturi comes off next to check the wear ring.

Unfortunately, I did not have my phone, so I could not get any pictures.

Checking the bilge to see if the carbon seal was leaking, I saw a little bit of water in the back of the ski. About halfway up a fingernail. Maybe a little water from the carbon ring, but that seems ok. But. There was some oil mixed in. Unless this came from under the engine, I am looking for some suggestions on where to look. The oil pump on the front of the engine is easy to get to and is perfectly clean. Same for the oil line from the tank to the filter and filter to the pump.

Good news, I found the 10mm open end wrench that I lost last year.

I will make sure I have my phone and get some pics next time.




-Dave
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[DavesNotHereMan]

I got back up to the lake and pulled the pump. Here is what we got:

And from the back:

Yup, that is daylight.

Blade edge. That does not seem to be a consistent arc either.

When I spin the pump, there is resistance and I can clearly hear something. If the bearings are supposed to be silent, mine are not and that would imply a rebuild.

So, if the white insert is the wear ring, how did that gap get so large. The lip is clearly broken away. Could it have worn the impeller as well?

I would have expected huge vibration if that thing was flopping around inside there and if so., what about the carbon ring? Wouldn't that be best to snot also?


-Dave
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[ranga97]

The white insert is a fibreglass kinda section. The wear part is a softer black compound which is stiffened by the fibreglass. You'll have to cut through the fibreglass to get it out.
A lot of the time (like mine) the black compound flakes away from the fiberglass in chunks, which leaves a clean inner ring with a massive gap.

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

Thanks. You mean the original wear ring is a composite? And all I have left is the inner carrier?

Did you try the freezer trick with this?


-Dave
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[hotrodssnova]

Your wear ring is WORE OUT. Cut it out and drop a new one in. If you want, you can file out the roughness of your impeller. You won't notice any difference, but you'll have piece of mind. If the impeller is rough in turning, definitely rebuild it. If it feels crunchy, it's over due.

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

If the impeller is rough in turning, definitely rebuild it. If it feels crunchy, it's over due.

Appreciate it! Here's where I really need some help. I would not say it "feels" crunchy. It is very solid, no play, but the sound has some crunchy to it. What should it "feel" like when you spin the impeller? Should it spin free? Mine does not. Should the bearings be absolutely silent? Mine are not. There is a drag on the impeller with an occasional crunch. I have not pulled the pump cone off, yet.


-Dave
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[tekkdrone]

It may just be the impeller scraping remaining bits of the wear ring's plastic sheath, it'll be easy to tell when the ring is out. I just did a new pump housing and wear ring + rebuild kit + impeller on a 155mm plastic pump (2001 rx) and spinning it is damn near silent but there is some light drag from the anti-rattle assembly in the cone. It spins, but not "freely" to the point that it continues spinning when my fingers aren't on it.

 

[Luv2Camp]

Need to be sure you do not have a bad needle bearing and that is what is causing the crunch. As others have said it should be easy to tell once you get the wear ring out if the noise is from the impeller hitting the wear ring. When you spin the impeller, it should spin freely ( not going to spin many revolutions freely though) and no crunchy noises. If still have that noise after wear ring is out you are probably looking at needing to replace the pump bearings and inspect the pump shaft to see if scored

 

[DavesNotHereMan]

With the inner black lining from the wear ring completely gone, there is a 1/4 inch gap all the way around the impeller, so I don't think it is hitting anything.

I will try a video and see if it picks up the sound. But based on what everyone is saying, the bearings should be near silent and these are not.

What does everyone use to press fit the bearings in (or out for that matter)?

I do not have an arbor.


-Dave
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