Would this be causing my activation issue?

[jma1971]

Just bought a 96 sportster with a 717 motor and I am having loss of power at about half throttle, what do I need to replace? I attached some pics for reference. Any advice is welcome and appreciated

 

[jma1971]

Lol auto correct corrected should have said cativation not activation

 

[nisjeep]

The gap to the wear ring looks pretty big. Measure with a feeler gauge. Might be your problem. Also check the shaft bellows and carbon seal.

 

[Lumps]

Hi Jma,

I had this engine but that was a while ago. so please forgive me if I am mistaken anywhere. from the shots from the prop side it looks like you are missing chuncks of your wear ring? at very least there should be wear ring surrounding the entire portion of the prop. it looks like that lower part of yours is not in tact. either that or there is a huge gap. I would take a closer look to see if it is all there. if any of it is missing then that is totally your problem. and as nisjeep said the tolerances between the blades and the ring should be very tight. in the 1 mm range. I don't know specifically the specs for yours. but it is in the shop manual

on the other picture. it looks like it is a shot from the stern looking in towards the stator? if this is some other shot please let me know. yours looks very different from mine was that is why I am unsure. Mine was a cone with a screw in the side to fill with gear oil. the cone is intended to hold the oil that lubricates the stator where the shaft terminates. if I am not wrong, your looks like its got a hole in it? do you know if it is holding any oil? if not I would seriously look at getting this fixed before you use your boat again.

again I am sorry if I am looking this totally wrong

 

[Lumps]

I found this picture on ebay for a stator and cone for a 717. does yours look like this? the fill port if the screw on the side. this whole cone and into the stator needs to be full of oil.

 

[Chester]

Your wear ring is half gone. Replace it and it will fix your cavitation.

Chester

 

[jma1971]

Thank you for the responses guys, I appreciate it!! Lumps, yes you are correct the shot was looking in from the stator and still on the boat and I also thought it looked like there was a hole or that the end of it broke off possibly and the view from the front looked like the wear ring just started to fall apart but wasn't sure and wanted another set of eyes on it before I pull the pump. A couple other questions that I have now are ...
1. Do you just have to unhook the linkage for the steering and then the four bolts to pull the pump?
2. What oil does the pump take?
3. What do I need to reseal the pump on the boat when it is reinstalled?

 

[jma1971]

The gap to the wear ring looks pretty big. Measure with a feeler gauge. Might be your problem. Also check the shaft bellows and carbon seal.

That's what i was wondering, thank you. It looks like the bellows and carbon seal have just been replaced as they look new to me at least, what signs should I look for on the carbon seal? I read somewhere that it will leak in through there is that correct? There are no signs of leakage in the engine compartment when I was running and out on the lake.

 

[Steelmesh]

I came here thinking this was an electrical/computer problem

 

[Lumps]

1. Do you just have to unhook the linkage for the steering and then the four bolts to pull the pump?
2. What oil does the pump take?
3. What do I need to reseal the pump on the boat when it is reinstalled?

1. I think so. I haven't looked at it for a while on this engine but definitely have to unhook steering and shifter on mercury. I assume it's the same
2. It's high performance gear oil. I use to use the stuff in the purple bottle. You should confirm what your shop manual says
3. You need a neoprene gasket. I don't know if the existing one is reusable. You will be replacing parts anyway. Might as well get a new one

also since it looks like the boat has been run without oil in the stator there may be damage in there that needs to be fixed. There is a thread in the mercury forum right now with an extreme case that you should take a look at. Hopefully yours isnt so bad

 

[jma1971]

I came here thinking this was an electrical/computer problem

Yea sorry about that auto correct got me lol. I probably should have deleted and reposted.

 

[nisjeep]

Thank you for the responses guys, I appreciate it!! Lumps, yes you are correct the shot was looking in from the stator and still on the boat and I also thought it looked like there was a hole or that the end of it broke off possibly and the view from the front looked like the wear ring just started to fall apart but wasn't sure and wanted another set of eyes on it before I pull the pump. A couple other questions that I have now are ...
1. Do you just have to unhook the linkage for the steering and then the four bolts to pull the pump?
2. What oil does the pump take?
3. What do I need to reseal the pump on the boat when it is reinstalled?

Go to ****************** and download your ski service manual. It's no biggie to pull the pump and replace a wear ring. Pop the cone and replace the bearings if need be. All bits can be found online and won't break the bank. Good luck

 

[nisjeep]

Seadoomanualsdotnet

 

[jma1971]

Awesome thanks!! I'll go download it and get started pulling parts, ready to get out on the water.