1996 Challenger Engine cutting out

[LGR]

I was away for the summer and just fired my boat up on the trailer, it idles fine but the engine won't accelerate with out massive cut out. It sounds like the ignition is just shutting off and then on. The engine has done this before in the water when first starting up, after idleing around for 5 min. it seems to start coming on line. Ideas on what causes this and how to correct? When running my 1998 GTS on trailer in the same way it accelerates just fine.

Leon

 

[One4games]

First off, I am new to Seadoo scene so I could be off base here. So if I am someone with more experience please chime in.

Was it in neutral when you tried throttling it on the trailer? If so try putting it in gear and see if it still does it.

 

[Dr Honda]

First... you shouldn't be letting the boat run that long on the trailer. You WILL burn out your carbon seal, and you will get massive cavitation.

Second... the engine can't clear out properly without a real load on it. If you want to run it a little... it needs to be in the water.

Third... As said above... was it in neutral? If it was... the engine won't rev past 3500 RPM.

 

[LGR]

Thanks for the info gents.

Yes it was in neutral . Not sure why that would have any effect, as that just moves the deflector for the jet. Can you explain why? Is there some limiter switch on the selctor?

Is the RPM limitor part of the computer or is it a seperate unit? As I posted on the PWC forum I also have a 98 GTS which seems to run fine on the trailer, is there no rpm limiter on that unit? Trying to get familiar with the differances of both units.

In regards to the carbon seal, how do shops run the boats when doing maintenance? Do they oil the seal to prevent the wear? That would seem to make some sense.

As I live two hours from the lake occasionally I will want to run the engine to ensure its running well prior to making the trip to the water to test.

Thanks again for the impute
Leon

 

[PWCdoc]

Yes, the throttle is limited while in neutral. A quick test is to just put the lever into forward to see if the engine will rev up. The engines will do the same thing in the water until you actually put the boat into forward or reverse.

The RPM limiter functions differetly on the jet boats vs the PWC.

The carbon seal will not overheat in the amount of time you could be running the craft while out of the water...provided you do not run it longer than prescribed in the manual. The carbon seal will heat up either way. It's the bearings in the pump that typically result in damage when run too long out of the water.

And btw...it is a good idea to fire your boat up before you head out to the lake. Nothing is much more irritating than getting behind someone at the lake whose boat will not fire up.

I think I might be the only one that caught the fact that you were in the water while idling for that 5 minutes you mentioned in your first post.

 

[Dr Honda]

As above... there is a switch on the lever, that is connected to the rev limiter. And, no... the limiter is not separate from the MPEM. (computer)

If you need to run the boat for any length of time on the trailer... the preferred method is to mix up some soapy water, and put it in a spry bottle, and keep spraying it while it's running. I still don't like that method. If you overheat the seal, it could crack, or wear uneven, and you will need to replace it. FYI... unless the "Shop" is putting it in a test tank, or in the local lake/river... they won't be running it more than a minute at a time. Honestly... there isn't a lot you can check wile running the engine without a load on it. (in the water) You can't adjust the carbs, and even en engine that is ready to die, can sound fine without a load.