1997 Sea Doo GTX Engine Holding Out

[ekornell]

I have the above model Sea Doo, it has just had a new motor in it. I have taken it out a handful of times, and it is just holding out. Like I have little power, and it struggles to try to get to plane, and just cannot make it to plane completely.

Does anyone have any clue as to why this may happen.

 

[mikidymac]

So we need a little more info...
1. Does the engine rev up to full rpm but not move any faster like when a clutch is slipping on a car?
2. Or does the engine just not respond to throttle and doesn't even rev up?

 

[ekornell]

Yes it revs and response positively to throttle, just no power, just like the clutch on a car

 

[mikidymac]

Sounds like the wear ring is bad in the jet pump.
It's a $45 part and not too bad to do yourself.

If you lay under the ski and look up into the intake grate you will probably have a large gap between the pump and impeller and there shouldn't be one.

 

[ekornell]

I will take a look at that this afternoon. Thanks so much. I will update later with what I find

 

[mikidymac]

If you snap a picture up into the impeller it will help us see what's going on.

 

[ekornell]

The gasket that I see there looks good, I didn't see a space there at all. Here are the photos.

 

[vogs77]

Looks like the wear ring is shot from those pics to me.

 

[ekornell]

It may be, I know cars not this lol

 

[mikidymac]

Yes, that wear ring is done.
I like the OEM ones and make sure you get a neoprene seal to go with it. You can buy from Seadoo Warehouse in the tab on the page here or we also like OSD seadoo.
Wear-Ring
271000290
$46.99

Neoprene Seal
293200024
$10.49

 

[ekornell]

Thanks so much i just ordered them

 

[tobytd]

Pump coming off for wear ring, good time to service. Change oil, new O ring for pump cone, missing impeller boot.

 

[ekornell]

So I seem to have another thing that just popped up. The spindle that goes into the propeller, seems to be loose, there is more play than I think there should be, and I think the bearings are worn cause I can move the impeller up and down. Has anyone else run into this issue, and what was the fix for it?

 

[GGuillot]

I can move the impeller up and down.

When you say up and down, are you referring to forward and aft? not the rotational play correct? Slight fore and aft play is acceptable, not a lot though, maybe 1mm or less with the thrust bearing and washer properly seated.

 

[ekornell]

Up and down like seat to water, and side to side. The part that goes through the bearing to the propeller also moves front to back

 

[GGuillot]

Up and down like seat to water, and side to side. The part that goes through the bearing to the propeller also moves front to back

When you had the impeller off to change the wear ring did you note any significant wear into the impeller shaft? With that, you also may have some worn bearings also causing the rotational play (seat to water and side to side).

The slight movement front to back is fine (thrust bearing) but that rotational is not.

 

[LikeabossTM]

Up and down play should be virtually nill (allowable is something like 2 or 3 thou). You need new pump bearings, and possibly a new impeller shaft too. You'll have to mic the shaft to determine if it's worn out or if it's just the bearings.

Running like this would shorten the lifespan of your wear ring.

 

[Madpaddler]

Have you got the pump off and you're grabbing the impeller itself to feel this play? Or is it still mounted and you're grabbing the driveshaft ("spindle") and feeling that play? If the latter, it could be the splines on the shaft or in the nose of that impeller. With that boot missing there's no telling how worn and sloppy that might be.