I have a 2001 Seadoo Challenger with the Mercuary M2 V6 Jet engine that was having issues starting after coming out of winter storage. I take it to a marina close by to store it and have it winterized every winter. I am very new to owning a boat so I will try to describe everything as best as I can.
It was starting and running on starting fluid when sprayed into the air intake but would shut off a few seconds in when the starting fluid burned off. I checked the gas and it looked like it did have some water in it so I removed the gas and cleaned all of the fuel lines. Swapped out the spark plugs, and also got a new battery because the battery was pretty old, and didn't think it had enough juice to turn it over. After I did that, I was able to get it started by spraying the Starting fluid into the air intake to get it started enough to then shift from neutral into the forward position and give it a little throttle. After a few minutes of running and smoking a little more than normal (White smoke ), it seemed like the engine finally sounded normal like it was back to running fine. After about 10 minutes the engine was running great and starting right up without any starting fluid to get it over the hump. I put the boat in the lake later that day and ran it for about an hour to 2 hours and the boat felt great and very smooth, with no hesitation on the throttle, the power was the best it's been since I first bought it 4 years ago.
Then after anchoring and swimming for a little, I was heading back to the docks to call it a day, and all of a sudden the engine just shut off while going about 20 mph. I thought maybe I knocked off the emergency stop key or at least loosened it because when the engine shut off it didn't make any band or loud noise just stopped. When I went to start it back up the engine barely started and had a loud clanking noise and I had very little power to get back. As I would increase the throttle the clanking noise was getting progressively worse so I pretty much just floated back with the throttle at zero.
Any idea what could have happened or what I should be doing to try and figure out how to fix the engine? I have attached a video of how the engine sounds with the clanking noise.
It was starting and running on starting fluid when sprayed into the air intake but would shut off a few seconds in when the starting fluid burned off. I checked the gas and it looked like it did have some water in it so I removed the gas and cleaned all of the fuel lines. Swapped out the spark plugs, and also got a new battery because the battery was pretty old, and didn't think it had enough juice to turn it over. After I did that, I was able to get it started by spraying the Starting fluid into the air intake to get it started enough to then shift from neutral into the forward position and give it a little throttle. After a few minutes of running and smoking a little more than normal (White smoke ), it seemed like the engine finally sounded normal like it was back to running fine. After about 10 minutes the engine was running great and starting right up without any starting fluid to get it over the hump. I put the boat in the lake later that day and ran it for about an hour to 2 hours and the boat felt great and very smooth, with no hesitation on the throttle, the power was the best it's been since I first bought it 4 years ago.
Then after anchoring and swimming for a little, I was heading back to the docks to call it a day, and all of a sudden the engine just shut off while going about 20 mph. I thought maybe I knocked off the emergency stop key or at least loosened it because when the engine shut off it didn't make any band or loud noise just stopped. When I went to start it back up the engine barely started and had a loud clanking noise and I had very little power to get back. As I would increase the throttle the clanking noise was getting progressively worse so I pretty much just floated back with the throttle at zero.
Any idea what could have happened or what I should be doing to try and figure out how to fix the engine? I have attached a video of how the engine sounds with the clanking noise.
