2002 SeaDoo GTX taking on water, won’t start

[itBurns46]

Bought this a couple of weeks ago, previous owner met me at a local river and rode it for me. At the time it struggled to start the first few tries, but we chalked it up to being cold.

Stupidly, I never pulled the drain plugs or checked in the hull after he rode it till he was gone.

After when I did pull them, water came out which made me nervous. Ended up taking it to the lake today.

Backed it in, didn’t look to be taking on any water. I then tried to start it and it tried to turn over but would die, then I heard a steady stream of water. Checked in the hull and water was pouring in from the back, behind the Carbon seal.

Any ideas? I’m at a loss. Tried getting a cheap SeaDoo to get back on the water and it looks like I may have screwed myself here.

Side note, tried starting it twice and couldn’t get it to run.

 

[itBurns46]

 

[xspook]

Tried getting a cheap SeaDoo to get back on the water and it looks like I may have screwed myself here.

Sorry to break the bad news, but you just learned a valuable lesson. There's no such thing as a cheap jetski. You pay up front or later.

From your video, it looks like it's coming in from the pump area. I'd add water to it while on the trailer and see if/where water drains out.

 

[itBurns46]

Sorry to break the bad news, but you just learned a valuable lesson. There's no such thing as a cheap jetski. You pay up front or later.

From your video, it looks like it's coming in from the pump area. I'd add water to it while on the trailer and see if/where water drains out.

Well I don’t think $3,000 is all that cheap for a 2002.
When I pulled it out of the water, it didn’t drain from anywhere. How much water would have to be in the hull?

 

[xspook]

"Well I don’t think $3,000 is all that cheap for a 2002."

Lesson #2. Have your ski checked out by a pro before buying.
That ski in good condition w/o trailer retails for about $2500 in my area.

"How much water would have to be in the hull?"

Enough to cover the carbon seal / drive shaft should do it.

 

[itBurns46]

"Well I don’t think $3,000 is all that cheap for a 2002."

Lesson #2. Have your ski checked out by a pro before buying.
That ski in good condition w/o trailer retails for about $2500 in my area.

"How much water would have to be in the hull?"

Enough to cover the carbon seal / drive shaft should do it.

It was definitely over the carbon seal/driveshaft and once out of the water, nothing was leaking out anywhere ... needed to pull the drain plug for it all to come out

 

[xspook]

That could be good news. Still worth taking to a pro.

 

[hartwell rider]

Sounds like there's sand in the carbon seal that is making it take on water. Take some time, undo the hose clamps, and clean it out the best you can. Same exact thing happened to me. Just make sure to kill the engine before beaching up.

 

[itBurns46]

Sounds like there's sand in the carbon seal that is making it take on water. Take some time, undo the hose clamps, and clean it out the best you can. Same exact thing happened to me. Just make sure to kill the engine before beaching up.

Wouldn't water be coming from the carbon seal then though? In the video I posted, water looks to be pouring in from somewhere in the back behind it.

 

[2010RXT215MICH]

my 2 cents, way the water is running in, looks like that black hose down on the bottom of the hull has hole in it.

 

[ski-d00]

Just take the seat bridge out any and anything else in your way and back it in again and reach down there and find the leak. It will be easy to find and won't be expensive to fix. Doesn't look like carbon seal to me, could be inlet hose, OPAS, or exhaust.
I wouldn't worry about the leak. It's not a big deal, just fix it. Then move on to the next issue.

 

[itBurns46]

Dropped it off at a local guy

Motor only running on 2 cylinders
Needs a new steering cable (he’s trying to find one)
Needs a new shifter cable. (This is where the leak is)