2003 GTX 951 Di - taking on water????

[A_Bred]

Heya all, posting for a friend - when I had mine you guys on here could not resist answering with some good info, so here I am in another capacity. So here is the simple scoop and the limited questions.
My friend has a GTX 951 Di that now has a leak. Basic simple story is, pulled it out of storage (battery charged over winter), started it up and ran fine (short run). Came out a while later, battery dead. Charged it for about an hour, and took it for a run, - ran fine. pulled back in, shut it off. A little bit later (I don't think even 20 minutes later), filling with water _ I am guessing about 4 inches or so. He quickly got it out of the water. ---- tests...... Filled the ski with about 4-5 inches of water - nothing coming out anywhere. --- Next test --- pulled plugs - cranked engine - no water - plugs in, started, ran fine (small amount of water spit out in back -- normal).

So --- questions.
• What would be the standard price to have someone go through the exhaust system and check it out and locate the leak?
• What other ideas can you give to figure out the source of the water leak? other then put it in the water and don't let off the throttle -- you guys are awesome.

For now that is about it. Thanks you all.

 

[benjilafouine]

Have him run the ski for a couple of minutes in the water without the seat on (or run it on the trailer but in the water, not the garden hose). At the quantity of water you are describing, you should find out pretty quick where the leak is.

 

[mikidymac]

It could be the bailer siphons for the bilge. Look into the back of the pump and see if you see two white straws sticking down into the venturi. If they are missing it will pump water into the ski instead of out.

 

[Rossterman]

Just chased a leak on same model. The carbon seal looked fine so figured it was from somewhere else. Read that the rubber accordion boot loses tension and can cause a leak.I checked the OPAS boots and they looked fine. Ultimately, it turned out the replacement of the boot with and upgraded carbon/hat assembly that OSD marine sold did the trick. Also found out that the engine was misaligned which might have contributed to the problem. Nick at OSD marine sells an upgraded seal assembly that has a thicker hat assembly which provides more pre-load on the bellows. I used that one on mine and worked great.

 

[A_Bred]

Thanks for all the info guys. Checking it out over the next few days, I'll give feedback when we figure out what it is. Thanks.

 

[A_Bred]

Hello everyone, Thanks for all your input. My friend took it to his local marina, and had the ski looked at there. They said it was the opus tubes (or boots). That seemed very odd to me. So he got it back and it ran okay, was loosing speed. Previously someone was on it that day and said weeds got caught up in the prop. So I mentioned that we pull it, and pulled the drain plugs, - lots of water came out. First thing I thought of was to pull the seat and see how much water was in it - about 6 inches or so (now keep in mind i mentioned to him to check the plugs on the exhaust). So, I said since were here lets drain it, put it back in the water (seats off), and see if it takes on water. NOPE - So I said start it, go out about 20 feet or so with it running and see what happens. - He said it was like a garden hose. - problem - freeze plug underside of exhaust rusted. Which is a very common thing and which was my first thoughts on this, but I wasn't near the ski to test it. --- So there you have it folks, mystery solved. Thanks for your input - you never know..... Now onto my RXP-X 255 with a blown motor. _ gots to find out if the rod went through the pan or the block - fingers crossed on the pan.