2003 Seadoo GTI Blown Engine/Taking on Water - Need help

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milim05

New Member
Hi Everyone,

Need help to diagnose what is wrong, long post ahead but I don't want to leave out any potential important details.

I have 2 identical 2003 Seadoo GTI's. Been in the family for 10 years and never had an issue until the other weekend.

What happened- Took both ski's out on the river riding for approximately 30 minutes when my friend "heard a weird noise" and it was instantly very weak. We tied together and switched ski's so I could change the spark plugs hoping somehow that was the problem. I assembled it together and took off to test it, seemed to fix the problem for about 5 seconds when it noticeably & abruptly got very weak again. We were pretty far from where we launched so I said let me lug it back while it can still move(going very very slow, like 2 mph). I took off while my friend was on the good ski and left him behind figuring he would catch up in about 5 seconds. Approximately 30 seconds later the ski i was on started a very high pitched extremely loud long continous beep. I figured this sounds very bad and look back to find my friend "stranded" somehow unable to turn on the ski that was working just fine. Long story short we finally drift close enough to grab the 2 skis and push them together.

Thinking somehow that maybe both ski's blew up simultaneously, out of desperation I took the the new spark plugs I just put in the machine I was on and switched them to the ski my friend took over(the previously working one). Possible important note- I never replaced the first broken ski with spark plugs at all, I left them out of the machine figuring there's no point in putting the original ones back in if I cant run the machine anyway.

I put the spark plugs in the previously working machine but cant really start it. Eventually I realize that my friend who is unfamiliar with carb machines, was pulling the choke the entire time and flooded the engine making it unable to start. Finally I work it out and get it started & running fine.

We tied up and started to tow back, my friend sitting on the broken ski in the back, myself driving the good/working ski towing him. We finally make it back after a long long while. We decide to tie it to the dock & go catch his parents who took the boat out in the other direction. We get to the boat and stay there with them for about an hour or so before we return to the dock.

Upon returning to the dock we noticed the ski had taken on a lot of water(not in a rough space of water). The water was basically filed up the sides where your feet sit. We took the seat off and notice the water is very high in the hull, as high as the engine where the spark plugs go. When changing the spark plugs I noticed no water inside at all. It filled up sometime between after taking the spark plugs out to sitting at the dock.

We take the ski's out and we drain it, and I take them home. When I get home I crank the engine with the spark plugs out and blow out as much water as I can, it was a lot. I was repeatedly cranking and cranking because it just kept coming. I would wipe down, then keep cranking to push more out. Eventually I think I kill the battery so I decide to charge it over night and come back the next morning figuring that I got most of the water out as it was just mist coming out at this point. The next morning I hook the battery back up and do a compression test. The crank is a bit weak but I get about 100psi in one, around 60psi in another cylinder. I let it rest and come back to it the next day.

Next day I try to crank to do some more testing but the engine wont crank. Thinking the battery is shit since it was weak when I was trying to do the compression test, I switch batteries from the other ski but the same thing, it wont crank. Last ditch effort to get enough power into cranking it, I get jumper cables and connect my lawn mower to the ski and try to crank/start it. It cranks about 3 times very weakly before I cant crank it anymore.

Thats about where I am at in the process. Thinking about trying to fix, buying a whole new engine- all options are on the table. First I want to be able to diagnose what happened and why to determine what I want to do next.

TLDR: Jet ski made sound and just about died, took spark plugs out & never put back in, towed ski back. Sat in water for an hour & filled up with water. Now wont crank

Any help/insight in to what I should check or what could of happened at all is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
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The first thing you need to do is with the spark plugs out and the plastic cover off the rear of the engine you need to see if you can turn the engine over a full 360 degrees by hand.
 
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