2005 Challenger 180 water spraying all over engine bay from spinning drive shaft ?

[Paaping]

My Challenger always has water in the engine bay and ski locker (hot), from what I read, that may be normal (design flaw). When I open the engine bay and run the boat in the water, I can see the drive shaft spinning beneath the motor. When I rev the engine, it spits water all over the bay. I run in salt water so it is not ideal. When the salt dries, it seems to be gumming up my throttle body which makes it stick a little. Some times, it will not come back down to idle without physically turning the throttle cable assembly back to its idle position.

is there supposed to be some sort of bellows or shield around the drive shaft? maybe aftermarket? it can't be normal to be spitting water all over the engine bay.

Are there any fixes to the overall water leak issue?

now I have to look for a thread on cleaning and lubricating the throttle body...

 

[MacSeaDoo]

Your Carbon Seal is bad.

It will need to be replaced with the Jet Pump being removed.

They wear over time as they are the contact item that is between the outside water and the inside of the hull.

The wear can be greatly accelerated by running the boat on land as they rely on the water they sit in to cool the friction they create.

If you run your machine on land to flush, don't run it for more than a minute or so and definitely don't run it at anything beyond idle.

 

[Paaping]

Thanks for the info.

Are there many parts recomended to change associated with the carbon seal ?

 

[MacSeaDoo]

If it were me....

I would have the condition of the Jet Pump checked including, bearings, wear ring, impeller as you have to pull the pump to replace the carbon seal.

Also, depending on the wear from the current Carbon Seal, you may need too do an engine alignment.

 

[WhiteZombie]

Your Carbon Seal is bad.

It will need to be replaced with the Jet Pump being removed.

They wear over time as they are the contact item that is between the outside water and the inside of the hull.

The wear can be greatly accelerated by running the boat on land as they rely on the water they sit in to cool the friction they create.

If you run your machine on land to flush, don't run it for more than a minute or so and definitely don't run it at anything beyond idle.

Sorry to break in, but you mention flushing the engine with running it on land. What about "blowing it out" after using it, like when loaded up on the trailer. I've heard guys speak of blowing the engine out at I think full throttle. What is the correct way to do this? I have tried to not blow it out after use and basically wind up with water in my shop floor when I jack it up and of course the nice white smoke when I fire it up next time. No doubt spilling water over into the engine riding up the rode, or at least I would think. Thanks

 

[MacSeaDoo]

I don't subscribe to the blow it out because the wear it puts on the carbon seal is tremendous if you do this every time you use it.

I simply flush at idle on the hose when I come home. I do this till I get cold water coming from the Intercooler vent line. (I upgraded to the newer larger IC when it failed last. It has a vent line)

Whole thing is about 30 seconds or a minute max.

The vast majority of the water self drains. There will always be water in the exhaust can but it is aluminum.

 

[WhiteZombie]

I don't subscribe to the blow it out because the wear it puts on the carbon seal is tremendous if you do this every time you use it.

I simply flush at idle on the hose when I come home. I do this till I get cold water coming from the Intercooler vent line. (I upgraded to the newer larger IC when it failed last. It has a vent line)

Whole thing is about 30 seconds or a minute max.

The vast majority of the water self drains. There will always be water in the exhaust can but it is aluminumA.

Are you flushing every time due to being in salt water? Yeah I'm interested to see the condition of the carbon seals. I've been working on this in the shop and have ran it some. I haven't worried much about the seals because I resurfaced them when I changed the boots out. I had them so flat they formed a vaccum and took a bit of force to pull apart. I am a machinist and used to work with graphite machining electodes for burning cavities into molds.So will be intersting to see them this winter

 

[MacSeaDoo]

Where I boat, it is a river. It empties in the ocean in a unique spot called reversing falls which is a raging rapid at low tide, then actually runs up river at high tide. (Bay of Fundy...Highest tides in the world)

The river starts out very fresh water based and by mid-season is brackish.

Every time I come home, I flush it out on the hose and rinse and dry the boat. I run it until cool water comes out the Intercooler vent line, which normally takes about 30 seconds or so.