2005 Seadoo Challenge vibration

[jocko1990]

Hi All,

I am new to the forum. I have Seadoo Challanger (2005) and put it in the water this year. After driving around on water for a little bit it got a bad vibration. I couldn't throttle up without causing a vibration rumbling sound. I hooked it up at home on the garden hose and engine seems to run fine. I check to make sure I didn't suck anything up in the prop system. Any ideas? I did notice that if I slide the forward lever up to forward postion slower or slowly, the unit at the back of the boat doesn't click or latch firmly up and can be pulled down by hand. If I firmly slide gear lever to "F" you can hear the "click" sound and the drive mechanism can NOT be easily pulled down to neutral or reverse. I checked my supercharger by pulling the intake boot off and I can NOT turn my charger with my fingers. So I imagine that is fine, but I don't know if the ceramic washer have been changed ( I''m the 2nd owner).
The boat did sit for a year. Drained gas and I am going to do a service on it ( oil, plugs, filter). Looking for any ideas of the vibration and was wondering if it could have been the gear direction mechanism on the back of the boat hanging down little from the "F" direction to the "N" position and this would cause a bad vibration when throttling up?
Thanks Guys.

 

[dsm]

The shift mechanism has nothing to do with any rotating part so it would not be the cause of vibration. All it does it move the "bucket" up and down to divert the stream of water from the jet. That said, if it is not working well and especially if the latch, which is a safety feature, is not working reliably you should probably fix it anyway. I sounds like the cable may just need to be adjusted. If the bucket drops unexpectedly at high speed it would be bad.

I would suggest checking the impeller very closely for a foreign object. I have not experienced it myself, but from posts of others here even a very small piece of wood or other foreign object in the pump can cause a lot of vibration.

If the supercharger failed I don't think you would have this symptom, but if you don't know if it's ever been rebuilt, you should probably think about getting that done before you run the boat again regardless. A supercharger failure can be catastrophic to the engine.

 

[LionOnABeach]

Double check your impeller. Run it on the hose to turn it and so you can see every face, inspect throughly. Check my “...but it can buy me a boat” thread. I had a small (like I didn’t believe something that small) wood chip get caught in impeller. Used a lone bent needle-nosed pliers to get it out. Anything above like 3k RPM, I’d have a bad vibration. Pulled it out, and no more vibes. I’d look at anything that rotates or is part of it: drive shaft, impeller, wear ring, nozzle, etc.

 

[jocko1990]

ok, i'll check it out tomorrow. who rebuilts these superchargers. I'm sure someon on here does it or has a link to someone who does. I'm in PA if that matters.

 

[LionOnABeach]

ok, i'll check it out tomorrow. who rebuilts these superchargers. I'm sure someon on here does it or has a link to someone who does. I'm in PA if that matters.

It doesn’t. Ship it to this guy. Quick turnaround and apparently he’s done more SC’s than anyone.

https://www.4-tecperformance.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=349_379_63&products_id=5170

 

[jocko1990]

Is there a way to tell if its been rebuilt? I am 2nd owner. Procedure for this? The color difference in the washers?

 

[jocko1990]

I am checking it on the intake side? Or should i just pull unit off. I did put in a new prop 2 yrs ago. But probably on has 10 hrs on new prop.

 

[LionOnABeach]

I am checking it on the intake side? Or should i just pull unit off. I did put in a new prop 2 yrs ago. But probably on has 10 hrs on new prop.

Yes, intake side. Shouldn’t need to pull anything for inspection (yet). Here’s a couple pics and what caused my vibration. Awkward position and you’ll need long/skinny tool/rod/pliers if you find anything. A mirror might help too. They sell those at Harbor Freight.

 

[jocko1990]

I took everything apart in the propulsion unit and everything looked fine, except for the rubber boot the is on the shaft from motor. It spun off a little of the prop and grease was lightly scattered on the wear ring. I threaded it back on and reinstalled everything took it for a test drive yesterday and everything seemed fine...no vibration. So it had to be the bucket falling down to the neutral position when I thought I was in "F" forward. I did adjust the cable so the bucket "locks in" when "F". I doubt the rubber boot sliding back on the drive shaft was my problem. So I will say it was the bucket hanging in neutral when I thought I was in Forward "F". Thanks for any feedback and info.

Still wondering if I can check SC while still mounted on boat? Or do I need to pull it and take it apart.

Thanks again folks.

 

[DooGuy]

First, stop. Before you do anything else. Check the oil before you start the engine again. Not just the level but clarity and feel. also pull the oil filter and check it. I had vibration couple weeks ago and thought had sucked something. I’m currently in process of pulling motor hoping and praying just an oil pump and not worse. Here’s what my oil filter looked like. Oil was dark and looked like glitter with metal shavings. On the water just before the 4th, the oil was clear and looked new. Running on hose short little cycles troubleshooting seemed to make worse.