96 XP Sea Doo XP Wear Ring

[b250r]

I have 2 96 XP'S Sea Doo's. I have had one of them since new. I bought one last year for $1000, it was about ready to be parted out. I fixed it up and now it runs like a champ. I'm going to replace the Wear Ring, I have already replaced the Wear Ring with OEM on my other 96. I found a Stainless Steel lined Wear Ring. I'm wondering if I should spend the extra money and get the Stainless Steel Wear Ring, or just replaced it with the OEM. Thanks Brian

 

[timmyboy76]

nope...s.s. wear ring wont "give" if you happen to pull anything inside the pump/impellor area, like the oem wear ring will...any debris pullud up, with a s.s. wear ring, will destroy your $250 impellor...

 

[b250r]

Timmyboy76, thanks I was thinking the samething and was wondering about the SS Wear Ring. I know the OEM has worked just fine and its cheaper.

 

[Josh6t_97xp]

I have always wondered if you could take a piece of very very thin ss sheet metal and back it with the plastic. Almost like a sleeve, so you get the longevity of the ss but it will give because of the plastic.

Im almost imagining taking a oem wearing and using a wrap of tin foil to "coat" the inside of it.

p.s. patent pending if they dont make somthing like this :cheers:

 

[Dr Honda]

I have always wondered if you could take a piece of very very thin ss sheet metal and back it with the plastic. Almost like a sleeve, so you get the longevity of the ss but it will give because of the plastic.

Im almost imagining taking a oem wearing and using a wrap of tin foil to "coat" the inside of it.

p.s. patent pending if they dont make somthing like this :cheers:

My thoughts on that….

If the metal was soft enough or thin enough to bounce back, it would be thin enough to just rip when a rock slams into it. In turn… eating your impeller.

A stainless wear ring is only good for someone who is racing, and has hand fit an oversized impeller into his/her pump. They don’t have any better “Longevity” than a plastic ring, and when it’s time to replace it… you will be replacing your impeller too. Not to mention that the rocks you do suck into the pump when you have a stainless ring… all the pressure is now put on the pump bearings. With a plastic ring… you have some flex for the bad things that get sucked into the pump. The wear ring SeaDoo uses is meant to have a finite life. (it’s expendable) Besides… I know people with the factory ring in old Doo’s, so if you have to spend $35, and two hours replacing it every 10 or 12 years… I’d say that’s not too bad.

BTW… a patent isn’t worth the paper it’s written on if you don’t have the money to defend it. In America… the person with the deepest pockets wins.

 

[Josh6t_97xp]

I wasnt really worried about replacing a wear ring, was more of a thought. I havent looked at the wearing in my 97 spx but my 96 is like brand new or least it looks like it. where does everyone ride where there picking up rocks?
I try to get as deep as possible before I turn it over about 3-4 foot of water. Can they suck rocks being this deep?

I can understand drift wood and seaweed thats floating on the surface but rocks?

 

[Chester]

My thoughts on that….

If the metal was soft enough or thin enough to bounce back, it would be thin enough to just rip when a rock slams into it. In turn… eating your impeller.

A stainless wear ring is only good for someone who is racing, and has hand fit an oversized impeller into his/her pump. They don’t have any better “Longevity” than a plastic ring, and when it’s time to replace it… you will be replacing your impeller too. Not to mention that the rocks you do suck into the pump when you have a stainless ring… all the pressure is now put on the pump bearings. With a plastic ring… you have some flex for the bad things that get sucked into the pump. The wear ring SeaDoo uses is meant to have a finite life. (it’s expendable) Besides… I know people with the factory ring in old Doo’s, so if you have to spend $35, and two hours replacing it every 10 or 12 years… I’d say that’s not too bad.

BTW… a patent isn’t worth the paper it’s written on if you don’t have the money to defend it. In America… the person with the deepest pockets wins.

I've worked on all brands of PWC's professionally for 15 years now and I've never had to replace a stainless wear ring due to ingestion of rocks or debris. Sea-Doo is the only brand that has a plastic wear ring. JetSkis, WaveRunners, TigerSharks, Polaris and WetJets all have stainless wear ring and when a rock goes through, you only have to repair the impeller. With a Sea-Doo, you have to repair the impeller and replace the wear ring.
IMHO, Sea-Doo just wants to sell wear rings. Having said that, I'd still stick to the OEM plastic one unless you have a 4 stroke.

Chester

 

[Dr Honda]

Hi Chester,

Well… I know what you’re saying. I’ve had a bunch of PWC over the years, and they all use different designs in the pump, and honestly, I’ve never killed a modern pump with a stainless ring. But, I’m careful with my PWC. If I beach them… I push them off in to a few feet of water, and I “pump” the tail up and down to wash any sand out. Most people don’t, and plug up their cooling system.

OK… with that said… in the early 90’s, I had a 79 JS440, and it was the only PWC that I had to actually service a pump that was worn out. Back then, they didn’t use any kind of wear ring, so the pump body was worn out, and over sized. To repair it, I had to bore the pump smooth, and buy a 0.060” oversized impeller from skat-trak, and grind it to size. When I was done… the JS was better than new… but it was a lot of work, and If I didn’t work at a machine shop, it would have been time to part out the ski. Needless to say, the normal DIY’er couldn’t have done it.

Personally, I think Yamaha, and the others, have gone too far in the other direction. The stainless ring offers no protection to the impeller, or pump bearings. It is much better in the respect that cavitation will not happen until the unit it totally ripped up, but at that point, you will be spending big $$$ to replace everything. SeaDoo has basically put in a replaceable “fuse” in the system with the wear ring. Also, the average home mechanic can change it out in a couple hours with normal hand tools for around $35.

Lastly… Like I said previously… the wear ring can be in bad shape, and not cause cavitation. I bought a 96 sportster, and I’m sure the ring is stock. (and beat to hell) but, I put in a new carbon seal, boot, resealed the shoe, and put in a swirl impeller, and now the single 720 powered boat shows NO cavitation from a dead stop, and mashing the throttle to full. Also, according to group K, the only thing they noticed from a warn ware ring, to a new one was a drop of 200 RPM at full throttle. (and a reduction in fuel economy because of it) OK… if the clearances are wide open… you won’t build pressure, but it would take a long time to get the ring that worn.

The only part of Seadoo’s design I think it truly dumb is the drive shaft. Since it is direct, you have to spend time making sure everything is aligned. (requiring special tools) EVERY other manufacture uses a supported drive shaft with a rubber coupler. More parts, but easier for the home mechanic. (and the D-shaft seals are less likely to leak since they aren’t floating)

OK… that got long… but all I’m trying to say is, don’t bash seadoo’s pump, because it is relatively good for the home mechanic.

 

[Chester]

I agree that the JS400's and the early JS440's were a bad design with no stainless liner. But we'll have to agree to disagree with the Sea-Doo pumps. I still think it's a very poor design.
I've been working on PWC's for over 20 years (15 professionally) and I haven't seen damaged bearings doe to rock ingestion. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've seen some severely damaged impellers and the bearings were OK.

Chester