97 challenger 1800 drivetrain

[blanier]

1997 Challenger 1800

Last summer I damaged the driveshaft on the right engine. The splines broke off of the shaft where it connects to the PTO. I have bought a new shaft and wear parts for the drive line. On the left engine the wear ring is shot so I have a wear ring for it too. Since I am going to have it worked on I was wondering if there is anything I can do to make this boat faster? It is quick now, but I want more speed. If I go with the Solas SD-CD-15/23 impellers will that make a big deal? Is there a better impeller? Is there anything else I can do to make more speed with out changing out the entire pumps.

Also, is this a common problem for the splines to break on the driveshaft? should I be worried of a bigger problem?

WISH I COULD AFFORD THE NEW SPORTSTER 200 with 510HP. I wanna go 70 MPH!!!

 

[voodoo]

Seadoo engineers things pretty darn good, so if ya wanna go a lot faster you need to doo it with a for sale sign, prop changes seem to offer 3-5 mph and to get speed it takes away the zoom from zero, so ya have to name your poison when making mods. Broken shaft must have been a rock or a tree limb being jammed in a pump, a depth finder would be helpful to see under-the-water.

 

[blanier]

Thanks

I was asking for help not someone who wants to be "That guy". I may have sucked something up to damage that shaft. Does anyone have any real help for me?

 

[Dennis]

Help

Exactly what kind of "real help" are you looking for?
DAWG

 

[seadoosnipe]

Impellers....

Seadoo engineers things pretty darn good, so if ya wanna go a lot faster you need to doo it with a for sale sign, prop changes seem to offer 3-5 mph and to get speed it takes away the zoom from zero, so ya have to name your poison when making mods. Broken shaft must have been a rock or a tree limb being jammed in a pump, a depth finder would be helpful to see under-the-water.

Though I second the idea of increasing speed with an impeller change, I do think I can offer a different solution to your problem. Usually, if you break off your shaft at the splines, it's going to be a combination of a few things. If you dont' do your yearly greasing of the PTO hub, this will usually cause it to strip the splines but to break it off?.... That would take a lot of torque to do that.

If the splines were left without grease and you did happen to hit something in the water (unseen with a depth finder), like a floating log while WOT, I could see that kind of torque breaking it off. But, you'd likely have a bit more damage than just the broken shaft. You should see signs of this at the intake area..... Nothing you suck up is going to break that shaft without leaving some kind of evidence in the intake area..... if it was a rock or log.

Have you spun the motor over by hand or started it since the break? Stopping this motor so fast that it broke the shaft could also do internal damage. I'm curious as to this break. Can you put a pix in the thread of the end or the broken driveshaft.....?

 

[blanier]

Shaft not broken

Ok I guess I was unclear. It striped the splines. It did not break the shaft. No motor damage as far as we know. Hopefully the PTO is not damaged.
Really all I was wondering is this an issue that anyone else has seen?
Also, would anyone suggest the Solas impellers or just stay with the stock ones. I run a little over 50 right now the way it sits stock, going by the speedo. I am sure that is not accurate. Just wondering if the Solas may bring that up a little without losing the low end. I thought maybe if I stayed with the same pitch I would not lose any on the low end.

 

[seadooya]

check out the solas or skat trak websites. They break it down as to what you need for the type of motor set-up you got...stck/ned/modded.

As for the splines, if the zert fitting under the grey shield isnt attended to..(greased every run out), then it will contribute to your problem at hand...:cheers: