Air bubbles in one jet stream of 97 Challenger 1800 after rave valve fix

[Challenger97]

Hello all,

My 97 challenger has been a project from the start and continues to be a challenge. Recently my port 787 Rotax started to sputter and kept stalling out. It eventually wouldn't start. Since this engine has gone though 3 rave valve forks on the back side, I started there and sure enough another one had broken off. I replaced the rave valve and got the engine running again, however, it continues to sputter a bit and will stall out if you don't baby it at idle. To make matters more concerning, the water jet emission on this engine looks like a Jacuzzi jet where the other "good" engine seams to be clear and free of bubbles. Anyone else have this happen? Should I be concerned? What should I be looking to fix next? Thanks in advance! PS, I think the air bubbles may have been coming out on this side prior to the rave valve replacement. Not sure if there is any relation or cause and effect?

 

[Dr Honda]

There's no exhaust or anything like that in the jets on these boats... so it's sucking air from somewhere. That is independent of the engine.

If you broke a RAVE... then I would check the compression on that engine. It may have clipped one of the rings, and you are trying to run on one cyl.

 

[Challenger97]

Hey Tony,

Thanks so much! Good news is, I found the air leak on the bellows of that engine and fixed it. Bad news is you're right about the rings, etc. Any advise as to resources to rebuild this thing?