Cavitating on a 95 spx

[Jeffspx]

Hello, new to the forums. I have been riding skis for about 5 years now and this my second seadoo, but was lucky enough to never have any major issues till now.
So I picked up the ski last week and it runs good, dropped it in the water today and i think its cavitating. It moves with little issue at maybe half throttle and will get up on plane but if you try to push it to WOT is starts "slipping" if you will. Does this sound like a cavitation issue?
I searched the forum and will do the wear ring clearance test when I get a chance. Am I right in thinking that wear ring spec should be less than 0.040"?
Also I read something about a carbon seal, Does my model have this?
The ski has the original impeller I believe, it does have one smaller ding but seems to be somewhat clean otherwise and the wear ring doesn't look like it has any major gouges out of it. The ski does have a worx intake grate, could there be an issue with that?
Sorry for the long post. Any insight and help would be great.
Thanks

 

[Dr Honda]

OK... if it feels like you are "Spinning your tires" (Engine rev's, but you don't go) that yes... that's cavitation.

Yes... the clearance in the pump should be less than 0.040". If it's larger than that... you will need to replace the wear ring.

No... your ski does not have a carbon seal. You have the old style seal pack. It's rebuildable, and if it's leaking... then it needs some attention. If the bearing inside gives up... your ski may sink !!! Don't buy an aftermarket unit. Just rebuild yours. (it's easy to do)

Since someone has changed some of the stuff in the drive... I would take a close look at everything to make sure the pump shoe is sealed up. If you get an air leak... you will get cavitation.

Basically... with a jet pump... it's got to be air tight between the grate to the end of the nozzle.

 

[Jeffspx]

Thank you for the quick response. I still need to do the clearance check but I think I will replace the wear ring anyway as its not really all that expensive and its one thing I can rule out if it doesn't fix it. While I'm in the there I need to reseal the pump to the hull correct? This is what your referring to the pump shoe right? Also should I pull the ride plate and intake grate and apply silicone to all mating surfaces as well?
Sorry for all the questions, Ive read about doing all of this before and stuff but never had to do it so.
Thanks

 

[Dr Honda]

Yep... re-sealing everything is a great way to fix it. Since you are taking out the pump... you may as well rebuild the driveshaft seal.

 

[Jeffspx]

Ok thank you for the help. One last question, the driveshaft seal your referring to is the bearing on the drive shaft clamped to the thru-hull fitting correct?
Thank you again for all the help.

 

[Dr Honda]

Ok thank you for the help. One last question, the driveshaft seal your referring to is the bearing on the drive shaft clamped to the thru-hull fitting correct?
Thank you again for all the help.

Yes. Once the pump is out.. the driveshaft will pull out, and then you can just unclamp the seal. (It's aluminum with a grease nipple) Pull the 2 seals, and press/pound out the bearing... then reinstall the new parts. (Make sure you look at what direction the seals are facing)

 

[Mgiffune]

No... your ski does not have a carbon seal. You have the old style seal pack. It's rebuildable, and if it's leaking... then it needs some attention. If the bearing inside gives up... your ski may sink !!! Don't buy an aftermarket unit. Just rebuild yours. (it's easy to do)

Is this true of the 95 XP as well? Not having any problems, but this may be my next project.

 

[Dr Honda]

Is this true of the 95 XP as well? Not having any problems, but this may be my next project.

Yep... 90 - 95 used the same bearing/seal pack. The 89 and earlier, used a sealed through hull bearing... and the 96 and up use the carbon seal. There are a few exceptions... but that covers 99%.

 

[Jeffspx]

Ok, so thanks for the help that you have given me so far but I measured the wear ring and its no where near the .040"(1.0mm) mark. Its much less, maybe .45mm. Is it pretty Unlikely that my wear ring is the problem? I still plan to reseal the pump. could I be hitting the rev limiter? It revs up fine on the trailer.
Sorry to bring back a week old thread. I finally got a chance to measure the clearance for the impeller to wear ring and the results have left me rather concerned about whether this is the true problem.