Coolant/Overheat Scare

[Jonny M]

I was riding yesterday (beautiful day) and was hitting some big waves. My alarm went off and the temp light came on. I immediately shut the ski down and took the seat off. It smelled like coolant and was steaming. I looked in the back of my ski and found the coolant bottle came out of the bracket and was upside down in the back of the ski. It dumped 3/4 of the coolant in the bilge of the ski. Luckily I was riding with friends and they towed me back. I filled it up with 50/50 coolant and I was back out riding for the rest of the day.
Moral of the story: Make sure your coolant bottle is clipped into its holder on each ride. It could have been a lot worse for me.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

I happens. Its actually easy to not get it quite all the way slid in there...

I carry a 20oz water bottle filled with coolant in my storage bin just in case something odd happens like that, not a bad idea to toss one in yours, I put a bunch of XXX's on the bottle so nobody thinks its Gatorade uke:

if you do a lot of wave jumping, make sure to periodically check in on those motor mounts to make sure one isn't failing.

 

[Jonny M]

Thanks for the tips Spim. I may have to do that. I'll check the mounts too.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

I always make a habit of doing a "wiggle it, just a little bit" check on the engine just to be sure the mounts are good since that can create carbon seal issues, leaks, damaged PTO/crankshaft.

If you do a LOT of wave jumping, it might be a good idea to invest in a set of Rhaas mounts, surprisingly cheap but I believe it would require re-alignment, maybe not a bad idea to order a set and next time the pump/wear ring is off, get the mounts done at the same time. Replaced both of my rears with Rhaas but skipped the front one which according to my tuner the front one makes things a bit more complicated, adding labor/time and generally not as much of a concern.

I know my sample size is very small but 3 out of the last 4 gtx/rxt ski's that i've been involved with purchasing for myself or other's have had bad mounts. All 06-08 models.

If you get around to that, then a bilge pump might be a nice addition as well, it can't hurt!

 

[Jonny M]

I'm on the Ohio River in Pittsburgh so we don't have that many serious waves unless a cruiser goes by plowing. That's what did it yesterday. I will check them for sure though.