Dealing with a Ski that has sunk.... Advice....

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2011 RXT 260 IS has sunk. Was in the water for about 2 hours. Front end out of water.
Once taken out of the water it was immediately taken to Sea Doo.
This is not my ski so I cannot confirm just what Sea Doo did.
The bill was high enough owner claimed insurance and collected.
From what I am told Sea Doo removed water and protected all metal from corrosion.

At the moment ski is not powering or anything. Completely dead. Are the ECU and MPEM water tight or could they have taken on water?
I am picking this ski up tomorrow to see if it can be fixed so I have not looked over it yet. Only going off of what I was told.
My first mission would be to regain power. I am hoping ECU and MPEM were water tight and nothing got in. Maybe just had water in plugs? Once I get power I can try and turn over the motor and see if what Sea Doo did was good enough to save it.
Supercharger was rebuilt a month before this occurred but I am sure water probably washed away any oil or grease in bearings. (was Salt water it sunk in) I am also concerned about the IBR. I know these motors are expensive to replace. Curious to know if anyone is familiar with what Sea Doo could have done to this ski or is it a chance it may be too far gone. This did happen 3 months ago so it is not recent. Any and all advice would be helpful.
 
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Pull the plugs and jump the solenoid. If it cranks you know you have a good battery, cables, cable connections and a starter. If it doesn't crank, one of those is bad.
 
Coastiejoe,
Thanks for the reply. I wanted to know if you knew how well the ECU and MPEM is sealed. Could water have gotten in them? I am more concerned about them then the engine. Would be great if Sea Doo managed to save the engine but I do have a spare one I could put in. My biggest concern is the electrical at this point and the IBR...
 
They are suppose to be sealed. But we have seen water get into the MPEMs, EXUs and "waterproof plugs".
 
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The connectors on these skis are supposed to be waterproof, but anyone that has worked on these long enough knows this isn't true. You probably have corrosion on one or more connectors, resulting in the ski not powering up.

BTW, this model doesn't have MPEM, only ECU and two fuse boxes.

First thing to check are the fuse/relay boxes, they are not very water tight, and you probably have a mess there. Pop off all connectors and have a look for green. If you pop off the ECU connectors and see green, time for new ECU and harness.

Anytime these skis go under salt water like this, the whole thing needs taken apart, all the connectors removed and sprayed out with fresh water then dried and sprayed with contact cleaner.

The engine is a whole other matter. Could be worse damage.
 
If you have a house with a garage, open the door to the inside of the house and run the air conditioner for about 8 hrs .The ac will act as a dehumidifier and dry out the inside of parts of the pwc that would otherwise require dissemble to do . I got that idea from being on Navy ships that are part of their dead fleet . Dehumanizing really works .
 
Well I picked up the ski. I bought it for $800. Now this ski sank 3 months ago. There was still water in the engine. I pulled the plugs and I jumped the starter relay to get it to turn over and spit out the water. It was not locked and I inspected the inside of cylinders and saw zero signs of rust. The oil looked clean when I first checked it but after turning it over it became milky looking so changed the oil 5 times until no more milky look to it and oil looks clean and normal now. I fogged the cylinders. While there is no power to the ski to give spark to get the engine to fire I am very optimistic this engine may have survived even after all this time. Nothing sounds out of the ordinary etc...
I checked as many plugs as I could without taking the upper deck off yet. No plugs have corrosion and plugs to ECU look good as well. I took the top off the IBR and the inside looks like it never had water inside. Still looks new and the plugs were perfect when checking them. I have a twin ski so tomorrow I will take ECU out of this ski and test it on my other one. The lack of power right now may be from the fuse box. The BATTERY 30 fuse was missing and connectors were corroded. Will clean this out tomorrow then work from there. Right now I am looking for the wire chart for this ski so we can work our way through it.
But so far I can say the engine was not locked. I see no rust in top end. Condition of bottom end can still be mystery however I do not think it would rust because the bottom still had oil. Starter is still good because I got it to turn over by jumping starer relay (thanks Coastiejoe). I am more then positive the IBR is good from what I have seen. If anything I see the IBR motor sells for $1200 used on ebay. I do have my other ski to test motor on to confirm but right now our mission is to get the power going again tomorrow to test the parts in the ski as is and most important to try and get engine to fire. If I have to use parts from my other ski I will because as you know the importance of getting this engine to fire, at least no further damage can be done. The engine is protected right now, it is just a matter of what or if any damage was done beforehand. Will keep posted. May need to come back with other questions as I work my way through this tomorrow.
 
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Sea Dood
Thanks for reply. Good thing is the ECU connectors look good. Will try the ECU in my twin ski tomorrow to confirm if it is good. The fuse box is what has corrosion issues so far that I have found just like you said. You and Coastijoe have given great advice and the things I checked first. Big help from both of you to figure this ski out and get it going again.
 
Corrosion in the fuse box is a big deal. Can cause all kinds of issues as it causes shorts. It will require a VERY thorough cleaning. Scrub brush and vinegar with some baking soda will help.
 
OK today I got power to the ski and the engine fired up. Sigh of relief that the engine is still good. This was a ski Sea Doo told previous owner was completely dead and now it has life back in it. Still have work to do. Tomorrow I will remove the upper deck and go through the rest of the ski. I have already seen why it sank, melted hole in the exhaust silencer box. At the moment the IBR and Suspension are still not working so we have to go through all the other connectors. While I have not been able to inspect any part of the Suspension other then the control module since the deck has not come off yet, the module looks good and the plugs looked good with no signs of water ever getting in. IBR motor was the same. All plugs and inside of IBR motor still look new and no signs of water damage. This is why I feel the problem is somewhere else. The IBR light is on. Nothing on the gauge showing for Suspension. Will work through all the lines tomorrow. Any advice on what to look for I am more then happy to receive. Already been helped in this thread to get it going already.
 
As of this moment I have everything on this ski working except the IBR. It seems it maybe stuck because it does move back and forth a little. I will take it out and open it up to see if anything is stuck or if water got in. Other then the IBR this ski is back to life.
 
Well today I solved all issues with this ski. IBR does work. It turns out everything that happened to this ski was a result of loose bolts to the reduction nozzle. The previous owner had the 100 hour maintenance done (which included SC rebuild). It seems whoever did so got lazy and did not properly tighten the bolts to reduction nozzle after changing jet pump grease. The two bottom bolts were missing and top were broken from pressure. Reduction nozzle was loose and got jammed with a huge gap between it and jet pump. This cut off water flow which over heated the exhaust and melted the silencer box taking on water. The reason the IBR was jammed was because of the reduction nozzle and how it was now sitting. IBR could not go up. I am actually amazed. I truly did not think the engine would ever be good again with water sitting in it for 3 months. A friend did stick a camera into it and there is no signs of rust or damage. after many oil changes to remove all oil and now a new filter and fresh oil the engine is completely good and fires up right away. After a very good cleaning of the fuse box (thanks everyone) all electronics work. There is nothing now that does not work on this ski. All that needs to be done now is replace the reduction nozzle and exhaust. I do have a high performance exhaust I will put in from another ski I stripped down. This will also by pass the silencer box. With everything involved I am not even $1000 into this ski to get it water ready. I am definitely a happy person. Sea Doo dealer told the previous owner this ski was completely dead and should be salvaged.
 
You made out great, congrats! The loosening of the nozzle bolts is a well-known problem on that model, likely was not the dealer that did it, they loosen on their own on that model.

Let me give you a pre-warning! How much water came out of the cylinders when you cranked it over? Did anyone crank it over without the plugs removed, and have it hydrolock (not turn over)?

The reason I ask this is because anytime you have hydrolock, there is a risk of getting a bent connecting rod. When this happens, the only symptom is the block gets ventilated anywhere from minutes to hours later. (Total engine catastrophe with connecting rod out the side of the block...)

It will run just fine, then boom.

I don't want to be a downer on your good luck you have had so far. If you think that anyone tried cranking it over with water in the cylinder, then if it were me, I would tear the engine down to inspect the connecting rods for damage.
 
Sounds like you got lucky.. Congrats to you...

Really happy that there was nothing to serious needed.. Nice snag...
 
I was told it went straight from the water, onto a flat bed, and to Sea Doo dealer. No one tried to start it. They said it was completely dead with no power. Finished all repairs today. New exhaust and reduction nozzle. Will put it the upper deck back on tomorrow and let it sit until the Spring to see how it truly is on the water. Will be a long winter.
 
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