How to remove my shock absorber and can I salvage my VTS motor?

[WaterEnthusiast]

Hi,

I own a 2008 Sea-Doo Wake 215.

I want to change the rubber grommet for the hood's piston (specifically, part #293720078). I read the shop manual and it says (if I have a GTX version... I'm not sure if my model is considered GTX or RXP or RXT??) to :"Retain the cover with one hand while pulling the shock body. Pull on shock strongly". Someone else told me to use a screwdriver and pry the piston out. In both cases, it seems awfully difficult.

Can someone confirm the best to do so? Or even share a video? Should I pull/pry the top or the bottom of the piston? With the hood fully opened? Should I unscrew the black plastic part (where the shock is stored) from the hood..?

Attached is a picture of what it looks like.

Also, up until 2 days ago, my VTS motor was working fine (my VTS module wasn't). I wanted to "clean the rust" do I let it sit in some CLR and brushed the corrosion off. When I tried it again, my 7.5A fuse "jumped". Looking carefully, it seems that some liquid got inside the housing (although it had been drying for 2-3 3 days and I didn't think it had gotten in).

Anyway, is there a way to salvage it by having it dry? I only opened the circular housing and everything looked fine (except for the CLR smell). Should I try to open the rectangular block (the screws are all rusted) and try to dry that part also?

Or once I tried to make it turn with some liquid inside, it is completely and permanently dead?


Lastly, what is the difference between the GTX, RXP, RXT and Wake models? Sometimes in the user manual it won't even mention Wake so I am not sure which of those my Sea-Doo is the closest.

Thanks

 

[skiasylum]

The generic 2008 BRP part catalogs list the Wake 215 as a sub folder of the GTX, so if they don’t list the Wake in the shop manual I would probably follow the GTX instructions.
I would say the best way to remove your gas shock is to hold the cover(hood) open with one hand and grab the lower part of the shock strut assembly and pull it out of the socket in the shock base. It looks like the force of the shock trying to extend is all that is holding the bottom ball of the strut into the strut base so with a “strong” pull it should release. I’m sure they probably want you to compress the strut on the install.

 

[WaterEnthusiast]

Answering my own question, I was able to remove my shock absorber. The shop manual states that I should: "Pull on shock strongly", I was trying to "pry it out", which made me concern since it was BENDING.

After thinking about it, what needs to be done is pull DOWN (not out) on the shock, to manually COMPRESS it. It doesn't require that much force and from there, you can easily remove it. I'm glad I didn't pry harder.

To put the shock back in place, as described in the shop manual, you simply put is on the little bump/ledge, and when you close the cover, the shock will automatically slide into place.

Regarding my VTS, I came to the conclusion that I have fried the motor, and since the housing was already broken (position gauge not working), I purchased a used VTS kit (motor+housing). I also managed to construct a ghetto m27 nut tool for about 1$. As described in many threads, simply use an ABS pipe (I tried with 1" but is was so tight that I have to cut it on one side. The 1 1/4 pipe worked better) and heat it with a heat gun (I should not have heated the outer shell so much, it ended up bending a little - just the insive was enough) and then ram it through the nut and let it cool.

See attached pictures. I built 2, including one that have a 90 degrees angle to serve as a handle (I drilled a hole at the back to let the rod through.

Hope this can help someone.