Hello, we are new here and new to boating (owning one anyway). We are looking at a 2002 Sea Doo Islander, it has the Mercury M2 240 hp V6. Not really savvy on these forums and am having a hard time finding info. I keep seeing bad things about DI, but if not mistaken this is EFI?? Or am I mistaken. Any help would be greatly appreciated as we don't want to buy bad for our first experience. Also, the boat was for salt water use and dry docked after use, we will be fresh water use only. Is there anything I will need to change or worry about? Thanks!!
Interested in 02 Islandia - good...bad...indifferent??
- Thread starter mattelk
- Start date
- Status
Craigmri
New Member
Mattel,
I just bought a Utopia but have always loved the Islandia for size and feature-set. I used to have a Challenger with the 240EFI. Its a great engine but mine smoked real bad(I think I had too much oil set up) and I thought it was kinda on the loud side in the Challenger at least.
I'm still a rookie around here and you will certainly get some great advice from some real experienced Seadoo folk. what I have learned by reading these forums is the Seadoo/Mercury combination can be frustrating to some degree. Since Seadoo dealers are really mostly motorcycle shops they are anything but Mercury experts. Most advise that of you buy this boat be sure you line up a good Mercury shop to provide you with service when required. BTW, The DI your referring to (Direct Injection) is referring to the Mercury Optimax engine(Which yours obviously inst).
If it where me I would want a Mercury technician to inspect power package and get a clean bill of health before I purchased. In addition sea trial the boat and be sure the boat doesnt leave a smoke screen behind as you idle. The boat should jump out of the water fairly effortlessly. If it feels like the boat revs like crazy and doesnt go anywhere you make need some wear ring or impeller work. If your mostly accustomed to stern drive prop boats your in for a treat. I'll never forget the first time in the Challenger I bought. It took two hours to get the smile off my face!
Craig
I just bought a Utopia but have always loved the Islandia for size and feature-set. I used to have a Challenger with the 240EFI. Its a great engine but mine smoked real bad(I think I had too much oil set up) and I thought it was kinda on the loud side in the Challenger at least.
I'm still a rookie around here and you will certainly get some great advice from some real experienced Seadoo folk. what I have learned by reading these forums is the Seadoo/Mercury combination can be frustrating to some degree. Since Seadoo dealers are really mostly motorcycle shops they are anything but Mercury experts. Most advise that of you buy this boat be sure you line up a good Mercury shop to provide you with service when required. BTW, The DI your referring to (Direct Injection) is referring to the Mercury Optimax engine(Which yours obviously inst).
If it where me I would want a Mercury technician to inspect power package and get a clean bill of health before I purchased. In addition sea trial the boat and be sure the boat doesnt leave a smoke screen behind as you idle. The boat should jump out of the water fairly effortlessly. If it feels like the boat revs like crazy and doesnt go anywhere you make need some wear ring or impeller work. If your mostly accustomed to stern drive prop boats your in for a treat. I'll never forget the first time in the Challenger I bought. It took two hours to get the smile off my face!
Craig
Mattelk,
I have an '03 Islandia with the 240EFI I bought used. It was used in saltwater in FL. I bought it in June and used it for the rest of the season in MS and loved it. It's a great platform and many people enjoy the boat and its amenities.
With that being said, if I had to do it again and budget would afford it, I would go newer just for the Rotax engines. The Mercury is a great engine, but like many in this forum will agree, you have to have two dealers to service the boat if you aren't mechanically inclined. One for the 'seadoo' side and a mercury dealer for the engine side.
My best advice to you is to find a marine surveyor and have the boat throughly gone over if you have no idea about boating and boating maitenance. It's well worth the initial cost. I have had to replace my wear ring and stator this off season ($1000 in parts due to being cast aluminum), as the combo of salt water and lack or regular maitenance resulted in corrision to the the aluminum by the previous owner. If I had hired a surveryor/done more due dillegence on my part, I probably would have known these issues before driving 12 hrs to pick up the boat in FL and probably would have negotiated a better price.
Like I said, I love the Islandia and other than the wear ring/stator have had no issues with the boat. It runs great and always gets looks on the water, as it is the best of both worlds boating wise. If you have any questions/concerns, feel free to ask as many here on this forums are very knowledgable and helpful.
I have an '03 Islandia with the 240EFI I bought used. It was used in saltwater in FL. I bought it in June and used it for the rest of the season in MS and loved it. It's a great platform and many people enjoy the boat and its amenities.
With that being said, if I had to do it again and budget would afford it, I would go newer just for the Rotax engines. The Mercury is a great engine, but like many in this forum will agree, you have to have two dealers to service the boat if you aren't mechanically inclined. One for the 'seadoo' side and a mercury dealer for the engine side.
My best advice to you is to find a marine surveyor and have the boat throughly gone over if you have no idea about boating and boating maitenance. It's well worth the initial cost. I have had to replace my wear ring and stator this off season ($1000 in parts due to being cast aluminum), as the combo of salt water and lack or regular maitenance resulted in corrision to the the aluminum by the previous owner. If I had hired a surveryor/done more due dillegence on my part, I probably would have known these issues before driving 12 hrs to pick up the boat in FL and probably would have negotiated a better price.
Like I said, I love the Islandia and other than the wear ring/stator have had no issues with the boat. It runs great and always gets looks on the water, as it is the best of both worlds boating wise. If you have any questions/concerns, feel free to ask as many here on this forums are very knowledgable and helpful.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked
