just got and ran my 08 seadoo challanger 180se. questions

[Freddie1275]

at the dealer we tested the horn and it worked, but as soon as we got out into the water it did not work and will not work now? what could be wrong? I had 4 adults on board and the average rpm at 20 was around 4500 or 5000 if i recall correctly is that right? I used it and most likely will use it alot in lake erier, where there happens to be alot fo sea weed, i heard if u feel ur not getting full power get it up as fast as you can and pull the key to let the wake flush out ur jet if seaweeds in there. is that true? Also when i got it home i looked up under it and noticed there were small pieces of seaweed that got past those 2 bars and were hanging from the net type thing, i pulled them out. i looked back there through the blade and it did not look like any sea weed was there but i could not see past that. Is that normal? Will seaweed mess it up? Thanks as i mentioned before im new to this as ive never owned a boat before. Thanks.

O also, we hit a big wave and water came all over and up into thefront of the boat, most of it did drain out, but i looked into the engine compartment as we were dockin and seen a little water in there is that normal ass well? I thought there was an auto pump in there? And when i un pluged the water drains on the back after we got it out of the water, the water that was coming out was really warm alsmost hot, is that normal as well or should it be cool? Thanks again.

 

[scooper77515]

sorry, tried to post to another thread, accidentally posted here, and cannot figure out how to delete the entire post...:ack:

I cannot help on such a new boat...

 

[Freddie1275]

at the dealer we tested the horn and it worked, but as soon as we got out into the water it did not work and will not work now? what could be wrong? I had 4 adults on board and the average rpm at 20 was around 4500 or 5000 if i recall correctly is that right? I used it and most likely will use it alot in lake erier, where there happens to be alot fo sea weed, i heard if u feel ur not getting full power get it up as fast as you can and pull the key to let the wake flush out ur jet if seaweeds in there. is that true? Also when i got it home i looked up under it and noticed there were small pieces of seaweed that got past those 2 bars and were hanging from the net type thing, i pulled them out. i looked back there through the blade and it did not look like any sea weed was there but i could not see past that. Is that normal? Will seaweed mess it up? Thanks as i mentioned before im new to this as ive never owned a boat before. Thanks.

O also, we hit a big wave and water came all over and up into thefront of the boat, most of it did drain out, but i looked into the engine compartment as we were dockin and seen a little water in there is that normal ass well? I thought there was an auto pump in there? And when i un pluged the water drains on the back after we got it out of the water, the water that was coming out was really warm alsmost hot, is that normal as well or should it be cool? Thanks again.

ps i noticed the coolant went down past the low mark. why did it do that? what kind should i buy?i just feel like i bought something thats not going to serve me. someone please anwser with replies

 

[robertm]

The low coolant is normal. My dealer told me it would do that after the first time I run it. He said to refill it with distilled water. After that if it runs a little low fill with 50/50 mix.

RPMS at that speed sound fine to me. It really changes baised on the condition of the water. If its like glass out there and there is no weight in the boat it will be faster at said rpm than if you have a bunch of people in it and its choppy.

I don't have any idea about the seasweed or the whole pulling the key thing. I would ask the dealer for some advice if you don't find it here.

Also, no idea why the horn wouldn't work. I wouldn't have gone home with that boat until the horn works. Just take it back up there and tell them to fix. Odds are its some very simple connection or something like that.

Good luck and enjoy your new boat!!

 

[gerapau]

RPMs sound good. Sea weed can plug things up from time to time. The best way I have found to clear it without having to take the boat out of the water is to go as fast as you can in reverse and then kill the engine. This has worked for me every time so far (I did have to do it 2 or 3 times in a row for this to work though).

I think that every time I have had my speedster 150 out I have gotten a bit of water in the bilge. Not too much though. Not enough for the bilge pump to come on (on my boat the bilge pump is not at the lowest point in the bilge so there can be a bit of water in there without it comming on).

 

[rexsteiner]

seaweed issue

These boats have an ICS system. It think its internal clearing system. If u suck up a large patch of weeds or u get some debris blocking the intake grate. U put it in neutral and press and hold the ICS button for like 30 seconds. The intake grate drops and water is forced the opposite way to clear weeds or debris. Its in the owners manual. It doesn't save you from small sticks tho.

As for the horn. Its pry just the switch or a connection. Unless u wher tryin to play dixie and blew the fuse. But eitherway dealer will fix free of charge.

 

[rexsteiner]

bilge water

The small amount of water in the bilge is fine. Its warm because of the engine heat. The reason it stays there is cuz the bilge pump is self priming and if it was on the bottom ant time u got a little but of water it would kickon and not have enouhg water to pump out. So they raise the pump up aways. So u can take on a gallon or 2 before the pump kicks on.

 

[robertm]

These boats have an ICS system. It think its internal clearing system. If u suck up a large patch of weeds or u get some debris blocking the intake grate. U put it in neutral and press and hold the ICS button for like 30 seconds. The intake grate drops and water is forced the opposite way to clear weeds or debris. Its in the owners manual. It doesn't save you from small sticks tho.

As far as I can tell the '08 boats don't have this feature. If I am wrong I would love for someone to show me where it is/how to do it.

 

[rexsteiner]

My 06 cs has it. Unless its an option or they cancled it for 08. Ill do my homework now.

 

[rexsteiner]

my bad

ICS system was canceled for 08. Disregard my ignorance. Apologize for the waste of time.

 

[robertm]

ICS system was canceled for 08. Disregard my ignorance. Apologize for the waste of time.

I wonder why though? It certainly looked like something that was good to have. When I was researching these boats I read all about it on the older models. I just assumed the new ones would have it too. Was surprised when I got mine and didn't find it.

Any thoughts as to why they discontinued this feature?

 

[rexsteiner]

ics discontinue

here is a page i found
http://seadoosportboats.com/2008-models-no-longer-have-ICS-t1954.html

now that i no they dont use this system anymore i wonder if i can remove it all together and put fixed intake grate on. then maybe i can get a little more out of her:reddevil:

 

[xrider]

I also have a 08 challenger 180, took it out today for first time. I have very little exp. riding boats, so we got a smaller one to start. its still not as easy to control as my jet ski.
waters here are choppy at times, so you cant really push it much. we took it around, got the rpms up some for short period of time but most of the time we cruised at 4-5000rpm and it was around 20mph too.

water did come in thru front, not a problem tho there is a drain in back of the boat by rear seats. I havent read the manual so not sure of all the features, doesnt really have much of them like some bigger boats. water will always be there, we do have a bilge pump to flush it out when it gets pass certain point. its warm cause of the engine heat, nothing to worry about.
I will probably keep the boat thru this season to get used to it and then next year upgrade to something bigger. there was a nice yamaha AR230 in there that looked very comfy but it also costed $15K more. I cant wait to get my RXTX back from shop tho' that thing is fun and fast. boat is nice to cruise around, not sure whats the top speed on these?

 

[Mueller]

New Challenger 180 SE

The 08 Challenger 180 dropped ICS as it just didn't work that well, caused as much trouble as it solved. Mine also sucked the coolant down to the very bottom of the bottle the first time out and I just added some green boat coolant that is pretty much stock in any marina. I simply added it to the bottom cool line on the bottle. No big deal.

As for water, the bilge pump is automatic and will clear out any dangerous level in the engine compartment automatically. You do not have to turn it on, it has a sensor and turns on even if you disconnect the electrical with the round cut off switch in the engine compartment above the battery. I keep a towel for the bottom of the ski compartment and towel out the bottom of the engine compartment when it gets a little more water that the bilge doesn't get.

Don't forget to use your blower for 5 minutes before starting the engine, and remember to turn it off, lol.

If you haul the boat out of the water, then you can open the two drain plugs and get any other residual water out.... I am on a lift slip, but it is starting to rub my decal a bit. Any ideas on that would be appreciated. Just read your manual thoroughly is the best advice, you may even find where the aft light is stored!

Happy jetting!

 

[braatjr]

I also just purchased an 08 and am so far very happy with it. It has taken a little getting used to not having much control at low speeds and also having immediate thrust when you start the engine, but all in all I would say it is great. I am still trying to figure out how to keep the cover from pooling when it rains. The supports that are supplied with it do not seem to lift it high enough (at least at the recommended heights) to keep pools from forming around it. I am thinking of maybe making a disc to put on the top of the support so it crowns it more.

I have noticed that I too take on water in the front (this was with a full load) at low speeds and realized I just have to keep the speed up to keep the bow a bit in the air.
Happy boating!!