Just purchased a 2001 Seadoo Challenger 2000 Mercury v6 240 hp

[SeptemberC]

The 2006 Challenger would be Rotax correct? Parts and places that will service them are more abundant. The Sea-Doo/Mercury combos seem to scare off service places. If I had an option I’d go with Rotax.
I just happened to get very lucky and find mine at a great price. IF there were issue I could fix them. I also had mine check out with a service place first to verify it was OK.

Meant to say seems like u can find them ( the parts) but possibly expensive ? Meant to say parts. I am looking at a 2002 and also a 2006 hoping to hear from y’all a list of “ Don’t buy if u find this” or “ if u find or hear this it costs $$$$ to fix LOL...”

 

[JLine]

Thanks for the the feedback SeptemberC. The 2006 possibly is Rotax not sure not in the listing but I will talk tomorrow. The 2002 is Mercruiser for sure. If I go with the 2006 and it is a Rotax is that a twin ? In the description a listed feature is built in intercooler. Does that refer to a supercharger or closed loop cooling system ? I was hoping on of my choices would have a closed loop coolant system.

 

[JLine]

The 2006 Challenger would be Rotax correct? Parts and places that will service them are more abundant. The Sea-Doo/Mercury combos seem to scare off service places. If I had an option I’d go with Rotax.
I just happened to get very lucky and find mine at a great price. IF there were issue I could fix them. I also had mine check out with a service place first to verify it was OK.

You say if there was an issue with your M2 u could fix it ? Or did u mean u know better how to work on Rotax if something happened ?

 

[SeptemberC]

M2 is the pump. Your engine would be a 210hp or a 240hp Mercury SportJet engine.

 

[JLine]

The 2006 Challenger would be Rotax correct? Parts and places that will service them are more abundant. The Sea-Doo/Mercury combos seem to scare off service places. If I had an option I’d go with Rotax.
I just happened to get very lucky and find mine at a great price. IF there were issue I could fix them. I also had mine check out with a service place first to verify it was OK.

Also should I start a thread or something to ask my original questions ? I tagged in on another thread about someone started back in February when they bought a something . Really hoping to stir up response soon as I can get it from as many people who would respond. Thanks in advance !

 

[SeptemberC]

Also should I start a thread or something to ask my original questions ? I tagged in on another thread about someone started back in February when they bought a something . Really hoping to stir up response soon as I can get it from as many people who would respond. Thanks in advance !

Yes. Start your own thread. You can post links to these if you needed to

 

[JLine]

You say if there was an issue with your M2 u could fix it ? Or did u mean u know better how to work on Rotax if something happened ?

U say lean towards Rotax but u own a Mercruiser ?

 

[JakeD]

Glad to help

Hi September C. I live in Carlsbad, recently bought a 2001 Challenger 2000 w Mercury 240 EFI . Would love a PDF of the manual. Also just had my first engine problem. Went tubing for 2 hours and then boat would start but shot off after running fir 2-5 seconds? Seems like fuel issue. - shuts off in nuetral as well as when shifting into gear. Would also be great to connect direct and compare notes as we are both local. - Jake

 

[SeptemberC]

Jake you are located in WV? You’ll need to PM your email address

 

[beergut]

I used to own the 1997 Seadoo Challenger with twin rotax engines and sold it a few years ago. This year we decided to get another one, this time we purchased a 2001 with the Mercury V6 240 hp. When I called up the mechanic who used to service my 1997 to schedule an engine service, he told me I should have called him before I purchased this particular boat because he said these are extremely difficult to find parts for and he won't work on them. I did happen to find a shop who claim they do work on them and will be dropping it off to them and I am praying they know where to find the parts for it. I wanted to see if other people struggle getting the parts they need for these since Seadoo is out of the boat business now. I wanted to also see if anyone else has owned both engine types and which one you preferred and why. Wish I had thought it thru prior to purchasing. This boat is in pristine condition in every way....as long as I can keep it running...

yep- listen to your mechanic on this one! I've owned 3 of the mercury 240 M2 units- and I wish I could tell you something positive about them. I tell everyone I know to run away from these boats- those Mercury M2 engines are time bombs. 2 of my 3 blew without warning- they have an extremely poor oil injection system design- the brass oil pump gear actually rides on a nylon gear from the crank shaft- once that nylon gear strips out (and it eventually will) you'll lose your oil injection and blow the motor. there's not a single dealer in new England that will touch the M2 Mercury (and no- it's not just the same mercury powerhead on a jet pump- the M2 is a whole 'nuther monster, I've done tons of research on them)- I had to ship both engines to Blackbird industries in PA to get rebuilt for a cost of over $4500 each- (that was with me undressing & redressing the block) A lot of people remove the pump and pre-mix just to avoid that eminent failure. Here's a photo of your crankshaft in your engine, the red arrow pointing to the plastic gear on the crankshaft- the other photo shows the brass gear on the end of your oil injection pump. plastic gears inside of hot engines that turn metal gears is a bad idea and there's thousands of these engines out there blown or near ready to blow because of it! I owned two 1800 challengers and one challenger 2000 (20') - you'll go broke feeding it! they chow gas. you also can't simply replace a wear ring when they need to be replaced. You'll have to spend about $1200 on a new jet pump unlike the rotax engines where you can simply buy a $50-$75 replaceable wear ring. sure- you can do the "fiberglass hack" or "JB Weld hack" to resurface it, but it's not worth it. That's just the tip of it- some may disagree with me but, I've lived it- I've spend countless (hundreds of) hours and $$$ dealing with the Mercury 240 M2 engines- I hate'em. go back to your rotax engine- which aren't without fault, but much easier to find parts and fix.
here, read up on these threads:
Oil injection bypass
Mercury Oiling Gear Failure - The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum

quoted this from someone else-

A common failure. The metal worm gear heats up and then the plastic crankshaft teeth are melted,and wiped.Mercury did a recall about the top bushing it was reduced in size,so it would not expand too large and create drag by binding against the hole in the block, but the part number remained the same.The new bushing was identified by a symbol on the flange end.I have a replacement Quicksilver engine,that was replaced under warrenty(becase of the problem),and it wiped the crankshaft gear again.The cause was the top bushing was not changed when new engine was installed. Mercury is well aware of the problem, their solution in later years is to delete the rotation pickup alarm on the oil pump that sounded and announced the oil pump drive failure(mainly not in time to advoid problems),so now you don't know about the failure until the engine seises up and stops cold

 

[SeptemberC]

I have a 2004 Islandia. I think the engine is a 2003 240 SportJet and it has the electric oil injection system.

 

[beergut]

I have a 2004 Islandia. I think the engine is a 2003 240 SportJet and it has the electric oil injection system.

nice! I didn't think those came out until sometime in 2004 or 2005 but if you have the electronic injection system you're lucky.

 

[Pdub]

Dumb question does EFI indicate electronic oil injection as well as fuel?

 

[beergut]

Dumb question does EFI indicate electronic oil injection as well as fuel?

Not a dumb question at all but no, EFI would just be the fuel delivery system. It's using an electronic fuel injection system instead of three carburetors.

 

[Pdub]

Is there any preventative measures to keep pump from failing or test to periodically do to ensure you dont blow an engine

 

[Tim75]

Is there any preventative measures to keep pump from failing or test to periodically do to ensure you dont blow an engine

I am guessing you are refering to the oil pump. You can test its delivery, but that is no guarantee against anything. The pump itself seldom fails. It's what drives the pump that fails. Best to make sure that cooling system is clear. Don't keep running with weeds packing the (jet) pump intake that reduces the cooling water flow.

 

[beergut]

Is there any preventative measures to keep pump from failing or test to periodically do to ensure you dont blow an engine

not really- mercury knew they had a time bomb with that silly design- hence the electronic oil injection in the later M2's - that plastic gear on the crank WILL fail at some point. if you want peace of mind, many people simply pulled the oil injection pump out and put a block-off plate on to cover the hole- and pre-mixed. It's not as convenient as oil injection but at least you won't have to worry about an oil pump failing and blowing your engine. You should be able to find plenty of info on the modification, it was pretty popular. I'm not sure if you can retrofit an electronic oil injection somehow. That would be interesting to see...

 

[Pdub]

Something definatly worth looking at then...
Thanks guys!

 

[puertamx]

hi everyone, first post here, just bought a challenger 2000 efi 240..., well, seller said it ran fine prior to a tune up in LA...and never used it after it for a year, it turned on at his yard... he just recommended me to change gas... since it has been on land for so long..
After that, i brought it to Baja, replaced gas, and turned on fine on land so i try a local lake and results that once in the water it does turns on every time but dies after a few seconds, and forget about trying to accelerate it dies once you try it too... took it to my yard and work on it so far with same results..
here's what i have done so far:
1. new sparks and plugs,
2. new oil and gas
3. 35 psi after gas regulator (tested)
4. removed and cleaned electric gas pump (all perfect an clean).
5. 70 psi on electric gas before rails (test, manual says 90 somewhere, but also said 41 to 45 psi after gas regulator)

thinking now about replacing those temp sensors, what do you guys recommend?

 

[Seadoocouple]

Check your email.

Hey September could I get a copy I just picked up a 2002 challenger with the 240 and hopefully I never need a manual but I will lol the_billman_gang@yahoo.com

 

[herve38]

Hello,
I have a 2001 seadoo challenger 2000 240 efi. I bougth it with a broken engine. The engine was size due to the broken plastic gear. I rebuild it with an ebay WSM kit for 900$. Now it's work well . I'm an electronic French ingeneer and I will build a system to check the 2 stroke oil flow in continous. This way if the gear fail I will put an alarm to stop the engine and put oil in the tank to come back to my trailer. If you are interested let me know. Best Regards (Sorry for my english)

 

[igneous]

Don't let the repair shops scare you into thinking the parts are rare. That is basically a 240 hp outboard stuck in the seadoo frame... just look at how tight some of the fuel lines are around the motor--like you could drop a cowling right over top. Other merc motors share the same parts. One thing to replace is the temp sensor, p#13536A14. They die slowly and make engine run bad as they do.

 

[igneous]

Herve38...forget the plastic parts in the engine and premix oil and gas. You'll never have to worry about blowing motor again.