Maiden Voyage of Sportster 1800, possibly Cavitation???

[drtyhatch]

So finally got to take the boat out for the very first time today. Something I noticed right off the bat was that the boat has a certain sound that to me sounds like it is sucking air. Secondly is the boat has no power. I mean the engines run like they are supposed to but the boat goes maybe 15-20 mph and will never plane off. I am suspicious that the wear rings are worn out but they were supposed to be checked out when the boat was at the dealer a few weeks ago. Anything else that could cause this?

Btw the engines had 150 psi on all 4 cylinders.

Sorry did notice a 3rd problem, it seems that one of the engines surges at WOT almost like it is hitting some sort of rev limiter like on a car. Anyone have any ideas on this one?


thanks everyone.

 

[Dr Honda]

When a boat has cavitation that bad... you are sucking air past the carbon seals. (Drive shaft seals)

Start by removing the gray covers behind the engines. Make sure that the clamps are all in place, and make sure that there is about a 1/2" to 1" gap between the boot on the engine, and the back of the stainless ring. On the earlier Seadoo's, they used an O-ring to hold the stainless ring in place. When that O-ring dies... the stainless ring will slide back, and the carbon ring doesn't have enough pressure on it to seal properly.

If everything looks good... then buy new carbon rings, boots (the one on the carbon ring) and new O-rings for inside of the stainless ring. Oh... and if you have the O-ring as a lock on the stainless ring... replace it with a metal C-clip (pn 272000135)