New engine noise

[JJinSC]

I have great fears about this one and wanted to get some input. I went out Saturday for about a 45 minute ride. I only ran about half throttle (purposefully, I was just relaxing and enjoying the river and conserving gas). Everything ran fine. I went for another ride for about an hour yesterday afternoon. Same manner of riding and about half way through I started noticing a slight noise. The engine was purring fine no skipping, no loss of power, but the noise started getting worse and worse. It sounds like a garbage disposal type sound, but underneath the normal smooth sound of the motor. I idled the rest of the way home and trailer-ed it. Pulled the plugs, grounded the wires and cranked and all was dry , plugs looked normal.

The sound comes and goes and gets worse with higher rpms, yet the motor seems to have all the power. Any ideas on what this could be? Where do I start to check?

Thanks!

 

[JJinSC]

I let a mechanic friend, who has great experience with seadoos, listen and he said while it is a pretty bad noise, it does not sound like a piston slap/cylinder problem type noise. He was quite puzzled at would could be making that type of noise. So I have been thinking, could this be a problem with the teeth on the rotary valve gear? Does anyone know what kind of noise that might make?

I tried making an audio recording so that I could post, but it was so loud and distorted that you couldn't tell anything really. I will continue to try and work on a good recording. Meanwhile, if anyone has any ideas, please let me hear them.

 

[JJinSC]

The dealer has had it for 3 weeks now and reports that they feel that the problem is definitely in the bottom end. I have the following options and wanted to get opinions from the forum.

Option 1: Pay the dealer to replace with a re-manufactured motor from SBT. Approximately $2000 plus they will require me to do the transaction with SBT and bring the motor in.

Option 2: Pay the dealer to replace with a re-manufactured motor from Bombardier. Approximately $2600

Option 3: Pay the dealer to pull the engine a take apart to see what can be done to fix it. This could go either way, but most like will cost me the cost of one of the prior options as well as the labor to take apart.

Option 4: Part the XP out and look for a good deal..

I am not looking for anyone to make my decision for me, just want to hear some opinions. Keep in mind that I am not a mechanic.

 

[Bills86e]

Use a wood block or stethoscope or long screwdriver to isolate the position of the sound. Could be driveshaft splines, jetpump bearing, engine countershaft. Broken piston ring or piston land and caught in exhaust.

A 1997 XP is worth maybe $1400. JMO Bill

 

[JJinSC]

Thanks for the reply. The compression is equal on both cylinders wouldn't this eliminate the piston ring or land? I am sure it is not the jet pump bearing as in an XP, it is in the back away from the engine. The noise is definitely in the engine. That leaves the engine counter balance and the Drive-shaft splines.

What kind of damage could these problems cause and how could I tell which it is?