New Owner - Maintenance Question

[Caseusaurus]

I finally pulled the trigger yesterday and picked up a 2017 WAKE 155! I'm a first-time owner, although have some experience riding skis. I previously lived in Illinois and road around primarily in freshwater (Mississippi River). I now live in Florida and will mostly be riding in salt/brackish water. I've read up and learned a lot about the different maintenance procedures for salt water. Luckily, the previous owner of my ski took amazing care of it from what I can tell. They flushed after every ride, sprayed anti-corrosive coating on everything, and washed the body. The unit has under 30 hours on it currently. I've been reading and watching videos on proper maintenance and I think I have a good idea. The one thing that is tripping me up is bilge cleaning. A lot of times I'll see people from what it looks like to me spraying directly in the engine bay to clean it out. Maybe I'm interpreting it wrong, but is that okay to do?
Any additional tips and tricks would be appreciated! The unit was just serviced recently by a local BRP dealer but I'll probably swing it by myself in a few weeks just to ensure everything is good to go.

Thanks all!

 

[Milehighguy303]

Awesome skI purchase and I am sure you will love putting some needed hours on it year-round in Florida.

I need to read the owner manual… but you have a good question. On my 2007 GTI SE 155 I run water my hose on the floor of the hull in the front around the battery and starter relay/fuses. Letting 2-3 gallons run back to the fuel tank area and rear of the ski. I tip my trailer up and let it all drain out. Sometimes I spray a little water on the motor mounts and down the sides of the hull next to the engine. It is easy access and easy to do on the older machines. Bilge looks great on a 250+ hour ski.

I haven’t been comfortable or really able to do the same thing on my 2021 GTI 170. It has a false floor in the front, and water will run down thru the floor, to the rear, but it is unsettling to put water in there. You don’t have good access to the engine area, so I have maybe sprayed a little water down the sides of the hull, on the engine mounts, but not regularly. At the same time, I think very little water is getting in the hull, based on what I see drain out at the ramp when I pull my drain plugs out. I have been relying more on spraying ample amounts of lubricant under the engine access panel as far back towards the rear as I can on this ski.

This might spur some others to comment and give their suggestions on flushing out the bilge - while I get around to seeing what the manual says before I go out this weekend.

 

[Caseusaurus]

Thanks for the reply! I've read through my manual a bit and watched some videos. I saw a video from the Sea-Doo channel that showed them rinsing the bilge area through an access compartment but I don't see that on my ski (the one in the video was a 2021 I believe). The manual basically just says to make sure to wash the "bilge area" so it's a bit nondescript. Since I'll be riding salt I just want to make sure I take as good of care as possible. Already getting some salt away and anti-corrosive spray on order before I take it out on my first ride.

 

[POPPS]

And,,,in doing a cleanup of a customers bilge,,,I spray with “super lean”…let is sit for 15 minutes,,,clean it out with a pressure washer,,,avoid electronics,,,if to drain,,,but then I use my shop vac will the long extension to get all the crevices etc out,,,works great,,,don.’t forget to your paper air filter out first,