Oh no, tell me it ain't so. Seadoo Wake pro 215

[Quetz]

I think I hosed my PWC today. It is practically new with only 56 hrs on the engine. Today I went out and as I was bird watching and cruising about 25MPH I noticed I was in a heavy and large hydrilla section. I immediate turned for deeper water when the engine bogged down. I slowed down and stopped for a second. I restarted the engine and tried to creep at idle speed toward deeper water. When I reached deeper water I put it in reverse and gunned it because it would not go. I the put it in forward gear and the temp and engine icon indicators came on with some PSI____ code and "exhaust flashing" on the front panel and the alarm was on constantly. I stopped the engine and allowed it to cool off again (15 minutes) and started it again. The alarm was going off and the check engine kept flashing and I decided to try to blow whatever it was out of the system by giving it full throttle. It did not go and there was a loud bang and smoke started to come from all places. I stopped the engine and walked it through hydrilla for about 1000 yards and when I opened the back I saw that a six inch wide by six inch diameter rubber hose had blown off the aluminum tube (exhaust I think) it was attached. The engine would start but has no compression and would simply peter out in a few seconds. The parts were much to hot to try to fix it so I towed it back to the marina and will deal with it on wednesday.

Questions:

1) Is there a chance I blew the engine?
2) If I reconnect the hose to the tubes will in build pressure then?
3) Can I tell my insurance I hit something (hydilla) and have repair covered?
4) There is a lot of hydrilla in my area, what can I do if I get some ingested into my system in the future?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreceated. I know, I know, I am an idiot for not watching where I am going. Thanks for your help.

 

[Quetz]

Stupid, stupid man

Yeah, I think I did a bad thing. I will see tomorrow, but the sound it made and smoke and smell I have a bad feeling about this one. It could have been steam, but we'll see. Thanks for your reply.

What is it that I blew out? It is like the biggest tube in the engine compartment and its on the starboard side and runs along the bottom. It looks like one 18-20 inch long by 6-7 inch in diameter aluminum tube that is connected by a short rubber hose with two hose clamps attached to each end of the tube. Is this the exhaust? If this blew it out does that mean something is still clogged? If so, how do I make sure the system is clean of debris before proceeding to troubleshooting?

Once i get to it, on the compression test, what should the reading be? Should I do it manually or with the starter?

Yeah, as a dumb attorney there should be a force majeure clause that covers stupid behavior like mine.

BTW - I am new at the seadoo riding and maintenance, so next time I get something on the intake how do I clear it out while in the water? Where is the intake?

 

[kustomkarl]

Yeah you did a good one, now...the intake is under the seadoo where the water goes in the jet pump...To check the compression, you'll need a compression tester. Go to Auto Zone. I think they sell for like $25.00. The compression gage, will screw in the cylinder head in place of the spark plugs. To test compression, remove both spark plugs. Place spark plug caps on the plug cap studs near the cylinder head to ground the empty caps. This completes the circuit of the ignition electrical system and prevents any electrical problems from the caps being un grounded. Using the correct adapter for the threaded end of the tester,( same length of the spark plug threads length)screw in the tester in one plug hole. Hold the throttle wide open. Push the start button. Watch the compression gauge, when it peaks out at the most compression, let go the start button. Read the psi number. I would do it 3 times to be sure it is accurate. Check both cylinders the same way. The ideal compression is 150 psi per cylinder. If it is less, it's not a problem as long as they are close to being the same. If the psi is less than 90 it might need be time for a tear down and a rebuild. If the psi in 1 cylinder is say 140 psi and the other is 80 psi you need to tear down and repair. This difference is a lot then there is a problem. I hope this helps you.

Karl

 

[Quetz]

Thank you for the heads up. I did remember I paid for an extended warranty so I think I will pull in to the dealer and let them see what an idiot I am. If it ingested hydrilla is it still in the system somewhere?

 

[slobra300]

Really Stupid Question from a newb.. Whats hydrilla?

 

[Quetz]

diagnosis

Hydrilla is a boaters enemy and a PWC user's nightmare. It's a plant that grows on some rivers that loos like this http://aslo.org/photopost/data/519/24hydrilla.jpg
Because of it lose nature it tends to get sucked up into the Seadoo's intake and if enough of it goes in in stops the flow of water and the propulsion system overheats, which is what happened to me. In prop propulsion it gets wrapped up around the prop causing it to cavitate and renders the boat useless. The solution then if to put it in reverse and hit the throttle and it will cut it up, but on a Seadoo it does not work. The solution is to stay in the deeper water as it will only grow about 5 feet high at most.

DIAGNOSIS: The mechanic called it a "small catastrophe". There were plastic and rubber propulsion parts melted together. Exhaust pipes blown apart. Sensors completely detached from their base. The ring is shot. The impeller might also be shot. The blades are a little chewed, but salvageable. Aside from that all else was spared The engine should be fine. the turbo charger was fine. So a few thousand dollars and a couple of weeks (parts coming from Canada) later and I should be back on the DEEP part of the river.

 

[slobra300]

Ahh I see. Thank you for the very detailed answer. Im in north florida and do all of my riding in the intercoastal waterways around here so I will keep an eye out for sure. Our biggest enemy around here is sand bars..

 

[Quetz]

Yeah, sand bars can also tear up your propulsion system if ingested. I guess there is a good reason but I would think they would protect the water inputs a little better from debris on these expensive machines. The way they are designed the hydrilla fits right into the intake slots and even if you are idling and trying to get the heck out of trouble vacuum effects of the system sucks it right in bogging your engine down. Design flaw along with user error is my diagnosis