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R.I.P 1997 seadoo SPX

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manolocross

manolocross

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Well guys it's with great disappointment and a heavy heart that I tell you that my beloved SPX is dead. The engine that purred like a sexy kitten is now sitting in my garage locked up and rusted shut today. It was running so strong and awesome. It died because of stupidity. I wil tell my story to prevent it from happening to others.
3 skis out yesterday just havin a good time. Riding hard and fast. So me and a friend decide to switch skis. " let me ride it". He is my bud. A very good friend butt this time he let me down. I said ok so we switch. We're riding and all is good. About 20 min later we decide to switch back and as in climbing back on my beloved ski the key is gone! Where is key? Nowhere to be found! Awe man! 5 miles from dock in salt water and we are racing the sun. He has got to tow me back. I think the dess key was to heavy for the lanyard floaties. So it sank. We searched for an hour. Soooo I gotta clamp the water inlet line for the tow. I did. And when we got back home to flush and wash them I went home to get spare key. I tried to start it and nothing. I knew it was over. I pulled spark plugs and the water shot out of plugs with great force. It was full to the top. I tried to get all the water out but all the cranking I think the starter gave out or the engine using saltwater as a lubricant got harder and harder to turn over. It didn't turn over any more. So I put it away knowing that the engine was done. Even if somehow I got it running I could not put it back in water to burn off water in engine being that it was nighttime. I just had one of the worst nights of sleep in a long time. Here is a pic of better times.....
 
bummer.

I've never seen a key sink that had the floatie, but that sux big time, I guess the lesson learned is to a) keep better track of key's or try to have a spare if its reasonable to do so.

also, i'm guessing you must have clamped off the line incorrectly if water still got in ???
 
manolocross said:
Well guys it's with great disappointment and a heavy heart that I tell you that my beloved SPX is dead. The engine that purred like a sexy kitten is now sitting in my garage locked up and rusted shut today. It was running so strong and awesome. It died because of stupidity. I wil tell my story to prevent it from happening to others.
3 skis out yesterday just havin a good time. Riding hard and fast. So me and a friend decide to switch skis. " let me ride it". He is my bud. A very good friend butt this time he let me down. I said ok so we switch. We're riding and all is good. About 20 min later we decide to switch back and as in climbing back on my beloved ski the key is gone! Where is key? Nowhere to be found! Awe man! 5 miles from dock in salt water and we are racing the sun. He has got to tow me back. I think the dess key was to heavy for the lanyard floaties. So it sank. We searched for an hour. Soooo I gotta clamp the water inlet line for the tow. I did. And when we got back home to flush and wash them I went home to get spare key. I tried to start it and nothing. I knew it was over. I pulled spark plugs and the water shot out of plugs with great force. It was full to the top. I tried to get all the water out but all the cranking I think the starter gave out or the engine using saltwater as a lubricant got harder and harder to turn over. It didn't turn over any more. So I put it away knowing that the engine was done. Even if somehow I got it running I could not put it back in water to burn off water in engine being that it was nighttime. I just had one of the worst nights of sleep in a long time. Here is a pic of better times.....
Click to expand...

Its probably fine. I have seen them drink water like that and as long as you get it out the same day your good. It probably killed the starter and battery, Take carbs off and get a can of wd40 and spray it in the plug holes and engine while cranking it, soak it good, do this until its clean wd coming out, then blow compressed air into it. Dont let it sit. 2 strokes are very resilient to water if you get it out right away.
 
It's been 12 hours.... I clamped the correct line! The line from jet pump. I don't think the clamp was strong enough.
 
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manolocross said:
It's been 12 hours.... I clamped the correct line! The line from jet pump. I don't think the clamp was strong enough.
Click to expand...

It's not too late man, just get it out now. Oil is a stronger polymer than water plus when you were cranking it you were pumping oil in. I would be willing to bet you can save it without a problem.
 
First, I don't think it is done yet either...

Get a good battery, some oil into the cylinder, crank away..

Gt it started and get to the water,,,

Second, the second key should always be on the ski. I carry every spare key I have for my skis. If nothing else, in the case of emergency I can hop on any ski and go.... Without the key, I'm stuck watching an emergency and can't help...
 
Manolo, I did that 3 times with saltwater. the worst one was when only about half of the ski was sticking out of the water, meaning the back half of the ski was under saltwater for a good 10 hours overnight until I got a phonecall that the high tide took my ski in from the boat ramp I parked on. just lube the HELL out of those cylinders.
 
Pull the driveshaft, put a impeller tool into the engine flywheel, and hook up a 1/2" drill to it and spin her. With the drive shaft out, you might be able to start her that way... Thinking out of the box... Keep adding oil or WD40 to get the moisture out.

Get her running....
 
Ok fellas I have an incredible update. Because of what 92rslt1 posted.... That gave me the fire I needed to get off my ass a get this thing turned around.... Last night I killed a battery cranking the water out and that is what could have saved me. Remember the whole time your cranking the oil pump is still pumping fresh xps oil in! So I tried about 60 times and 4 batteries worth of cranking to get all water and milky oil out spark plug holes. Thank god at beginning of season I put a fresh denso starter in cause I'm surprised it did not burn up. About 5 hours later and various methods and chemicals( wd40, starting fluid,fuel) she finally started!!!! So I reved the hell out of it to get as much oil out on that first run! Hooked up hose and let it run for two minutes. Made sure she starts fine and battery was on last leg. Hurried over to the majestic Henry Hudson River. Get it in the water and beat the piss out of it for about a half hour. The ski engine was nice and hot! I was tired from a bad nights sleep and the performance was there. It seems like it will survive. Got it back to garage and flushed and washed and FOGGED the hell out of it. The spark plugs looked normal and DRY. No milky oil. Well a thank you to everyone who chimed in and insisted that it wasn't over for my ski! Like I tell my friends when we ride...."WE LIVE TO RIDE ANOTHER DAY"....
Thank you SEADOOFORUM!!!!!!!!!!!
 
IF you open the gap on the spark plug A LOT, after you crank most of the water out, it will start. It wont run great but it will save you tons of time of cranking, removing plugs, drying plugs. This is bc water wont be able to get between and snuff out the spark. Once she fires I let it run a bit, re gap the plugs and start her up.
 
Think of the countless time you saved by pushing thru.. I did it three times. Got 4 more years out of it... Well, "seasons"..
 
You should have a fill plug for it near the pto mount, in the area where the stinger meets the waterbox
 
Yeah there is some good info about it on seadoosource and when there is water inside the crankcase it gets in there with the counterbalancer too.
 
There should be a drain plug below the fill plug and i cant remember what oil off the top of my head and you want get that water out of that section so new oil doesnt turn bad
 
I got it open and the oil looked fine but low. I added 30 ml of 10 w 30 she'll motor oil. That's what seadoo source said to use. I looked on manual and didn't find the type of oil to use.
 
I think the 787 uses 2stroke oil. THe 951 uses 30W motor oil.

Also from Mr. Bill "Unless you know that there really is a drain plug under the back of the motor and it faces the transom and that an allen wrench fits into it. In fact, the same type plug is in the jetpump cone.
The 1997 plus cases have a great big plug on top of the CB gear bulge in the case and a turkey baster with a small hose on it will suck out the water after the engine is swamped.
And, if you swamp a motor and get it running soon thereafter, all that water everybody is crying over will exit the CB gear cavity faster than any oil that was poured in there when rebuilt, so draining it is not an issue at all............

The "bad design" is better than the alternative which is expecting pwc owners to do simple maintence everytime they use their pwc's. How many gear failures would there be if rotax left it up to the owners to keep oil in the gear cavity ? Ever see a CB gear failure ? It ruins the cases about 100 % of the time."
 
Sorry if this is a dumb noob question, but I am pretty new to these things. How did the water enter the engine while getting towed? I wanna make sure this never happens to me!
I read through the OP but I must have misunderstood something!
 
Well I saw on seadoo source it said a 787 uses motor oil 30 w. A 951 used gear oil. Not 2 stroke.
As far as the water getting in engine I believe it got in from exhaust outlet in back and was told by a reputable seadoo guy that it can happen that way. I did clamp the jet pump feed line. So I was shocked when it was hydro locked. He said you should stuff a tennis ball in there. Remember it was a 5 to 7 mile tow. We were racing daylight so my buddy( same guy that lost key lol) got a little impatient with the throttl a few times and the turbulence and bubbling and foaming of water in choppy ocean water it was forced in through exhaust.

One last point I need to make concerning keys not floating. If you have a jet logic lanyard.... They don't float! The original seadoo key floatie works ... Tested in a bucket! I repeat the jet logic one does notFLOAT!!!! I will post a pic of the model that doesn't float because I have an identical one for my 95XP. So jet logic thank you for making a lanyard that does not float! IDIOTS...
 
Well this is the same lanyard that sank. According to the bucket test it doesn't float. Just sinks to bottom! If you own one BEWARE!!!
 
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