JJinSC
Well-Known Member
Hello SeaDoo Forum!! I have been away a while, but finally got back. I did a search and I know this subject has been discussed some way in the past, but nothing real new.
I pulled my XP (running fine when I shut it off on the trailer) from the water in October and it has been sitting under my house on the trailer since. I went to crank it up to fog the engine for the winter and just got a clunk. The battery was new and had been on the maintainer so was fully charged. I pulled the plugs and tried to spin it and got a clunk. I tried turning the shaft with my hand and it would turn only a certain amount in either direction before it clunked against something a stopped. The only thing I could think of was RAVE valve. So I pulled of the plastic tops to the RAVEs and pulled on the plastic valve cap of the MAG RAVE. It felt fine. I did the same on the PTO side RAVE and it came up much higher. I said, uh oh. I removed the allen screws and pulled the valve and sure enough, half of it was missing. I pulled the head cover and found the broken piece half sticking out of the RAVE port and half sitting against the top of the piston. I inspected and aside from a couple very small dings on top of the piston where it hit, there is no visual damage. I moved the piston up and down by hand and inspected both rings through the RAVE slot. The rings were not touched and neither was the side of the piston. A big sigh of relief. The threads in the plastic cap was stripped which allowed the valve to drop below clearance. I am soooooo glad this happened after it was shut down while resting on the trailer and temps started plummeting and not while the engine was running. Anyways being away for a while and clear of issues on the ski, I have a few questions. I will be checking the shop manual for some of these, but also wanted to get consensus.
1) what would cause the threads to strip? I suspect because I have not cleaned these in a couple seasons which caused them to get sticky. When I pulled the other out to inspect, it was a bit sticky to come out.
2) Where are you all finding OEM parts now? Parts are getting hard to find. RAVE rebuild kits do not seem to have all the needed components. I checked the Sea_Doo Parts store but they have a lot of items NOT available for my model.
3) is SBT a good source and brand for these?
4) I checked the housing, how much play is tolerable or should I just plain on replacing them too?
5) I read where there is supposed to be something to secure the bottom of the bellow, but my ski has never had anything there and when I rebuilt them last, I never put anything there, no wire, spring nor tie. Is this needed?
6) I did not pay close enough attention when I pulled the valves. Can someone refresh my memory on which way the slots are oriented when re-assembling?
7) Since I pulled the head cover do I need to consider new O-rings for the head cover?
8) is any sealant needed on the o-ring around the cylinders?
I pulled my XP (running fine when I shut it off on the trailer) from the water in October and it has been sitting under my house on the trailer since. I went to crank it up to fog the engine for the winter and just got a clunk. The battery was new and had been on the maintainer so was fully charged. I pulled the plugs and tried to spin it and got a clunk. I tried turning the shaft with my hand and it would turn only a certain amount in either direction before it clunked against something a stopped. The only thing I could think of was RAVE valve. So I pulled of the plastic tops to the RAVEs and pulled on the plastic valve cap of the MAG RAVE. It felt fine. I did the same on the PTO side RAVE and it came up much higher. I said, uh oh. I removed the allen screws and pulled the valve and sure enough, half of it was missing. I pulled the head cover and found the broken piece half sticking out of the RAVE port and half sitting against the top of the piston. I inspected and aside from a couple very small dings on top of the piston where it hit, there is no visual damage. I moved the piston up and down by hand and inspected both rings through the RAVE slot. The rings were not touched and neither was the side of the piston. A big sigh of relief. The threads in the plastic cap was stripped which allowed the valve to drop below clearance. I am soooooo glad this happened after it was shut down while resting on the trailer and temps started plummeting and not while the engine was running. Anyways being away for a while and clear of issues on the ski, I have a few questions. I will be checking the shop manual for some of these, but also wanted to get consensus.
1) what would cause the threads to strip? I suspect because I have not cleaned these in a couple seasons which caused them to get sticky. When I pulled the other out to inspect, it was a bit sticky to come out.
2) Where are you all finding OEM parts now? Parts are getting hard to find. RAVE rebuild kits do not seem to have all the needed components. I checked the Sea_Doo Parts store but they have a lot of items NOT available for my model.
3) is SBT a good source and brand for these?
4) I checked the housing, how much play is tolerable or should I just plain on replacing them too?
5) I read where there is supposed to be something to secure the bottom of the bellow, but my ski has never had anything there and when I rebuilt them last, I never put anything there, no wire, spring nor tie. Is this needed?
6) I did not pay close enough attention when I pulled the valves. Can someone refresh my memory on which way the slots are oriented when re-assembling?
7) Since I pulled the head cover do I need to consider new O-rings for the head cover?
8) is any sealant needed on the o-ring around the cylinders?
