RAVE valve fitting and set-up

[Beachcomber]

Hi All, I'm a complete newbie to the world of Seadoo and RAVE valves.
In the short time I've had the ski it's never been all that good speed-wise, the last time I was out, the ski lost more power and was unable to get above about 4500rpm when under load, it would only get to about 20mph, out of the water it revs freely, it was suggested to me that there may be a problem with the rave valves sticking.

I finally got around to checking them out today and found that they appear to have been apart before and possibly put back together wrong.

Am I right in assuming that the marking "TOP" on the slide valve should relate to the top of the engine, IE facing toward the cylinder head with the chamfered edge facing down toward the crank?

 

[CurtisGSX]

Am I right in assuming that the marking "TOP" on the slide valve should relate to the top of the engine, IE facing toward the cylinder head with the chamfered edge facing down toward the crank?

Yes the side that say's top should face toward the cylinder head.

 

[Beachcomber]

Thanks for that Curtis, I thought so :thumbsup:, seems pretty obvious really, I just doubted the logic a bit when I found they were the other way up :facepalm:

Maybe this will solve the performance issues.

Should there be a spring retainer around the smaller diameter of the diaphragm where it's attached to the valve body, like the one round the top where it connects to the plastic screw-on piston?

 

[AdamXP800]

I'm thinking you could have a fuel delivery issue or possibly an exhaust leak. I don't think the raves sticking would limit you to 20 mph. Do you have the grey fuel lines still? Have the carbs been rebuilt? And can you get a compression reading on the motor

 

[Mekanix]

If You have them apart and your cleaning them anyways, make sure the rave or the housing isn't sloppy.
The rave eventually will wear the housing and when it gets sloppy, the rubber bellows will get cooked and melt the cap.

How could someone get those in backwards

 

[jammin777]

yea i thought the raves have a notch and only go in one way. that the way the 99 787 rfi is at least.

 

[midway]

The RAVEs in my 96 will go either way, you have to check and be sure you have them correct, there is nothing to locate them a certain way.

 

[dannyual767]

The RAVEs in my 96 will go either way, you have to check and be sure you have them correct, there is nothing to locate them a certain way.

Same here. In fact, I just installed new, OEM RAVEs into one of my '96XPs earlier this week. Yep, I put it in upside down. Caught it when installing the second RAVE and my senses told me to go back and check the first one.

 

[Beachcomber]

Thanks for the input guys. The RAVEs on mine are the type without grooves on one side so they will fit in either way, of course the valve body also has to be the right way round for the small hole that allows the pressure through to act on the diaphragm but the valve slide will also fit in the body either way round too.

I've got it all back together now and it seems to run fine but I need to get it in the water to get some load on it.

I've also taken a look at the fuel lines and yes they are the grey ones although they appear to be in good condition, I've seen it mentioned before about replacing grey fuel lines but never understood why, are they prone to leaking? or perhaps internal collapse resulting in fuel starvation?

Thanks
Clive

 

[midway]

Ethanol interacts with them, they break down, you get carbs and filters full of green goo and small particles of hose, change them as soon as you can, if not you will be cleaning carbs to get your ski to run again.

 

[Beachcomber]

Thanks for that Midway, I'll get on to that as soon as I can then. :thumbsup:

 

[Don W]

New to this aswell. I have a 96 xp which the last time I took out developed a strange vibration.I went ashore pop the seat did not see much wrong. fired it back up and went just on plane back to boat ramp. same strange vibration and it felt as though it was pulling to one side.once home did further inspection to find a sheared off bolt in my exhaust pipe that was connected to the stabilizer on the magneto. I'm in the process of trying to drill it out in useany easy out. once I remove the top half of the exhaust pipe I decided to go and check the rave that's where I found a major problem. When I pulled my PTO valve I found the shaft had snapped and once I pulled the blade both corners were broken off.now I'm worried about where the corners have ended up. I did not see them on top of the piston and it still ran, I have read threads about them blowing out the exhaust but will they get caught in the water box? like I said I'm new to this and not confident about tackling a full rebuild.I think I'm going to buy a kit with two new valves and keep the old good one as a spare.

 

[AdamXP800]

Don W, Welcome to The forum!! We have a great bunch of experts here that can help you with your issues. I suggest you start a new thread, you will receive more help by the pro's on the forum.

 

[Don W]

thanks I appreciate the advice.