SBT Engines

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DSchmidt54

DSchmidt54

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I know theres probably a thousand threads about this , but what does everyone think about SBT's standard engine quality? I spoke with a local powersports shop that works mostly on Doos and Kawi's and he said he only offers SBT as a cheap alternative to him rebuilding it himself. He said that he hasnt seen a single SBT block last more than 2 seasons of heavy use. He claims its how they weld and mill the cranks.

I mean , they advertise that they have a patented crank restoration process , so something doesn't make sense to me.

I have a 787 Carb'd coming from them Tuesday , and im trying to figure out if i should keep the ski until the warranty ends, or just keep it indefinitly.

I am usually really meticulous about my maintenance, checking all cables, looking at oil injector lines, blasting the water out of the exhaust when im done riding, Heck, i even fog my cylinders when im done , just to keep em perfect. I also run amsoil interceptor and 89 octane (as a happy medium).


So i guess what i am asking is how many hours do you guys have on your SBT blocks? and what kind of maintenance do you do on em.
 
I have a SBT premium engine in my 95XP 800, it went out of warranty about a month ago. So far no problems, last time I checked (about a month ago), compression was 150 and 151. For the extra $100.00 I would buy the premium engine.

Lou
 
Well , i already bought the standard, and had improperly tuned carbs (too lean) and blew it a month later..............my replacement comes in tuesday. but seeing that you have had yours for two years at least is reassuring! thanks Lou! Now is that GSX a 787?
 
It is my understanding that SBT standard and premium engines are the same. The additional cost is for a longer warranty only.
 
Yep, it's a 96GSX 787 original engine, the ski only had 74hrs. when I bought it, now has 134hrs., still pretty low.

Honestly I use to think the 720 was the only way to go, I bought a 96XP and decided for the extra 25hp the 787 was well worth the extra trouble. I still think the 720 was the most reliable motor that SeaDoo ever used. I now have 5 ski's and 4 of them have the 787.

Lou
 
yeah basically , the only other thing with the premium engine is they throw in the install gasket kit and break in oil...........if i ever get another ski and need another motor, ill go premium........because your basically spending 100 bucks for a year of additional peace.
 
"its good to know the 951 is the only seadoo black sheep then lol"

Don't tell that to the squirrel.

Lou
 
I think repair shops like to say whatever they think it takes to make a sale. I doubt that SBT would be able to sell anything if their products had a 2 yr fail rate. I wouldn't buy it if I knew that nor would a lot of other seadoo owners.

Kevin
 
I don't have any issues with SBT. I know of one engine I installed... and this would have been it's 4th summer. I don't know how many hr's are on it... but it gets "Normal" use.

I agree about it being a "Cheap" alliterative to rebuilding it myself. I charge $65/hr shop time. For me to rebuild a single engine would be WAY more than the price of an SBT and the install.


The way I see it is... STB gets a bad rap sometimes because they build A LOT of engines. So... even if they only have a 1% failure... that's the one that gets talked about. Also, since the majority of the engines that get installed are by the home mechanic... how many do you thing get installed improperly, or get installed without knowing why the last engine failed?? Heck... just this year, I know of 2 engines that died and the people tried to blame us (the chat board) because we didn't tell them not to do something. SO... people screw themselves, and look for someone else to blame.


So... Dr Honda's official stance is.... "I trust SBT engine."
 
Well doc, that makes me feel good about my choice then. And i found out why my ski was bogging when i was hitting waves before, i reused the crank seal on the mag side when i installed the block the first time, and i waterlocked it the first time out trying to get the ski back to shore because the C clip wasnt on the driveshaft and the carbon ring jumped off. Well , SBT and I think that when i did that , some water got in the crankcase and began causing havoc on that front bearing. Also , being a reused seal , when running at WOT and hitting waves , a gap was probably being created and that seal was letting air in the crankcase. I didnt understand this when i tore the block down to send it in, but there was a bit of grease that seaped out from that seal.

Expensive lesson on my part.

Next Time, (Tuesday when the block comes in) im doin it right! all new install gaskets, all new lines. permatex gasket treatment, the whole nine yards. Now one thing SBT never pointed out was how to fill the case, does it just do it automatically when you hook up the two big oil bath lines? (below RV cover on port side and below Coolant fittings on starbord)i wanna make sure that thing is loaded with that good synthetic right off the bat.
 
I got a sbt engine this year.. Took my time installing it, and it if running great!

Enjoy! It is so nice having a ride weekend after weekend if no problems. Just enjoy! And 2 year warranty makes me feel even better about it.
 
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