Sea Doo Boat Variants

[lotii]

Hiya, I had trimmed my short-list of bowriders down to just 2 or 3 when I saw a Sea Doo sitting in one of my local boat dealers - and it seemed to fit my checklist pretty well. But of course I (nor the the dealer) know much about them. From memory it was a 180 Challenger - definitely had the V6 Mercruiser.

Being a newbie I thought perhaps the Mercruiser (being known) would be a better option than the Rotax (what the......?) or Bombadier (you are joking right....) engines which sound totally alien compared to my trusty ol' Johnson 2-stroke.

However a quick read of the forums has given me plenty of thought - and somewhat raised my nervousness at entering the jet boat world. So before I start posting questions I was wondering if anyone knows of a listing of Sea Doo boats detailing year/model/engine variants?

This way newbies like me can at least determine exactly which Sea Doo we are asking about, and perhaps more importantly, help to decide which ones we *should* be looking for.

Cheers, Adrian

 

[Craigmri]

Adrian,

If the boat you looked at has a Mercury its not a Challenger 180. Perhaps its a Challenger 1800.

Just because your unfamiliar with the brands Rotax and Bombardier doesnt mean they arent great engines. You may or may not be aware but Bombardier owns Evinrude. Bombardier also owns Rotax.

The Rotax 4-tec powered boats are the way to go. The common concensus within the Seadoo community is that the Mercurys are OK if you have them checked out by a qualified Mercury technician but if they require major work they can get expensive to repair in a hurry. Those Mercury powered Seadoos are a bit of a hybrid so-to-speak as the merc techs dont know jet pumps and the Seadoo techs dont know Merc.

Craig

 

[Dr Honda]

Hi, and a potential welcome to the SeaDoo world.

Craig is right. Bombardier owns Johnson/Evenrude. I'm not 100% on the ownership of Rotax... but either way, they have a very tight relationship.

Craig is also right about situation of the Merc powered SeaDoo boats. If the boat checks out 100% at a reputable Merc dealer, then it should serve you well. The problem comes in if there is a problem. The Merc drive system can get very expensive to repair.

The real problem is... SeaDoo bought the rights to that drive system, but then abandoned it after only 4 years. (more or less) When that happened, all the parts became discontinued, and hard to get.

BUT... if you buy an older seadoo boat (pre-Merc) all the drive parts are the same as the older PWC, and are easy to find. If you get a post-Merc SeaDoo... they are fully supported from the dealer.

A quick example of what I'm talking about... Recently, I sold a used jet pump in good usable condition for the old style boat... and it sold for $75. (a common good-guy price) A few weeks ago, I found a used jet pump on eBay for a Merc seadoo... and the opening bid was $1000. It was not rebuild, or even guaranteed to work.

Do a quick search, and I'm sure you will find what I'm talking about. But just as a starting point... I would not personally own a Merc powered SeaDoo because of lack of parts, and the prices when you do find replacements.

 

[Craigmri]

Tony,

I wasnt 100% sure either...So, I just checked it out.

http://www.rotax.com/

Craig

 

[Dr Honda]

Tony,

I wasnt 100% sure either...So, I just checked it out.

http://www.rotax.com/

Craig

Guess that answers my question. :cheers:

The only reason I thought that they may not have owned them is because people like Buell (Harley Davidson) and KTM (a Austrian company) use Rotax engines. (and ATK back in the day)

 

[rookie101]

The real problem is... SeaDoo bought the rights to that drive system, but then abandoned it after only 4 years. (more or less) When that happened, all the parts became discontinued, and hard to get.

All great advice from Craig and Dr Honda, except this one quote is actually wrong. Sea-Doo or BRP never purchased the rights to the Mercury drive, but rather became a authorised reseller and factory equipped brand just like any major manufacture today that sells new boats with the Mercruiser inboards, Mercury outboards, or the Sport Jet. All Mercury and Sea-Doo did was to enter a technical agreement to share information on the technical aspects of the pump design and the hulls in order to be able to conform the hull of the boats to accept the Mercury M2.

Please see a history of BRP here (look in 1999) http://corp.brp.com/NR/rdonlyres/E8C76B9A-4B68-4736-AD1D-B99EF4D9411C/0/PDF_History_Timeline_en.pdf

Also Mercury still produces the Sport jet line in large numbers for manufactures like Sugarsand (who is going through restructuring do to a bankruptcy right now), and every major aluminum river boat manufacturer such as Thunder Jet, Outlaw Eagle, Duckworth, Customweld and so on still use it as there main engine in hulls 20' and under.

See Mercury's website here http://www.mercurymarine.com/engines/jetdrives/optimax-jet-drives.php


Now having said that Dr Honda is right in the fact that it can be very expensive if something major goes wrong, but parts are easily ordered from any authorised Mercury dealer. Also Sea-Doo dealers will not touch them, but all the Merc shops I've dealt with around here have no problem with the jets, but that will vary from dealer to dealer.

Still at the end of the day even though I've never had anything but great service from my Optimax, if there had been any deals to be found on the twin engine 4tecs when I was looking I would certainly have gone with the four strokes any day.

Aaron:cheers:

 

[Craigmri]

Aaron, you are a wealth of information for so many people looking at the Merc powered Seadoos. Well done! :cheers:

Craig

 

[Dr Honda]

Hi Rookie,

I knew the power heads were avalible... along wit the the electronics... but I was under the impression that the pump that Shugersand was using were slightly different that the SeaDoo variants. Also... I know you say that sugersand is going though a restructureing... but last time I looked... the factory was liquidated. Sounds like Indian Motorcycles. They've closed 3 times, and been "restructured." Each time it takes years to reopen, and they have new owners, and designs.

Regardless, it was good info.:cheers:

But my opinion still holds. Since a blown power head can approach the value of the boat to have replaced (if you can't do your own work) and since there are so many years of SeaDoo boats that don't use that power system... I'll still recommend looking for a different year and power system. (no disrespect intended)

 

[rookie101]

It is new owners that purchased all the molds and equipment at Sugarsand that are trying the restructuring, but your right I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them. When it comes to the pumps if your thinking about the smaller Tango's and such with the three and four cylinder engines your correct the pumps are different. The V6 power heads 175hp through 250hp regardless of year or what brand of hull they are used in all use the same pump that Mercury is still producing.

But I still agree with you on the cost and looking for models with different power, but if a boat with the Mercury checks out good and is priced accordingly I wouldn't be scared off by it (obviously... I did buy one :rofl. I just wish they would have made my 185 with a four stroke set up. I found the 180 Challenger too small and the 205 Utopia wouldn't fit in the garage.

Aaron:cheers: