Something's stuck in the impeller

[cpendl]

I have a 2008 Seadoo Wake PWC. I had it out today and am almost positive I sucked up something. I lost power and it vibrates a lot when I give it gas. This happened once before, and it turned out that I sucked up a shammy towel of all things. When that happened, I actually saw the towel when I looked through the jet nozzle. I got it out by pulling off the intake grate and pulling it out.

Here's my problem, I don't see anything when I look inside either through the access grate or jet nozzle. Is there something I can pull off to see if there is anything in there? Also, are there rows of blades on that shaft? For example, could something be stuck inbetween the two rows cause me not to see anything?

Thanks for the help.

Chris

 

[seadoosnipe]

Wow.....

Welcome to the forum Chris....I hate to hear your having problems sucking stuff up. Between your impellor and the nozzle is the stator. It's slightly possible that you have something wedged in between these two pieces. I wouldn't run it till you find the source of the vibration. You'll demolish your engine bearings........and you don't want to do an early rebuild on that engine. Which model do you have? The 215 supercharged or the 155 naturally aspirated? How fast were you going when you sucked it up? Reason I ask is because if you caught something at 60-70 mph, you could have easily warped your drive shaft.
Until you know what it is, please limit the amount of time you run your engine.
If you can get under it, get an inspection mirror and try to put inside the grate and shine on it with a flashlight and see if you can see anything.
Is it still under warranty?..........

 

[cpendl]

Welcome to the forum Chris....I hate to hear your having problems sucking stuff up. Between your impellor and the nozzle is the stator. It's slightly possible that you have something wedged in between these two pieces. I wouldn't run it till you find the source of the vibration. You'll demolish your engine bearings........and you don't want to do an early rebuild on that engine. Which model do you have? The 215 supercharged or the 155 naturally aspirated? How fast were you going when you sucked it up? Reason I ask is because if you caught something at 60-70 mph, you could have easily warped your drive shaft.
Until you know what it is, please limit the amount of time you run your engine.
If you can get under it, get an inspection mirror and try to put inside the grate and shine on it with a flashlight and see if you can see anything.
Is it still under warranty?..........

Thanks for the welcome to the forum. I wasn't going that fast at all (maybe 20-25 mph) when I lost most of the power and the vibration started. As far as the details on the PWC, it's the 215 supercharged (sorry for leaving that out). As soon as it happened, I slowly motored over to the ramp and pulled the PWC out of the water.

If there is something stuck in there, in theory, I should be able to see it, right? Either with the inspection mirror and flash light, or by pulling off the intake grate and reaching in there? Thanks again for taking the time to respond. As far as the warranty, it still is covered...only 13 hours on it so far and it just got back from the 10 hour service.

 

[seadoosnipe]

Warranty......

With it being under warranty, I'd be careful on what you do. There are things you can do that will void the warranty.
If you can't see anything looking up through the grate, then I'd be worried that you may have a warped shaft, or a problem with your supercharger. Can you focus your attention to a certain area of the vibration? Like can you tell or are you sure it feels like it's coming from the pump end?....
Is anything wrapped around the shaft? Toward the "thru the hull fitting?
Look over your drive shaft really well and see if you can see anything that may be attached to it (a piece of rope, etc...) that could cause a balance issue.
If not, I'd recommend it go back to the shop for further testing and inspection. My concern, as it seems your too, is that the cause of the vibration can't be easily seen. This means there could be a good chance something has happened, that's a little more than the minor "sucking up a plastic bottle" type thing.........

 

[cpendl]

With it being under warranty, I'd be careful on what you do. There are things you can do that will void the warranty.
If you can't see anything looking up through the grate, then I'd be worried that you may have a warped shaft, or a problem with your supercharger. Can you focus your attention to a certain area of the vibration? Like can you tell or are you sure it feels like it's coming from the pump end?....
Is anything wrapped around the shaft? Toward the "thru the hull fitting?
Look over your drive shaft really well and see if you can see anything that may be attached to it (a piece of rope, etc...) that could cause a balance issue.
If not, I'd recommend it go back to the shop for further testing and inspection. My concern, as it seems your too, is that the cause of the vibration can't be easily seen. This means there could be a good chance something has happened, that's a little more than the minor "sucking up a plastic bottle" type thing.........

I'll give it another look and keep you posted. Thanks again for the help.

 

[cpendl]

I'll give it another look and keep you posted. Thanks again for the help.

So it turns out that there was a small piece of plastic stuck in in the impeller. Luckily, I did not run the ski long after it got lodged in there, so there was no damage to the wear ring. I did however find out something very interesting. I was talking to the mechanic who worked on the ski, and he shared with me one interesting fact:

Avoid at all costs removing the intake grate. It turns out that threaded brass plates that the bolts secure to on the grate are susceptible to getting stripped out. While this is only about an $80 part, it is about 6 hours of labor to replace it. If necessary, he did recommend taking off the pump housing on the back instead.

I thought that was a pretty valuable tip, so I figured I'd share.

 

[seadoosnipe]

Good info....

Yes, that is good info. Although they use brass to keep electrolysis from seizing the bolts. With that said, it being a softer metal, it is easier to burr and strip. My grate has a pull handle that releases the grate so that I can open it for inspection.
Pulling the pump is easy too. Just 4 bolts, the steering, reverse bucket and VTS disconnected, it'll pop right off. My seal is old, so I use silicone when I put it back on. But I do agree, it's an easier and better way to see into your stator and impellor.
Glad to see it was simple.....I'd hate to hear a shaft warped or something.

 

[kicking_water]

help?

hey i just recently sucked up a rope around the drive shaft but i was lucky and didnt break the seal. we got the rope cut off but when i took my jetski back out when u give it full throttle it wants to vibrate atg top end and just doesnt sound right or have the power it did before at least i think is there anyway that the impellar is ruined or is there something else that may be a quick fix

thanks for any help