Ugh. Ran water without engine on

[Imprezareef]

So I’m not new to riding at all. I made a silly newbie mistake. Brand new fish pro trophy, ran the hose with engine off for 30 seconds to MAYBE a minute. Didn’t think anything of it. 2 days later I took the ski out. Ran great, started right up - no issues. I realized that I potentially made a mistake and now went down a rabbit hole of dread. Oil is clear (still new break in oil about 5 hours old) no milkshake on the dipstick. Is it at all possible I caused any issue? How much water does it take to fill the exhaust and get up to the valves?

 

[skiasylum]

Depends how much water pressure was on in the hose. Double whammy you drove it after you made the mistake. In your owners manual you can look for the water flooded engine procedures. Do not start and drain the intake and exhaust systems are the first steps. If you don’t have a service manual and your not competent with wrenches it should immediately go to the dealership.

 

[Imprezareef]

Depends how much water pressure was on in the hose. Double whammy you drove it after you made the mistake. In your owners manual you can look for the water flooded engine procedures. Do not start and drain the intake and exhaust systems are the first steps. If you don’t have a service manual and you’re not competent with wrenches it should immediately go to the dealership.

Im very competent with mechanical abilities. Honestly I think im good. No water in oil and it fired up just fine then rode for 2 hours. I don’t think it was on nearly long enough to fill the exhaust up.

 

[switt]

I strongly recommend following these rules:

1) If it aint broke, dont fix it.
2) If it runs, it aint broke.

Have fun!

 

[Imprezareef]

I strongly recommend following these rules:

1) If it aint broke, dont fix it.
2) If it runs, it aint broke.

Have fun!

Thank you! I get in my head sometimes and go down a rabbit hole of “what if’s” I will run her hard this weekend!

 

[skiasylum]

At least pull your exhaust can and see if there is water trapped in it, that’s the first place it goes. Takes 15 minutes.

I like #1 for sure.

#2 is a bit sketchy

 

[ski-d00]

If it started fine the first time after leaving the hose on, it is fine. You don't need to do anything. It will blow all excess water out on its own. It takes quite a bit of water to back flow into the engine.

 

[BGS]

Agree, if you had filled a cylinder with water, you would know by now, should be fine.
If you are paranoid, change the oil, or try to pump out the lowest oil level.

 

[Milehighguy303]

Count your blessings… if you got water to the valves and into the intake and cylinders, you would have hydro locked a cylinder or two, not been able to start the engine, or it would have started and then immediately locked up when a cylinder got water in it. You are fine, if your ski started and is running fine. You dodged a bullet, and learned a valuable lesson.

 

[Ibreakthings]

So I recently made the same mistake my friend, (2022 GTR230 16hrs) and I came to this forum specifically to ask that same question when I stumbled on this thread, but here’s my little twist; I ran the water for the same time, about 30 seconds and then started the ski, then shut the ski off and ran water for about 15-30 seconds more, I did not ride it immediately after but I trailered it to the lake the next day and then rode it, started fine no issues, ran strong, ran it hard all memorial weekend, then a few days later I took it for a cruise and noticed it was lacking something, the pep was gone, even in sport I was only hitting 55 and it took longer than usual to climb to that speed, it has a low vibration/hum reminiscent of clogged intake grate. Thought it was all in my head so I went back the next day and same thing…I pulled it out of the water and checked intake, no clogs, there a few very minor knicks in the edge of the impeller blades and what I would imagine is some “normal” wear and tear marks on the wear ring surface. Another notable point is that very same morning I noticed the change in performance, my friend loaned me 5 gallons of gas that he said was approx 4 weeks old, I didn’t think much into it until I did my research on results of using bad gas, so that’s possibly a factor. What’s the chances of getting water in the intake during my pathetic flushing attempt and it having an effect a week later after running perfectly fine?? Am I over thinking the whole thing or should I be leaning more towards bad gas or another thing causing the power loss issue? Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[BGS]

4 week old gas is brand new by boat standards, I would think damage
would be immediate with the exception of oil, did you check the oil ?
On the older skis first thing is change the plugs.
Might try some dry gas or fuel stab.

 

[skiasylum]

Any water contamination in the oil, like its milky or overfilled?

 

[Milehighguy303]

Ibreakthings - I think you too can rest easy with your improper exhaust flush and count your blessings. I dare say if your ski starts after an improper exhaust flush, you likely didn’t get enough water in the engine to cause damage. Even if a few drops of water got into a cylinder, and the ski started, any residual water will be blown out of the cylinder and the exhaust manifold on the first exhaust stroke. And a ski that starts also has a very small, likely insignificant amount of water that got past the rings into the crankcase to even require an oil change.

It would be good measure to check for chocolate milkshake oil and change the oil and plugs if you believe you may have had some water get into the engine, but not likely necessary on a ski that starts fine. You will know when you have water in your engine to an excessive amount - your engine will lock up and stop turning over when trying to start, or it will turn over and not start with little water in the cylinders, or possibly cough and sputter and not stay running with a wet spark plug. Those that really fear the worst could do an engine compression check to make sure there is no mechanical damage.

So my suggestion is to check other things on this GTR 230 ski - your comments about some nicks in your impeller are a concern and the jet pump hum noise. See if you can see anything stuck in your jet pump from the back of the ski and under the ski. But at least you don’t need to worry about the improper exhaust flush as the cause. I pour a bottle of B12 Chemtool carb cleaner into a full fuel tank on my skis every year to help clean the fuel injectors.