Utopia losing traction

[dumlummox]

The other day we definitely picked up weeds but it seemed to aort itself out. Today it seems it is doing the same though and didn't notice a lot of weeds?

Was difficult or impossible to plane out, seemed I was having to back off rpm to maintain grip on the water... do I have something in yhere that I can't see maybe?

What should I check
thanks

 

[JeremyD615]

Obviously get under the boat and check for obstructions in the pump first. It doesn’t take much to cause cavitation. Also check the wear ring. Any gouges or clearance more than the width of a dime or so will tell you that it needs replaced.

 

[Tim75]

Any accumulation of weeds in the pump decreases cooling water flow. Stop ASAP and clear it out.

 

[dumlummox]

I have read the sticky regarding replacing the wear ring. Iam assuming that will be the road I have to take but will shsre some photos tomorrow if weather here clears.

For my 2002 Sea Doo Utopia 185, what are my options for impeller and will that affect what wear ring I will need to install.

I did not continue to run high rpm no traction due to the realization that there may be no water circulation when that was happening? No visible weeds under the boat though...

 

[JeremyD615]

Before you get to that point, crawl under the boat and see if there is any debris at all in there. It’s far more likely to be a small piece of a stick caught up in the pump than an immediate failure of the wear ring...

 

[Tim75]

It takes very little to cause cavitation- your "loss of traction". A plastic bag, stick, rope, rock, weeds can all cause it. One by one or all together. It seems that the grate only keeps out the logs and boulders. Look up the intake tunnel an forward thru the steering nozzle. You may also have impeller leading edge damage. (Repairable).

 

[dumlummox]

After the rain I crawled under and did find plastic wrapped around the shaft before the impeller. I did take a few pics of the impeller.

 

[dumlummox]

Need to put a snorkel mask and some long tools to get at stuff like this when we are out on the water. Anybody have a good clog clearing kit they csn share...

And how bad is my impeller? The amount of scratches on this hull when we brought it suggests there was a fair amount of small stones run through it.

 

[JeremyD615]

Your impeller has definitely seen better days! The plastic bag was the problem you were noticing, but you’re leaving a ton of performance on the table with that impeller... If it’s livable now, I’d wait until the season is over and then send it in for refurbishment...

 

[dumlummox]

Refurbish or is there an upgrade option?

 

[JeremyD615]

There are some upgrades, but the factory did a pretty good job picking impellers... You can get a little more top end, but you’ll give up some bottom end to get it. The reverse is also true. The OEM impeller is really about as good as it gets if you want a balance between the two...

 

[dumlummox]

It will pull me up on skis on a normal day. I consider that a win. I will look into the prop end of the season.

How often should one need to replace a wear ring or other msjor part of these boats?

 

[JeremyD615]

It really depends on how clean your water is... There’s no set interval for changing wear rings or impellers, you just have to keep an eye on them, especially after sucking up debris... If you are in a clean lake and never beach your boat, you should get quite a few years without trouble. If you are constantly sucking up rocks and vegetation, you could tear one up in a single trip out.

 

[Tim75]

Weeds don't seem to do any more than damage the paint in the tunnel. It's the pebbles, stones, boulders that are sucked up and ground up on their way thru the pump. I get my share of sargasso weed in my pump every summer. The repair I did to the inside of the wear ring has lasted 4 years. This winter is time for a repeat. It costs about $20, takes about 2 hours. I combine that work with other maintenance that needs to be done at the same time. Rubber bellows x2, gear oil change, impeller spline re-grease. I might even re-edge my (Solas brand) impeller blades.

 

[Tim75]

It will pull me up on skis on a normal day. I consider that a win. I will look into the prop end of the season.

How often should one need to replace a wear ring or other msjor part of these boats?

Your boat should pull 2 or 3 people up. I frequently pull 2 wakeboarders.

 

[dumlummox]

What kind of repair did you do? Or do you just have to replace the rings? Is yours another Utopia?

This year I wanted to look into winterizing it myself... not sure what they do with the jet boats at the marina before wrapping them

 

[vigalass]

That impeller is pretty bad. Maybe one of the worst I've seen. A very very fine nick in the impeller edge can cause lost of performance. You've got several and it looks like the pitch is bent too. It won't hurt the boat to run it for the season, but I'd guess you are past the point where you can save the impeller. I think they are about 400 bucks. Many folks pull the impeller and gently file the edges back to spec. There is a document we can find that has instructions. I'd hate to see you try that though and button it back up and not gain much performance back. Just my input. I know 400 bucks is a lot.

 

[dumlummox]

We picked up this Utopia well aware of how the previous owner took care of it. I love these boats though!... I will definitely look into replacing the prop once the budget allows

 

[JeremyD615]

The impeller is rough, but it’s salvageable... Most of the time you can even clean them up yourself using an adjustable wrench to bend it back into shape and a grinding wheel to get the edge back, but I think yours is going to need some welding. I wouldn’t go buy a new one though, they can refurb it...

 

[Tim75]

What kind of repair did you do? Or do you just have to replace the rings? Is yours another Utopia?

This year I wanted to look into winterizing it myself... not sure what they do with the jet boats at the marina before wrapping them

My boat is Challenger 2000 year 2001 w/ 240 EFI. The ring- wear ring is repaired with epoxy & fiberglass. Very few people actually replace the wear ring. Too much $.

You will need a special socket to remove the impeller- outlined in service manual. You need to remove the grate, too.

Winterizing- all I do is raise the bow as high as I can get it. Very little worry about freezing here. Check the manual about winterizing.

 

[Tim75]

That impeller is pretty bad. Maybe one of the worst I've seen. A very very fine nick in the impeller edge can cause lost of performance. You've got several and it looks like the pitch is bent too. It won't hurt the boat to run it for the season, but I'd guess you are past the point where you can save the impeller. I think they are about 400 bucks. Many folks pull the impeller and gently file the edges back to spec. There is a document we can find that has instructions. I'd hate to see you try that though and button it back up and not gain much performance back. Just my input. I know 400 bucks is a lot.

If you decide to replace impeller, I found a Solas brand that is a perfect replacement. The only difference I have found is the Solas unit seems to cavitate less. I seam to remember $260, but that was many years ago. Worth checking out.