Water in engine...how badly did I mess it up?

[Panhead3]

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and this is my first post so I hope it's in the correct spot.

I have a 2004 sea doo GTX supercharged and unfortunately it was flipped yesterday and spent a good amount of time upside down. It was so filled with water it had to be towed to the ramp to get out. After draining the water out of the ski, I tried to crank it and it sputtered and shot water out the back of the ski. I did this several times until it finally cranked, but as soon as it did it was idling very rough so I stopped it. I let it dry overnight and this morning I cranked it again on the trailer and it seemed to idle a little better. After putting it in the lake and driving slowly it started to idle a little better, and I got it up to about 35mph or so. As soon as I hit waves it started to bog and slow way down. Realized it wasn't going to work so I was heading back to the ramp when I saw a lot of smoke coming out the back. Not sure if from exhaust or what, I shut it off and drifted in.

From research online I know it needs the spark plugs pulled and the oil changed several times. Unfortunately I do not have time this week and will take it to the shop.

My question is basically how much did I tear up the jet ski? Is the engine going to have irreversible damage to it from running it with water in it or will it be ok when serviced properly? I did not want to try to drive it, but a family member (who actually owns the jet ski) told me to drive it anyway and I did not want to argue with him.

I really appreciate any help anyone can give me. At this point all I am really worried about is if I permantely damaged the engine. The ski has 204 hours on it and ran perfectly, and had the supercharged rebuilt 2 seasons ago.

 

[mkov608]

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and this is my first post so I hope it's in the correct spot.

My question is basically how much did I tear up the jet ski? Is the engine going to have irreversible damage to it from running it with water in it or will it be ok when serviced properly? I did not want to try to drive it, but a family member (who actually owns the jet ski) told me to drive it anyway and I did not want to argue with him.

I really appreciate any help anyone can give me. At this point all I am really worried about is if I permanently damaged the engine. The ski has 204 hours on it and ran perfectly, and had the supercharged rebuilt 2 seasons ago.

It is hard to tell how much (if any damage) you did to the ski; inspections are required. Your first mistake was to try to restart the ski. Water isn't compressible, so you can destroy an engine by cranking it when there is water in the cylinders. Get out your operators guide and read it.

You may have caused damage, but it can probably be repaired, so I wouldn't call it "irreversible". It's just very expensive and time consuming. If there was water in the cylinders, it's too late now.

Next, stop listening to anyone who isn't directing you to the Sea-Doo shop manual. you can download it for free; there are detailed and easy to follow instructions for addressing a flooded engine.

Ya gotta love family!

 

[skiasylum]

SUBMERGED WATERCRAFT

NOTICE: Never try to crank or start engine. Water trapped in the intake manifold would flow towards the engine and possible cause severe engine damage.

1. Drain bilge

2. If the watercraft was submerged in salt water, rinse the bilge and all components thoroughly with fresh water using a garden hose to stop the salt corroding effect.

3. Check for water in the intake system. If water found in the intake system, refer to WATER-FLOODED ENGINE in this subsection.

CAPSIZED WATERCRAFT

Capsized for more than 5 minutes

Refer to WATER-FLOODED ENGINE in this subsection.


The WATER-FLOODED ENGINE SUBSECTION is two pages long but it starts out by saying the engine must be serviced within a few hours after the event, otherwise the engine will have to be overhauled.

So since your past a few hours and you also tried to start the engine I would say the prognosis is bad.

I guess it’s possible that you did not water-flood the engine and then you might be okay. Water in the intake system is the definition of a water flooded engine.

 

[Panhead3]

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it.

And yes, gotta love family. Sigh. I didn't want to start it but they insisted.

I will tell them to keep their opinions to themselves next time. It's going to the shop tomorrow morning and hopefully it won't be 1000s of dollars to fix it. I guess if it is expensive to fix then I can chalk it up as a lesson learned.

My gut feeling was to not try to start it and I am mad at myself for starting it and riding around the lake for a couple minutes. I just hope it will be a relatively inexpensive fix.

I will let everyone know what happens

 

[Panhead3]

Thanks Skiaslyum. We posted at the same time.

I am afraid it is messed up as well.

 

[skiasylum]

If there is water in the oil or in the supercharger inlet hose, the supercharger should be taken apart, all components dried, and the slip clutch needle bearings and shaft ball bearings replaced. Refer to SUPERCHARGER subsection.

Hopefully again this might not be the case.

 

[Arkie Bob]

Question from another 4tec newbie. What brought about the capsize?

 

[skiasylum]

Anybody that captains my jet skis knows about the five minute max capsize rule and I make them tip it over (capsize) and right it before they get to drive it. I have tipped mine over by accident in open water repositioning riders and skiers when the ski is off and no forward motion. They are fairly unstable dead in the water.

 

[benjilafouine]

Capsizing should be strongly avoided at all times (especially for training purposes, this is plainly running after trouble), five minute limit or not. I would not let anyone get near my ski if their intention was to operate it like mad and capsize it. These are very expensive machines and although they can take a lot, capsizing them is just plain risky. Also, jumping waves and letting the RPM go wildly is the second bad idea also.

After more than 24 hours, and if there was water in engine, it will probably cost more than 1,000.00$.

Just my opinion.

Let us know how the repairs went.

Benji.

 

[Arkie Bob]

Benji, lot of truth to your last post. But it also shows that not all things bigger, better, more expensive are 100% better. Never seen anyone have more fun than my family did growing up on a little 1980early 90's something SP. That little guy spent as much time upside down as not! Anyone over 175lb had a hard time keeping it upright unless on plane. As long as it was rolled back in the right direction it was totally harmless, with stickers attached to the hull to instruct how to do that.

Love my new (to me) 05RXT, but for pure clowning around and playing IN the water it don't hold a candle to that little bug.

 

[mikidymac]

Well said, the 2 strokes can survive water ingestion just fine, not so much with the 4 strokes.

 

[benjilafouine]

I know what you mean. I still hop on my 2003 GTI and I feel more in control and closer to the action than on my 2018 (but way less comfortable). I too have that rollover sticker but I never got to roll it clockwise...

That being said my 2003 can seat 525 pounds and the 2018 can seat 600 pounds. A few years back I brought two people with me on my 2003 ski and we were close to the limit and I almost capsized it at low speed. Not sure about your SP but it was probably even lower.

I still believe that capsizing a ski is really a thing that would be the result of a pilot error, not an attempt to voluntary capsize it like I see on my lake very often. A few days back, some young guys capsized their brand new Wake 155 ski at least twice just be "trying". Then they docked it without any buoys and the poor thing is already severely scratched (plastic) and dented (fiberglass hull).

The question you have to ask yourself: how long do I want to keep it?

 

[benjilafouine]

@mikidymak What happens to the engine oil and coolant when you capsize a 4 stroke? Also, can you flip it back and if it is full of water, can you remove the plugs and try the starter to search for signs of water in engine?

 

[skiasylum]

If anyone is interested on how to right there capsized jet ski, Sea-Doo adheres a information sticker (upside down) on how to do it on the stern of your ski. They also installed a T.O.P.S switch and a check ball in the blow-by valve.

It takes at most 30 seconds for my 14 year old granddaughter to right our capsized jet ski in a training environment with no harm done to the ski.

Knowledge is a wonderful thing.

 

[benjilafouine]

Why a 14 year old person should/would capsize a ski, not counting the risk of getting seriously injured???

I must be getting too old to understand...

 

[skiasylum]

Yes, she takes off from shallow water, guns it in sport mode, goes off a slanted ramp, does a 180 mid air, lands on her head at 50 mph, swims back to ski without a life jacket, ski is still running because I disabled the tops switch, she also forgot to tether the lanyard, rights the ski the wrong way and off she goes all in 30 seconds.

Not really, with the ski not running, not moving, I tip it over, it turtles and then she has to get it back upright. No biggie, just if by some reason it tips over in open water away from the cabin she would know how to upright it and get home safely.

 

[benjilafouine]

Hmmm. Hmmm. I weight 225 pounds and I can board my GTI 4-tec ski from the dock by the side and I do not even feel like it is going to capsize.

As for the GTI 2003, it is a little bit more trickier. My only other incident that happened close to the dock, while my mom (who is not like feather weight to stay polite) was already sitting on it as I wanted to avoid her to push the ski in the water, was that the ski tilted. Ended up that we both fell in the water, including my 21 pound dog but the ski never capsized even at 400+ pounds.

For the rest, you can always count on VISA...

I'll let the OP resume this thread as I do not want to hijack it. Maybe we should start a new threat on this subject. There is a lot to say about it.

I rest my case.

Benji.

 

[mikidymac]

You need to try an HX and you’ll see how easy a ski can flip.

 

[Milehighguy303]

Pan head, sorry to hear about your ski. The prognosis isn’t good. I am wondering if you maybe didn’t get water in the intake, but got water in the crankcase mixed with oil. The ski started, so I am thinking there wasn’t significant water in the intake, but after riding a few minutes you may have lost lubrication and burned up bearings and cylinder walls, causing smoke after a few minutes. But it isn’t something a new engine can’t fix and a price tag that is larger than you wanted, for sure.

My kids’ friends tipped my machine over a couple years ago, and I don’t know how long it was upside down, but my gauge cluster stopped working after that event, but no engine damage, fortunately.