White wear ring spinning in pump 1997 Speedster - 4 Questions

[Chips]

I just picked up a new to me Speedster and haven't had a good performing day on the lake yet but am working at it.

I was about to pull the ride shoe to re-seal it when I came across a post saying that the white aftermarket wear rings sometimes spin in the pump. After reading this, I pulled the pump (which took about 5 minutes for any newbies debating on doing so...) and sure enough the wear ring is spinning. Matter of fact I was able to pull it out of the pump housing by hand.

QUESTION 1) Does this spinning wear ring damage the pump housing to the point that when I put an OEM ring in, that it still spins? I am heading to the dealer in the morning to pick up two OEM rings.

QUESTION 2) On another topic, the port side engine wont rev if jammed full throttle. It will eventually rev all the way but only after limping up to speed with the starboard engine (which I have to limp up to speed due to the cavitation).

My ultimate 2nd question here is, will bad spark plugs cause the engine to not pull under a load but rev out seemingly fine out of water on a hose flush?

Some background here is, when I picked up the boat:

1) Port side plugs were black (I neglected to change them out...yes stupid)
2) Port side engine cavitated bad
3) I resealed pump, and pulled carb to have a look
4) Check plugs again, they were a perfect brown color
5) Once back together, engine didn't cavitate but wouldnt rev.
6) After I got home I put new plugs in and it started up better, idled better and seemed to pull WOT bursts better out of water.

QUESTION 3) I don't seem to have RAVE valves, is this normal for a 1997 Speedster with single carb setups on each engine. It looks like the carb connects to a typical manifold and then goes right into the engine.

QUESTION 4) The guy who had the boat prior re-wired some things. When the boat was cavitating at its worst, it would shut down both engines randomly during slow and mid speeds. After research here and learning about cavitation, I am assuming the engine(s) were overheating. My question here is, I heard no "overheating beeps"...it just just itself off. I sorta like this but am wondering if this was normal.

Sorry for the long post, after reading over this site for several days I have accumulated several things to ask! atriot:

 

[El Toro 33809]

In regards to question 1, i have had a wear ring that would turn. I drilled 3 holes in the housing, threaded them and put in set screws to hold it in place.


Question 3 - which engines does it have? Up to the 717 they did not have RAVE valves. I believe from the 787 and up they are used.

Question 4 - wear ring issues can cause cavitation. It's hard for me to make a call about the engines shutting down, particularly since you say the guy did some rewiring......

 

[brandon32689]

Ya the spinning wear ring sucks, its prob a Sbt wear ring. Take them suckers out. Your housing will be fine, get you some neoprene seals if your boat requires them.

The other questions may change when you get the wear rings on and sealed up nice and tight with new plugs. Try than and report back. Unless we see pics of rewiring we can't help, but why do you think he did rewiring?

If your engine don't have rave valves then u got jipped take that boat back. Nah just messing with you, like posted above you probalky have the dual 720s with 85 horses each. 787 n 951 only had rave valves

 

[Dr Honda]

1) The pumps should be fine... but if sand got behind the ring... and it's been spinning a long time... it could have warn the pump. I'm sure a factory rings will still fight tight. If not... put a blob of RTV behind it, and glue it in place.

2) You can't tell anything out of the water. without a load on the engine... it will sound perfect, and rev up. This problem can be a few things... but... before we chase anything... get me a compression reading on your port engine. You are describing low compression perfectly. If it was fuel related, the engine would just shut off.


3) Yep... you have 720 engines. They don't have raves. AND, in 97, they went to single 40 SBN with an accelerator pump.

4) Dose your beeper work at all? (when you put your lanyard on) If it does, pull the wire off the temp sender (center of the heads) and ground it. You should hear your buzzer. If that checks... then test your senders. The switch inside will go closed around 200 deg.

 

[Chips]

Thank you everyone for the quick responses!

Dr. Honda:

1) Sounds good!
2) Port side 130/135
3) Would the accelerator pump mimic these symptoms?
4) The beeper works fine otherwise. Two beeps when it originally connects, three or four beeps (I forget what its supposed to be) when its in gear and you try to start and so on... But nothing when the engines shut down. All that being said, since I "patched" some of the cavitation issues, the boat hasn't shut off since. So I am assuming it was overheating, and the engines are not overheating now. Is there any such feature with this boat that would shut it down like I described?

 

[manolocross]

Check the accelarator pump..check the plunger on the carb...make sure that its pushing on plunger and when you return the throttle that the plunger returns.If it doesnt return or move you have to clean and rebuild it.The acc pump controls the fuel delivery from the moment you pull the throttle...