4 replies to this topic

[drmarvell]

We took the family out for a ride yesterday and weren't out an hour before we had a problem. We drove across the lake, swam for a bit, and then pulled my daughter and I on a tube. About 3-4 minutes into the ride, my huband stopped the boat. He said the motor started sounding like it was bogging down. My daughter and I weigh a total of 140lbs together, so I know it wasn't too much weight. It sounded fine just trolling along, but if you tried to accelerate at all, it sounded awful! The left engine sounded like it was working really hard, was louder than usual, and the entire bottom of the boat vibrated. WTH! I've read on this board about problems with the grate, so we trolled back to the ramp, pulled out and took a look. They're all there and fine, so that's not it.

My husband is ready to sell this boat. The ride is rough, it purpoises like nothing we've seen, and he was already worried about buying a jet boat because he knows nothing about it, and now this. He's angry because something is wrong now and he has no idea what it is or even how to begin to figure it out. Ane help would be appreciated. Also, just in case we do end up selling, how much should be expect for the 2005 Speedster 200/370hp with the ski tower and bimini top?

Rachael

[Kevin Leclair]

Did you check to see if you guys had sucked anything up the grate? The same symptoms happened to me, went back to the boat ramp to check out the grate and we had sucked up a baseball cap. Pulled out the cap and put the boat back in the water, everything was fine after that.

[drmarvell]

Did you check to see if you guys had sucked anything up the grate? The same symptoms happened to me, went back to the boat ramp to check out the grate and we had sucked up a baseball cap. Pulled out the cap and put the boat back in the water, everything was fine after that.

Hubby took it out today to our little local lake to try again. He said it worked fine. Go figure! Anyway, I told him what you said about sucking something up and trying to flush it out. He said that he had to really gun it in reverse to get it off the trailer by himself and then took off WOT and got it up to 52mph without a problem. So maybe he unlodged whatever was in there? By the way, this was the first time we've gotten the boat up to that speed because I'm a scaredy cat. He said it was AWESOME....a little scary...but awesome!

[Kevin Leclair]

Well I am glad to hear that whatever it was cleared the grate. Is where you guys boat a very weedy area?

Yeah it is truly a blast when you get the Speedster WOT! I would say hold on to the S200 another season or so until you get the hang of the jets to decide how you really feel about the boat, you really can't go wrong with a doo...especially with the S200, you have the room for the family and still have the speed for fun!

[Serbmarine]

It definitely sounds like you sucked something up. This can be a scary thing for a first time doo’er, especially if your dealer has not explained this process. If this happens again try to doo’ing this: Shut down the engine and let everything sit for 30 seconds or so (as long as the debris is not to large sometimes, if you are lucky, it will simply float out of the pump), If this does not work start the boat up and put it in reverse, once you are moving shut the boat off and immediately put the boat in forward (again if you are lucky sometimes this will wash the debris out). If you start the boat up and still have a vibration you will have to head to the trailer. Try to run the boat at a low enough speed that you don’t have any heavy vibrations. Once you have her on the trailer put the boat in forward and take a look into the pump. Look for any foreign object, sometimes it will just be laying in the pump, other times it will be lodged between the impeller and the pump. Look from both the rear of the boat and up through the intake grate. You should be able to see the culprit. Once you have spotted it try to remove it. A lot of times a long flat head screw driver is the trick. Whatever you do please don’t try to take the intake grates off unless you know for sure how to do it. Replacing the sheared off bolts is no fun at all.

This is usually not as complicated as it sounds, and most all of us have had to pull something interesting out of the pump a few times. Hopefully if it happens again you will be ready for it so it won’t be such a surprise. I would say hang on to the boat, at least for a full season. The S200 is one of the best out there!