4 replies to this topic

[Shaun]

I went into a shallow area & sucked up some small rocks. I shut the engine off when I heard a few clunking sounds. I turned it on again a few minutes later & the clunking persisted. I shut it off again & pushed my sporster to mt boat lift. I opend up the grate underneath & looked with a mirror to see if I could see anything. It looked like the small rocks actually washed out as they could not be seen. I saw a bit of monafilament fishing line (but not much). The impeller had a few good dings in it. I launched the boat & it sounded ok & seemed to be performing o.k.. "BUT" at about 1/2 throttle the RPM's went to the max & performance slowed down. I slowed down & it seems to be o.k. but steaming a little out of the back. I increased speed & it repeated the same thing again (ie) went ok for awhile & then at 1/2 speed the RPM's maxed out.
** I am not sure if the impeller "dings" are causing an issue when I pick up speed
- If I do have to replace the impeller >>> any idea of the cost ??
- should I look for after market parts
- I didn't want to spend too much, as my original intention was to trade it in in January/09 for the new 2008/2009 sportster

[Kevin Leclair]

Your impeller could definitely cause problems if it dinged up real bad or even warped, are you able to take any pictures and post them here? Are you sure there isn't anything stuck further up there that could be impeding the proper speed rotation of the impeller?

If the impeller is in really bad shape you should be able to pick up an aftermarket one from Solas, http://solas.com, this impeller should also give you a little better performance.

[Shaun]

Your impeller could definitely cause problems if it dinged up real bad or even warped, are you able to take any pictures and post them here? Are you sure there isn't anything stuck further up there that could be impeding the proper speed rotation of the impeller?

If the impeller is in really bad shape you should be able to pick up an aftermarket one from Solas, http://solas.com, this impeller should also give you a little better performance.

Sep 17/08
I will try to take some pictures (if possible) this weekend, as I should be able to put it on my boat trailer (as there is restricted room on my marine railway to manouver) & will post them
- could it also be indicative of damage (or age) to the Wear Ring ?

• if I travel at low speed to get to the public boat ramp, do I risk any damage to the motor) ?

[Kevin Leclair]

Sep 17/08
I will try to take some pictures (if possible) this weekend, as I should be able to put it on my boat trailer (as there is restricted room on my marine railway to manouver) & will post them
- could it also be indicative of damage (or age) to the Wear Ring ?

• if I travel at low speed to get to the public boat ramp, do I risk any damage to the motor) ?

Sounds good, looking forward to the pictures. Wear ring is definitely a possibility too, here is a similar story where another member had to get their wear ring replaced, http://seadoosportbo...pair-t2032.html.

I would say just travel at a slow but safe speed to get back to the ramp, you have to get the boat back on the trailer to inspect it. If you are really worried about doing further damage then if you have someone willing and available then ask them to give you a tow back to the ramp.

[keviseeb]

I went into a shallow area & sucked up some small rocks. I shut the engine off when I heard a few clunking sounds. I turned it on again a few minutes later & the clunking persisted. I shut it off again & pushed my sporster to mt boat lift. I opend up the grate underneath & looked with a mirror to see if I could see anything. It looked like the small rocks actually washed out as they could not be seen. I saw a bit of monafilament fishing line (but not much). The impeller had a few good dings in it. I launched the boat & it sounded ok & seemed to be performing o.k.. "BUT" at about 1/2 throttle the RPM's went to the max & performance slowed down. I slowed down & it seems to be o.k. but steaming a little out of the back. I increased speed & it repeated the same thing again (ie) went ok for awhile & then at 1/2 speed the RPM's maxed out.
** I am not sure if the impeller "dings" are causing an issue when I pick up speed
- If I do have to replace the impeller >>> any idea of the cost ??
- should I look for after market parts
- I didn't want to spend too much, as my original intention was to trade it in in January/09 for the new 2008/2009 sportster

At the risk of engaging in remote diagnostics this is an easy one. The wear ring is definately damaged, the impeller is probably damaged, the stator which is part of the housing may be damaged. We charge around $180 to replace a wear ring but there is good news, the newer wear rings are tougher than the earlier models so their service life is better. The determinig factor for the impeller aside from being bent is the clearance between it and the new wear ring, that clearance should be less than .0013 to prevent cavitation. If your impeller is semi ok and not hurt that badly then the resulting loss of performance may not be that noticable. The same applies to the stators. One valuable thing to remember not to do is let the engine continue to rev up with a bad wear ring. While that is going on the water is literally boiling inside the housing, the resulting heat will quickly melt the wear ring and warp the housing on your model. Going slow poses no problem, just make sure the engine is revving up. By the way the engine won't be damaged because of the rev limiter, the heat from cavitation in the final drive pump is what causes damage.

Kevin Seeber
Kingsland Marine