6 replies to this topic

[tbrindisi]

I recently (unfortunately) purchased a 2008 150 speedster with the 215hp SCIC engine and a wakeboard tower. This is my first Sea-Doo product and my first boat, and I have to admit I am very very disapointed with it thus far. The quality control on these things has got to be done by monkeys at best!! I seriously doubt I will ever purchase another Sea-Doo product again, but for now I am stuck with it and have to make the best of it and was wondering if anyone could help me out with some problems ive been having.

The boat was purchased new on March 30, 2009, so it is still under the manufacturer warranty and it apperas the previous owner also purchased a 1 year extended warranty. I am not sure of what this warranty covers though, and was also hoping maybe someone on here would hellp me out on that as well. The closest dealer to me is over 120 miles away and I really don't want to have to take off of work to travel that far just to be turned away because its not covered.

Here is a list of the problems I'm having
1. Radio would turn on and off (fixed)
2. All switches, gauges, and lights would intermittently not work (fixed)
3. 12v accessory does not work
4. Gas strut barely holds up front driver side hatch
5. Rear hatch does not open (have to pull release cable and have someone else lift rear hatch)
6. Wakeboard tower doesnt appear to be manufactured correctly. When tower is collapsed so I can store the boat in my garage, the tower has rubber feet you screw on so it rests on the boat. One side lines up just right with the boat while the other side is bent out and hits the side of the boat instead of on top so the rubber foot scratches the graphics on the side. This impropper build is also apparent because when you assemble the tower again, this particular side is much harder to fit together then the other side that lines up fine.

The radio was due to 2 problems, one of which fixed the gauges and all switches. The first, as you probably guessed, was a loose ground wire. This was found pretty quickly on the ground block in the cubby hole and was corrected. The radio continued to have problems. The second problem was the fuse in the engine compartment on the power wire going from the battery switch to the front fuse block somehow had water in it even though it is a waterproof inline fuse compartment. The other power wire with the same type fuse compartment that also goes to the same fuse block did not have this problem, which is why the gauges and switches all worked fine when the ground problem was fixed. I cleaned out the fuse compartment with WD-40 and then sprayed it really good with some electrical contact cleaner and put a new fuse in and the radio works fine now.

The 12V accessory still does not work. I ran a test wire from the positive terminal on the back of the 12v accessory, straight to the battery and it worked fine, eliminating a possible ground problem. The power wire coming to the front fuse block for the 12v accessory is the same power wire for the radio, so I know this is good. I then unplugged the socket from the front fuse block with the power wire output for the 12v accessory and connected the test wire from here straight to the battery to test wiring from fuse block to 12v accessory and it again worked fine. Fuse in the fuse block is fine and was switched out just in case. Conclusion has to be that the front fuse block is bad, but only on the 12v accessory part of this fuse block. Anyone else have this problem? Would this be covered under the warranty?? Also, the online parts store that I found has this fuse block listed at nearly $500 and is actually listed as a "Simple Engine Interface". It looks like a normal fuse block, just like the one in the engine compartment. Is this the computer brain for the engine as well???

The front gas strut problem could possibly be by design, but if so would be a horrible design! The gas strut helps to lift the front compartment up, but barely holds it in the upright position. If you breathe it will pretty much fall. Really really sucks when you are troubleshooting a wiring issue and it falls on your head!!! (can you tell this happened a few times to me??) Is this normal operation, or is this less than 6 month old gas strut not pressurized correctly?? Also, would this be covered under warranty?

The rear hatch problem I haven't had time to look into fully as I have spent all my time running down these wiring issues!! From videos ive seen of older models of this same boat, when you pull the release up front, the rear hatch should automatically pop up from the gas struts. This is not the case with mine. You have to pull the release and then give it a pretty hefty nudge to get it going. I don't see any adjustments on the gas struts to correct this. They seem very strong when it gets to the lifting point, so it may just need an adjustment. Any suggestions? Anyone else have this issue?

Finally the wakeboard tower issue. This one is not a big deal to me since I can still erect the tower with only minor difficutly, and I just put a cloth down to protect the graffics on the side of the boat where the rubber block improperly contacts the boat. It still would be nice to have this fixed though.

So.... anyone have any suggestions? What exactly does the warranty cover? From the documentation I have found that came with the boat, it appears the warranty only covers power train type stuff. It doesnt give much detail at all about what is covered.

Thanks for listening to me complain, and I hope someone out there has some good suggestions for me to keep me from having to take a whole day off of work to drive over 100 miles.

[Kevin Leclair]

Have you tried calling BRP directly rather than going through you dealer?

[ssmedt]

wow very sorry to hear about the troubles you are having. I did not even know they used the release cable on the new speedsters; my challenger (14.5 ft boat) has a handle right at the engine hatch that you grap to open but my older challenger 1800 had the cable and had the same problems that you are having. Also; on my challenger the front compartment over the steering wheel does not use the gas strut; but it still likes to fall from time to time; (i know how you feel when it falls on your head while doing some wireing, my boat did nto come with a factory radio so i had to wire up myown) My little bro had a 2001 XP with the gas strut and his did not work on his ski. Oh and just to warn you it is just a matter of time before you fuel guage stops working; you will learn to live with it though as ever seadoo that i have ever seen they go out sooner or later; but i would now trade my boat for anything; it is so much fun being able to spin it around. the performance of these boats is so much better then any stern drive boat out on the market

[tbrindisi]

Thanks for the suggestion to calling BRP directly. I think I might try that, although I doubt it will get me very far since it states clearly in the warranty one of the requirements to getting anything covered under warranty is to provide the boat to a certified seadoo dealer for troubleshooting I believe.

As far as the fuel gauge going out, I have heard about this which was one of my decisions to get a newer model with the digital gauges instead of of the dials. I heard the cause to this was the gauges actually sticking and not working, so I shouldnt have this problem with mine. At least I hope anyway!! If I do have problems, that would mean the sending unit would be malfunctioning.... I wonder how hard that would be to get to the fuel take! Take off middle seat for access to top of the tank maybe? I dont know. Sure would suck to have to pull the whole tank out!!

Your right, my boat is a lot of fun though! When I'm out on the water having fun, I don't regret my purchase.... but all these problems sure are agravating!!! I'm sure all boats have their problems since quality control is so much lower on recreational vehicles, but I bet Yamaha probably builds a better quality product. Oh well.

[oary77]

To be honest everything you have described as "problems" is standard for this model. I can't say as to if it happens on the other models or not. I have pretty much the same problems with my 07 speedster. As far as the electronic gagues working properly. Not gonna happen. Thay are mediocre at best. Usually I just visually check my fuel level before I go out. Hatch release cable is sticky, I think I have a thread last year about that. Gas strut on the compartment above the steering wheel is weak. Mine worked for about 1 month. I haven't had any problems with the radio or accesories. (yet) I think the only guage that works good on mine is the tach. Speedo is usually way off at anything over idle. I think the compass works but I never look at it. I primarily use my boat on a small lake and unless you were drunk and out of you mind theres no way to get lost. on my engine hatch pop up problem I just keep silicone spray on the rubber seals to keep them from sticking. It helps but for the most part its a cable adjustment issue. Or so they tell me when I take it to the dealer.

Everything you have said about yours are covered under warranty. Make a list, a rather long one i'm sure. and get it all taken care of at once. Just as well have it serviced while its there also so you might wanna hold out until the end of the season. Shops hate when you have a long list especially if its all warranty work. Flat rate pay on warranty work is crap so they usually give it to the new guys. It will get fixed all the same but it may take a lil longer.

Also You may have had or will have problems with the seat bottoms coming off. why they would attach them with little plastic darts is beyond me. Also covered under warranty. After a while you learn to reattach them yourself.

Good luck...

EDIT: Yamaha's have problems too and are not exactly worth the extra money IMO.

[ssmedt]

As far as the fuel gauge going out, I have heard about this which was one of my decisions to get a newer model with the digital gauges instead of of the dials. I heard the cause to this was the gauges actually sticking and not working, so I shouldnt have this problem with mine. At least I hope anyway!! If I do have problems, that would mean the sending unit would be malfunctioning.... I wonder how hard that would be to get to the fuel take! Take off middle seat for access to top of the tank maybe? I dont know. Sure would suck to have to pull the whole tank out!!

Your right, my boat is a lot of fun though! When I'm out on the water having fun, I don't regret my purchase.... but all these problems sure are agravating!!! I'm sure all boats have their problems since quality control is so much lower on recreational vehicles, but I bet Yamaha probably builds a better quality product. Oh well.

from what i have read it is not so much of a problem with the guage sticking but in the sending baffel there is a small fuse built inside the float that blows; the sneding unit keeps working but you loose the guage; at least this is how it is for older models; I know that mine doesn not work on my 2001 with the standard guage and it also recently stoped working on my GTX with a digital guage; but in my challenger all i have to do is pop the engine cover and look at the tank to see the level so i am not worried about fixing mine

[Frayed Knot]

Thanks for the suggestion to calling BRP directly. I think I might try that, although I doubt it will get me very far since it states clearly in the warranty one of the requirements to getting anything covered under warranty is to provide the boat to a certified seadoo dealer for troubleshooting I believe.

As far as the fuel gauge going out, I have heard about this which was one of my decisions to get a newer model with the digital gauges instead of of the dials. I heard the cause to this was the gauges actually sticking and not working, so I shouldnt have this problem with mine. At least I hope anyway!! If I do have problems, that would mean the sending unit would be malfunctioning.... I wonder how hard that would be to get to the fuel take! Take off middle seat for access to top of the tank maybe? I dont know. Sure would suck to have to pull the whole tank out!!

Your right, my boat is a lot of fun though! When I'm out on the water having fun, I don't regret my purchase.... but all these problems sure are agravating!!! I'm sure all boats have their problems since quality control is so much lower on recreational vehicles, but I bet Yamaha probably builds a better quality product. Oh well.

I have found that there is a difference between some BRP dealers and it took me a little while to find one close to me that provided me with great service and a decent prices. It's a bit of a pain when that dealer isn't on the lakes you boat in and you have to take it to them, but that's the price you pay to get good service. I've found that BRP backs up thier boats with good warr.