2 replies to this topic

[dburgess56]

I have a 1996 Speedster 15 footer than I bought used in 2001. The boat has the stock twin 85hp Rotax engines.

The boat is primarily used by my grown children to pull tubers. It has been a great boat for our needs these past few years, but now I'm having mechanical problems with it: impellers are nicked from sucking rocks, and the left engine overheats. I'm not the kind of guy to wrench it myself.

I'm thinking of bringing it to a dealer to trade in for a newer Speedster. Listed below are the things I like and dislike about this model. I would appreciate it if forum members could tell me how the newer models compare with my 96 Speedster.

Things I like about the 96 Speedster:
- The size. It's easy to tow and move around
- The power. Fast as hell when it's running well
- Safety - no prop. This is a big plus with lots of little kids getting on and off tubes near the stern
- Low draft - The water level in my lake varies throughout the year. When it gets shallow, this is a big plus.

Things I dislike about the 96 Speedster:
- NOISE - the twin two stroke Rotax engines are unbearably loud. Before I bought the boat, I wondered why it had no stereo. Now I know - it's pointless with the 96.
- Pollution - Every time I see those two huge clouds of blue two stroke smoke when I start up, I wonder what I'm doing to my lake
-Battery placement - I don't think the Sea Doo engineers could have made it more difficult to pull the batteries from this thing

How has Sea Doo addressed my dislikes in the last 15 years?

[mahunt]

I have a '96 as well and have the same likes and dislikes, but I'm willing to concentrate on enjoying the positive aspects while minimizing the negative ones.

Noise-You ain't a kidding, for as quiet (from shore) as this boat seems (sounds like a quiet turbine), its always amazed me as to how loud it is to pilot. There is some sound deadening under the package tray and alongside the engines, but I wonder if the firewall between the passenger compartment and the engine couldn't do with some DynoMax-like product. Also, I can't help but notice that the '97 models have two small pieces of deadening foam on the underside of the engine compartment hatch cover just above the two vent holes. The specific foam pieces are no longer available from SeaDoo, but I bet they can be approximated. Are '97 Speedsters somewhat quieter than earlier models?

Pollution-There are countless SeaDoo sitdowns that have the exact same engine (even the same family 580, 657, 657X) as the twins in our boats, but they NEVER seem to smoke, much less to the "mosquito control" clouds this thing produces. I've recently rebuilt the top end of one engine and I have to admit, it does smoke less, but still not like a regular sitdown. I know the Rotax Valve gearing area of the crank can have leaky seals, but that doesn't explain why EVERY OTHER SeaDoo ski DOESN'T smoke. I wonder if it has something to do with the height of the oil reserve in relation to the engine. The sitdown skis probably don't have as great an oil column bearing on them due to closer or lower oil reserve tanks. I've switched to premix for a number of good reasons and it does help (a tiny bit) with the smoke issue.

Battery placement-As sure as Spring, the batteries most likely need service or changing. I switched to AGM and get longer service. I also put in a 12V power source (cigarette lighter looking thing, no lighter though) near the right pilot's cup holder and wired it (with a fuse) to the batteries. This makes the batteries easier to maintain charge and provide power for an accessory while boating (low amp draw only). Aside from the stock battery setup, there are folks that convert to a single large battery and solve all their battery problems. I noticed that the single engine jet boats use a single large battery or so it seems from the parts diagram of a '97 Sportster (Electrical System diagram).

You've had the boat since 2001 (same pretty much for me) and have enjoyed it, you aren't going to get much in trade and why trade for a new set of issues (all boat have issues). Better the devil you know than the one you don't.

[mahunt]

Update to my (our) 1996 Speedster's general issues.

When I converted to oil mix from oil injection a few years back, I just plugged and dropped the injector oil feed lines in the bilge, keeping the oil tank and lines that supply oil to the rotary gear plus about a gallon and a half of oil to keep the "add oil" light off. Recently I overhauled my port engine and decided to clean up the bilge by removing the dropped injector lines.

When it came time to snip the main injector feed line from the oil tank, I thought nothing of once again inserting a gasket sealer coated screw into the shortened line and cinching it with a zip tie. After a few weeks, I noticed the line started leaking a bit, so I bought a 5/16" cap and used another zip tie to secure the seal. There wasn't much oil in the tank before using the cap and there was even less after, just about a half inch only.

I took the boat for a cruise this past Sunday and couldn't help but notice that neither engine smoked as much as they had in the past and the new engine hardly smoked at all if any. I'm going to rebuild my starboard engine in a few weeks and can't wait to see if this fixes the smoke problem altogether. Convert to mix and keep enough oil in the tank to cover the rotary gear line, but no more. Jumper the oil sender line to make the oil light go out.

During my outing, I also critically listened to where engine noise was exiting the engine compartment and sure enough, most of it was coming from the two vent tubes. I will visit Home Depot or Lowe's and see if I can find some noise abatement foam for the two vent undersides of the engine cover. In the meantime, can someone post a picture of the underside of their 1997's engine cover as a guideline? Thanks.