3 replies to this topic

[suwaneega]

I have recently purchased a 2001 Sea Doo Challenger 2000 with the Mercury M2 240HP V-6. Everything worked fine on the test drive. Now I am unable to start the boat. Initially, it would crank but not fire. Then it stopped cranking, and I figured that I had killed the battery. Upon charging, the boat will still not crank. It is now at the shop. They say it needs a starter relay, which is on order. They have also told me "the other concern they have, is the cylinders are full of water as well as water in the fuel." When the relay comes in they are going to do a compression check. The tank was drained and cleaned prior to me purchasing the boat, and the compression tested good.

What could be the cause of water in the cylinders and fuel? What am I potentially looking at to correct this issue? Any help would be appreciated as I wait to hear back from the dealer...

[Kevin Leclair]

Sounds like a leak, have you heard anything new from the dealer?

[suwaneega]

I have heard back from the dealer. They replaced the starter relay and were able to crank the boat. Upon trying to start they found the following:

1. Spark on only 2 of the 6 cylinders
-They say the Stator needs to be replaced
-They say it also needs a CDI module
-total of about $900-1000 for these 2 repairs
2. Low compression on #3 and 5 cylinders
-they pulled the head and say it needs a head gasket and gaskets around the pistons (picture attached)
-suggested doing the other side as well since they think it was caused by overheating
-about $300-350 per side
3. said they would look for possible cause of overheating (blocked water, bad oil pump) but the rest of the engine looked good.

They guy I bought it from says he had the stator replaced 2 weeks ago. Is it possible for it to go bad this quickly? The dealer in Gainesville said he would call the dealer in FL who did the repair to determine if any warranty was available.

Right now I am looking at about $1800 to do all the fixes which should be done this week. I think i trust the dealer I brought it to...he seems pretty straight forward. I am just not sure why it started and ran in FL but not once I got it back to Georgia. Do these repairs sound realistic?

Thanks for any help.

[suwaneega]

As an update, the boat is now running but with issues. The repairs were completed but during the reassembly of the head, the dealer said he was unable to get the proper torque (30 # +90) on the head bolts. They suggested a new or rebuilt power unit but I declined and told them to do the best they could. They were able to install it with 30# on 22 of the 24 head bolts but only 20 on the remaining two bolts. It now starts first time when putting it into the water but here are the issues I am now dealing with...any help would be appreciated:

1. Running but not very well. I am only able to get about 4500 RPMs and 35 mph when in the boat by myself. With others, only about 25. I have burned through the first tank of fuel which the dealer "double oiled". I have changed the plugs at their recommendation. 5 of the plugs look as I would expect but the Starboard bottom plug does not look as if it is being used. I think these issues are related...any thoughts?

2. Dieing at idle when hot. This does not happen all the time. I am able to idle fine sometime but this usually happens at the wrong time...like when docking. going along with this is...

3. Starting issues when hot. If i shut off the boat when hot, it may restart immediately; it may restart after cooling down for 5-10 min (after not restarting immediately) or it may take an hour or more to restart. It will crank but doesn't seem to want to fire. I have not had to be towed yet though. I have seen other threads about this but may different solutions. It feels like a fuel issue. The dealer says they checked all of the filters and pumps and all were working fine. any other thoughts?

4. I also crawled up under the boat and looked in the intake grate to find a tow strap around the impeller shaft. I removed it but it did not seem to improve performance. The impeller looks ok but the stator looks like it has damage at the impellor side. Would this cause the reduced performance/RPMs?

Sorry to put so much at one time but boat ownership has been taxing so far!!! I am looking forward to the smooth water ahead.