1 reply to this topic

[RayJay]

Hi folks, I have owned my 1999 Speedster SK - twin engine jet for just over a year now.

I had originally had a bit of indecisiveness on the wisdom of having twin jet drives.

Seems like twice as many things to go wrong.

However, my last outing on the Colorado river last week proved that having a second engine can also
have its benefits.

I had launched in Laughlin downstream of the dam where there is a good 2-3 mph current on the river.

I as I was moving away from the dock I noticed the reverse was not as authoritative as ussual but I proceeded to idle down stream while I got some things stowed and ready for some high speed fun.

I accelerated but noticed a sluggish takeoff and an unusual vibration so I slowed to idle to try and figure out what was wrong.

After a minute of idle the engine alarm started blaring so loud I could hardly think, put my finger over the beeper hole under the dash to muffle it.

I shut everything down, all the while drifting downstream at 2mph to investigate. While I was looking in the engine compartment my smart girlfriend had opened the manual and was reading the beep codes to see what it was telling us. While I was scratching my head as nothing seemed amiss inside, oil premix level good and no water in the bilge, the clever GF told me it was "engine overheat warning or obstruction" according to the manual.

I did not think I had sucked up any rocks and cycled the intake grate cleaner.

By now I was a quarter mile downstream and thought I needed to go to shore to halt our journey downstream and get back upstream to the launch.

I restarted both engines and found the left one responded normally to throttle without the vibration so I momentarily brought the boat up on a plane and then set the right engine to idle and we cruised back to launch on one engine. Nice, totally sold on the 2 engine setup now.

Hauled the boat out, opened the manual grate and reached in and ripped a small towel out of the right impeller. Few minutes later we were back on the water and enjoying our boating fun.

Thanks to the beep codes (And a smart girlfriend that reads the manual), 2nd engine and the manual grate lever the problem was resolved quickly without much fuss.

Love my 99 Speedster SK!

Ray

[bryckhaus]

I have the 98 Speedster and stripped the drive shaft and pto on one while cruising the bay. I think something got sucked up and jammed it for a second. It was a slow ride back to the dock, but did not need sea tow.