Who knows jet boats?

Liberty44140

the admiral would really like a jet boat for next summer so I’ve been looking around for one. 16-18 ft arena, early 2000s. Would prefer a single engine but it seems most have twin. Anyway almost all of of them have had the oil injection pumps disabled so they are now premix fuel manually.  Anyone know why that is so common? Just too expensive to fix? Thx 

Handymans342

Alot of jet skis did that too. Was an easier fix and ran better. I think Yamaha makes a decent jet boat or Sea do. Make sure parts are easy to get before you buy one. 

Cableguy Greg

Stick with a popular brand like Sea Doo. The parts are more readily available.

Willhound

Will echo the above comments, Bombardier, BRP, Ski-Doo whatever you want to call them made a very popular line of jet boats, Challenger was the brand I believe. Yamaha also had several, but not as familiar with them.
I have to disagree with Handy though as far as pre-mix running better. A properly set up and maintained oil injection system works fantastic and provides the correct amount of oil for given RPM/operating conditions. Way, way back in the early 70's when injection first came out, they were less reliable and many people by-passed them, but to do so in this day and age is the sign of a lazy or un-educated mechanic or an owner that liked taking short cuts on maintenance. I've owned at least 10 snowmobiles, 4 motorcycles and a few boats with oil injection and have never had an issue. If I came across a newer piece of equipment with the oil injection disabled, I'd probably walk from the deal. If they took a short cut on that, what else did they take short cuts on?

halifax212

Seadoo challenger 18'   Had one prior to the 212.  The 2 strokes were phased out early 2000's replaced with either Mercury or rotax 4 strokes. Pass on the 2 strokes. The later models had a windshield which were way better than my 1999.  Nice and easy to beach but don't start in too shallow water or u will be sucking sand. Very little bow rise with the jets. Excellent fresh water boat with pretty low maintenance. 

zaverin1

I know everything 
shoot questions at me 

zaverin1

My 2 cents get a sIngle sugar sand tango or sea rayder with 175 or higher hp 2 stroke.
v6 converted to premix. Reason behind that is top end blows up if pump goes.
anyway I would rather invest into a nice center console rib but jets are fun. Here in lsc you can run in the flats where others boats can’t.
electrical is most common issue. 
Always check compression on 2 strokes before purchase. Anything 110 or lower or uneven numbers run

J3ff

The older jetboats are JUNK, have had a couple in  my group of boaters.  If it had to be a jet boat I'd only get the newer yamaha's. The sea doos were fun, but only run 50% of the time.

Handymans342

Believe it or not, they suck down the fuel too

J3ff

Yes, I've owned 3 jetski's and the only one that was "good" on gas was the honda.  The seadoo sporsters with twin engines would blow through 75% of their tank in a few hours. 

zaverin1

Yes gear driving the oil
pump needs to be removed 

halifax212

Nice boat for sure @shawnmjr   The boat would be cheaper to maintain than the deckhand I'm sure.

bry1429

I picked up a  16' Scarab Supercharged 250HP Jet boat and she's a rocket. I think They stopped making the seadoos back in 2011/2012. This one has been extremely reliable. 

bry1429

shawnmjr said:

Maaannnn that’s a nice setup you got there @bry1429
That’s your 360 in the background too right?

Yes, that's my 360 which we picked up from MT last year. Well, that's all the time I have to reply to you @shawnmjr cause I have to get back to work to pay to keep those floating!!! 

Liberty44140

Hey Gang, thanks for the responses on this! This is exactly what I was looking for. Good comments on Sea Doo vs Yamaha, 2 stroke vs 4 stroke and on the oil injection issue. Sounds like if I did go with a Sea Doo 2 stroke with blocked off oil injection it may be ok as long as it was done correctly. I would absolutely prefer a newer 4 stroke so will look for that. Agree with Al on an 18' Key West, they seem hard to come by but that is exactly what I would prefer, but the Admiral has wanted a Jet Boat since I met her 12 yrs ago so I needed to vet out the do's and don'ts if we are going to get her what she wants. I'll keep hunting and probably come back with questions. I was looking at 1996 - 2000 2 stroke Sea Doo's (hence the injection conversion) but I may up my game a little to something in the 2003 Yamaha 4 stroke arena. To each their own but there is no way I would ever spend $30k - $40k on a Jet Boat, for that money I'd have a nice 23ft center console with twin outboards   

Dude_Himself

I would argue that the Yamaha's are SOOO much easier to maintain. Pops owns a SeaDoo, I've owned 4 in my lifetime. Modern day Doo's have smaller displacement engines per foot/weight than Yamaha does, and they push them much harder.

• SeaDoo SuperChargers - need annual maintenance or it fragments itself and the small ceramic bearings tumble into the intake and grind away the engine as part of the lubrication system.
• SeaDoo Valves: Sodium filled (lighter, higher reving), but they tend to rust out where the exhaust allows moisture in
• SeaDoo pumps: Smaller for better holeshot, but as they come out of spec they dramatically drop power.

The Yamaha's, however, are typically lower performing twin engines. They're dirt simple, lower compression, heavier construction, and tend to last a lot longer. You'll find a lot of SeaDoo's under 400 hours, but not many running over that (without a rebuild). You'll find many Yamaha's for sale with 1000's of hours, still running. You'll pay more for the Yamaha, but I really feel they're better craft.

Jet drive vs prop: horrible economy, can't run as shallow (without sucking up debris), can't plane on one engine, can easily clog with debris, you will have to dive under the boat to clear it out (vs raising the drive and staying dry), and the self-draining scupper design almost always leads to water in the boat. When it was cold I'd plug the scuppers and pray I didn't take a wave. I was happy to transition to prop drive.

Just my 2 cents.

wm61356

I second alswagg's comments. I was interested in a small jet boat but a good friend of mine suggested I look at small center console boats as well. I purchased a Boston Whaler 130 Super Sport and absolutely love it. Quiet and reliable Mercury 40 HP 4 stroke sips fuel and runs strong. The boat only draws 8 inches of water and I never have to worry about a jet pump sucking up weeds or sand. It has plenty of room for gear or passengers... There are several brands that make a similar type of boat as the BW that are worth consideration in my opinion. Good luck with whatever you choose!

Liberty44140

Need some more advice. Found a 1996 Sea doo challenger 15. Has the single 110hp, 787cc engine. $2800 cash and it has a replaced engine. Great deal I’d like to jump on but the current owner is not sure that it will pull a skier. We are not hard core water skiers but like to ski on some nice mornings. Current owner has never tried skiing. Will this boat pull a 130-180 lb person?

69fastback

Dude_Himself said:

I would argue that the Yamaha's are SOOO much easier to maintain. Pops owns a SeaDoo, I've owned 4 in my lifetime. Modern day Doo's have smaller displacement engines per foot/weight than Yamaha does, and they push them much harder.

• SeaDoo SuperChargers - need annual maintenance or it fragments itself and the small ceramic bearings tumble into the intake and grind away the engine as part of the lubrication system.
• SeaDoo Valves: Sodium filled (lighter, higher reving), but they tend to rust out where the exhaust allows moisture in
• SeaDoo pumps: Smaller for better holeshot, but as they come out of spec they dramatically drop power.

The Yamaha's, however, are typically lower performing twin engines. They're dirt simple, lower compression, heavier construction, and tend to last a lot longer. You'll find a lot of SeaDoo's under 400 hours, but not many running over that (without a rebuild). You'll find many Yamaha's for sale with 1000's of hours, still running. You'll pay more for the Yamaha, but I really feel they're better craft.

Jet drive vs prop: horrible economy, can't run as shallow (without sucking up debris), can't plane on one engine, can easily clog with debris, you will have to dive under the boat to clear it out (vs raising the drive and staying dry), and the self-draining scupper design almost always leads to water in the boat. When it was cold I'd plug the scuppers and pray I didn't take a wave. I was happy to transition to prop drive.

Just my 2 cents.

spot on. The Yamahas are light years better than those old sea doo boats. Also, Yamaha has a compartment you can open and clear the drives from inside the boat. 

Liberty44140

Thanks 69 but I’ve moved on from the original question and I’m looking to understand if a 15’ Sea doo with a single 110hp jet will pull a skier. I would think yes as a 17’ center console with a 90hp outboard has no problem but wanted to ask the experts here. 

Mike_G

Just wanted to chime in..  We had a 2003 Sugar Sand Tango Xtreme with the 240HP 2-stoke fuel injected Mercury. That thing was rock solid the entire time we had it.  So much power! Had to be well over 500 hours on it.  We used it 4 days a week, all summer each year.  A friend of mine bought it last year and it's still strong (my friend sold the lake house).

Here is a mostly boring video of me cruising around one of the lakes in the chain we were on.  A couple spinouts later in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlpSK4bP22k

-=Mike G.

Dude_Himself

It will, when it runs right. It'll run right, if you pay attention to the RAVE, carbs, and jet.

Carbs = it's 90% getting the right pop off pressure and sync. That can take some work, and isn't the easiest.

RAVE: keep them clean and my bed.

Jet: you'll almost undoubtedly have to pull the pump, shaft, foot, and re-bed it. They ALL leak after a few years. Replace the carbon seal with a grease seal, machine the shaft to work with the new seal, and put a couple pumps of grease every month. Without that I would wager it'll cavitate within the first 10 hours you run it, if not when you buy it.

I made money in college buying these running rough, tuning them, and selling them. Properly cared for - they'll give the 18' supercharged 4-tec a run for the money. They'll yank twin slaloms up, easily pull a skier/tuber, and put you in the seat.

zaverin1

Ye I agree with dude
chexk compression prior to purchase but no answer your question yes it will pull a skier

Liberty44140

Thanks guys. Great info Dude, engine was replaced with a used block that was in good shape 3 years ago so I will see if that jet work was done yet or not. Will keep on the maintenance!

Zav we did compression, was good at just over 150 on each and within 1 or 2 psi. Used a cheap auto zone rental and got weird readings at first but then gave it a quick final turn in the hole with pliers and it tightened up and gave good readings. Forgot to open the throttle for the test but from what I read that rarely makes a difference and would only make them a little better.

thanks again!

Liberty44140

Admiral is a very happy camper that she has a jet boat and the captain is very happy that he made her happy for under $3k

randy56

Summer time fun right there, looks clean, good shape. If mom is happy!

zaverin1

Yes open or closed will show a psi difference lol
those are good numbers
anway convert it over to premix and you will be solid for years to come 
never trust oil pumps 

zaverin1

If you need instructions let me know 

Liberty44140

Thanks Zav!

Dream_Inn

That looks like a lot of fun!!

zaverin1

Oh
if stored inside always leave the engine hatch open
those things hate humidity and moisture
electronics that is