[notsosmart]

I ran my waverunner over a sandbar (it was really hard to see, I swear...) and suddenly lost power. The machine will only reach about 5 to 7 mph and starts to vibrate and make a weird noise...... ( yes, I'm a girl, and yes this is my first watercraft, yes I'm blonde, any other questions???) anyway, so did I totally ruin my machine? Should I not tell my BF who will Kill me if he finds out? Is it possible I can just empty out the sand that was sucked in or something with out anyone knowing........=)??? or do I need to take it to mechanic. I have spent the last couple hours googling "sucking sand impellor waverunner" etc etc, and I think I must be the only one stupid enough to let it happen because I really coudn't find any good info. BTW, I do have tools and can work on the think myself if it is not too involved. No, really, I can.......

Thanks to anyone who takes time to respond.

 

[nycibbyryder]

found this looking around myself, hope it helps

Sand will be pushed into the cooling system

by the jet pump and can cause overheating of the engine and exhaust due to restricted coolant flow. Running the ski on a flush hose will help push the sand back out of the engine. Rolling the ski over 360 degrees in the water and then starting the engine will help to remove any sand trapped in the bottom of the cylinders cooling passages. Gravel will damage the impeller, impeller housing and guide vanes in the pump. Inspect the pump and remove any gravel that is lodged in the pump



Read more: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SAND AND GRAVEL IS SUCKED INTO... - JustAnswer

 

[notsosmart]

Oh, hello! Thanks so much for your reply and your advise!!! I will try this flushing the engine etc. I had a friend who is a helicopter mechanic look at it today, and we inspected the impeller and housing and the shaft for damage. There is very minimal damage only to the blades, and certainly nothing visible that would cause the loss of propulsion, and the loud noise with vibration. We started the motor and ran it very briefly and it sounds fine and runs fine. I will flush it and take it to the water to turn it 360 degrees. Thanks so much!!! My bf is on a trip right now, I just hope I can fix it before he comes back and finds out!!!
sounds like a new impeller and housing are around $6-700 and then there's the mechanic's fee also. Expensive day at the beach!! I hope it's an easy fix. And I promise to never ever ever run into a sand bar again!!

 

[nycibbyryder]

Yeah they can be expensive but instead of buying a new one you can get it re-pitched and re-finished for cheaper and usually with a larger hp gain too. On the other note, yeah stay away from the sand especially with a ski that has open loop cooling.

 

[notsosmart]

So I thoroughly checked the impeller and housing and found no damage that would cause such a loss of power, then I flushed the cooling system, and no sand came out..... so took it down to the water and it runs like nothing ever happened!!!! Weird..... So a friend of mine suggested that possibly I knocked the reverse cover down halfway when I jumped in the water to push it over the shallow part. I'm just so happy I didn't go spend a thousand bucks on having unnecessary repairs done!!! =) And my BF gets back tomorrow and he won't kill me.. thanks so much for you advise it really really helped me:thumbsup: