[mdb8113]

Hey guys new to the forum, have a question for you.
I just bought a 98 XP limited, put it in the water last night and it sank!
We found out there's a big crack in the plastic exhaust elbow as it exits the ski. So instead if holding the water at the 90 degree bend it just took on water and sank. We got it back on shore drained the water, pulled the plugs, turned the engine over got the water out. Worked at it for a bit but got it running then changed out the plugs for new ones. When I got it home, fogged the cylinders out well, turned the engine over a couple times then reinstalled plugs and it fired up and seems to idle and run fine.
The part won't be here till Friday or Monday, will it be ok till I can fix it and get out on the water and run it? Anyhing else you guys would recommend to do?
Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[mdb8113]

Wow thanks for the help....great forum, lol.

 

[JayDawg]

Why would you run it in the water again knowing it will just fill back up and sink once more? That doesn't make any sense. Maybe that is why nobody responded back to your question.:confused-smiley-013

 

[mdb8113]

I wasn't trying to put it back in the water until I got the part to fix it. I was asking for advice on anything I should check engine wise etc. since it was under water for a minute, until I could fix it ski.

 

[JayDawg]

Okay, gotcha. I sank my 750 SXI at the Colorado river back in 98 or 99? It was under for quite a while before I was able to refloat it with the help of a passing boater. To this day we still don't know how water got into the engine compartment but we thing it was a bad seal on the hood. My extended warranty paid for everything to be fixed but I know that the dealership went through that ski with a fine tooth comb. The things to check are make sure no water got in your gas or oil. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to drain both and fill them back up with fresh everything. Check all of your electrical boxes and components. That was a big killer for mine. My electrical box with everything inside of it had to be replaced which was extremely expensive. Really, anywhere you think water may have gotten, check and make sure it is dry but since your ski is running it sounds like you probably got everything.

When you do get in back in the water, check for these things.

Don't just go and run it. Keep it close to shore and run it easy and listen for any abnormal sounds. If you hear anything weird take it back to dry land and try and find what is causing the abnormal noise. Also run it for about 15 or 20 minutes close to shore and then take it back and check it for any other additional leaks. Also, pay close attention to how high your ski sits in the water. If you notice it riding a lot lower in the water, that is a good sign there is another leak and you need to get back to shore and in a hurry. Once you are sure nothing else is leaking, then go and have fun.

On my stand up, after I got it back, that is what I did with it and there were no other additional leaks found. The hood deal was also replaced and it now stays bone dry in the engine compartment but I do have to admit that even to this day, I will no longer go way off shore on that ski anymore. I used to go in the ocean in it and go wave jumping a few miles out but because we really don't know what caused the engine compartment to fill with water, I am just really gun shy of taking it way out again. At the river, this guy with this huge jet boat had to tow my ski over 15 miles with me sitting on the back end of it and doing my best to hold the nose up on it to keep it from sinking again. We had to go at an idles pace for about 2 hours until we came to a sand bar and could dump the water out of the ski. He then towed me about 10 more miles back to the launch ramp and the ski had already filled with water again.

 

[mdb8113]

Thanks JayDawg,
Got the parts fixed it and took it out tonight. Stayed bone dry all night not a drop of water in the hull. So thats a good thing! But now I have a new problem, the ski only runs about 45 mph on the speedo. Pretty slow, my friend has the exact same ski and its wicked fast stock. Talked to a couple guys on other skis and they checked my low setting on the carbs, said they where way to far out. And to clean my RAVE valves since they were filthy. So I'll do all that tomorrow......Any other suggestions before I put it in tomorrow night anyone?