'97 Sea Doo GTi Taking On Water

[metriccrescentwrench]

I've had this one for about a year and it just recently started taking on water - my daughter had it out for about 30 minutes and when she was done it had 4 or 5 inches in the bottom.

To help track down the problem I put several inches of water in the hull and raised the nose of the trailer - I noticed a dribble of water coming out of the exhaust. SO...... it seems to me that the likely culprit is the hose clamp holding the exhaust hose to the exhaust outlet. Do the experts here think I'm on the right track? (The next trick will be figuring out how in the world to get to clamp to tighten it.)

The other question I have is that it doesn't seem that the 'bailers' are doing anything. I checked them and they're not clogged, but I haven't had a chance to take all the hoses off and check them. When they're working properly how quickly should they be able to get water out of the hull?

 

[QBhoy]

Hi
two culprits would be the exhaust leaking and or the cooling outlets indicators....or your ride plate or pump gear seal. Or even the intermediate bearing seal.
If you have the eductor type bailers you need to be under way for them to work.

 

[wahlejim]

To test you are better off with the ski in the water, tied off to a dock or trailer, and running. This will confirm an exhaust leak. As QBhoy mentioned, the bailers only work while underway. There is a small hose that points outward in the jet nozzle. Water passing over this hose creates a suction effect and bails water out of the hull. If there is any air leaking into that circuit of hoses you will lose this function. The entire passage must be clear of debris. Have you had the pump off lately? A common culprit is a bad o-ring where the pump meets the hull. That is part of the system on Sea Doos.