Ticking noise in water

Chris35

Cadet
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
10
I have 1997 Yamaha 1100 Wave Venture. The engine starts right up and runs great! 59 MPH! there is a ticking or knocking noise when in water at idle. When started with no water to after taking Wave Venture out of water there is no ticking or knocking! Any thoughts?
 

wahlejim

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 23, 2015
Messages
884
You need to isolate the noise. Is it coming from the engine or the pump assembly?

What are your idle RPMs? On some of those older skis, there is play and vibration in the impeller. Manufacturers started putting in different anti-vibration cones in the late 90s to stop the tick or rattle. If your idle RPMs are too low, the rattle gets louder.

Regardless, it may be time to go through the carb. Low idle rpms could be a sign of a loss of fuel in the idle circuit. A tick or a knock in the engine could be a sign of a lean condition. With a 21 year old ski, it might be time to rebuild those.

You may also try searching over at greenhulk, very large forum over there dedicated to PWCs
 

Chris35

Cadet
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
10
Thanks for the response. There is no RPM gage. The ski idles at 3 MPH very close to the two other 1100 I own, all three exactly the same years/ski. I will try running on garden hose in two weeks when I get back to lake.
 

jbetzelb

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
301
I had this with a Polaris. I thought the engine was about done. Ticking and knocking sound. 40 bucks for new pump bearings and the noise was gone.
 

wahlejim

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 23, 2015
Messages
884
You can't rely on a ski's speedometer for engine health. You need to put a shop tach on it to know you are running correctly. One of the biggest fatal failures of those old two stroke carbed engines is a lean condition causing problems, most notably detonation, destroying a piston. A drop in idle rpms is the first sign that there is some sort of blockage in your carbs, causing a lean condition. If you catch it early enough, you can prevent damage.
 
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