97 SL700 loss of power

[Jun26angel]

I installed a premimum SBT engine in October 2006, used several times over the past few months breaking in ski as recommended. Ski was running great until last time out and appears to be unable to increase power above about 20-30 percent. When I checked the plugs I found water on the plugs, unable to determine the cause if water in the cylinder. Ski starts everytime, sounds great until I try to increase power to plane out ski.

I am looking for any suggestions on probable cause. I suspected possible leaking head gasket, but I did not want to void the warranty if I took anything apart looking for the problem.

[Technical Support]

Re: 97 SL700 loss of power

If it were one plug I'd say it's possible. Both? No way. If you haven't done anything wrong like flipped the ski, flushed with the water on and engine off, etc. - then I would suspect your exhaust manifold joint first. What did you treat the gaskets with? How about the pipe to manifold?

What caused your original engine to fail, and what other repairs were made other than swapping the block?

[Jun26angel]

Re: 97 SL700 loss of power

Thanks for the quick reply. By the way, I should mention I did fog the engine after discovering the water just to make sure no corrosion started. After futher troubleshooting I did discover two of the forward exhaust manifold bolts loose causing a leak. I have installed gasket and sealed with high temp gasket sealer.

As for what happened to the original engine, I do not know the cause. I just purchased it last summer and only used it 2 or 3 times before the rings on the forward piston came apart and damaged the cylinder.

No other work has been performed on the motor except for replacing the block. Question is, how can I confirm no water is remaining in block? Do I need to do anything else before operating the ski to prevent possible damage?

Thanks

[Technical Support]

Re: 97 SL700 loss of power

First, you need to run the engine hard for at least 30 min on the water, to be assured it's purged.

Second, you can not use a silicone on your gaskets. The install guide states Copper Gasket Treatment, make sure what you used was a brush on or spray. If it came in a tube (labeled sealer) it's the wrong stuff.

Fogging oil does nothing if you have water in the engine.

If you have an external issue, and it's not corrected, the new engine will just fail too. I can't tell you want to look for, but I would go over everything.