How long ?

[TNT]

This may sound funny ? but how many hours can one put on the engine of a PWC ? I have a seadoo 1995 GTX and i've never worked on the engine, and the hours LOL could be ,,,, over 300 , still runs great i've had it from new.

[Technical Support]

400-500 is about it for a Sea-Doo, assuming everythign else is ok. Polaris is a little more, while Kawi and Yamaha (in general) will get upwards of 1000.

99% of the time an engine is killed from something else though, like lack of oil, clogged cooling systems, water ingestion, bad/lack of fuel, etc.

[flexnit]

that's all a sea-doo will last? even if you maintain the engine by changing oil regularly and so on???

[Technical Support]

Sea-Doo designs thier engines on the edge of performance, sacrificing longevity. Didn't you ever wonder why Yamaha uses an 1100cc triple to get 110 HP, while Sea-Doo uses a 785cc twin?

This does NOT apply to the 4-strokes skis though. Tests have shown over 1500 hours between 4-stroke rebuilds so far.

[flexnit]

I just bought a '97 Sea Doo XP that the dealer is putting a brand new SBT motor in. How long can I expect this thing to last?

[Technical Support]

I already answered that. Usually around 500 hours if nothing else kills it first.

[flexnit]

My bad, I thought you meant 500 hours on the "non-remanufactured" original engine.

[flexnit]

Also, is it possible that the engine could go far beyond 500 hours?

[flexnit]

I don't mean to sound so ignorant. I am new to the PWC business. I guess what I'm so curious about is, why won't PWC engines last as long as...say ATV engines? I know there is a difference, but I don't see how PWC has any harder of a job than an ATV yet ATVs will last freakin forever. PWC just seem so unreliable compared to them.

[Technical Support]

Yes, I meant 500 hours on an OEM AND our engine. We have tested ours to last as long or longer than OEM through endurance testing.

Yes there are always exceptions, you will hear of a few people that reached huindreds more hours. It's certainly not the rule however.

Put your ATV in a water environment, flip it upside down, put a wet exhaust on it, and rev it to the limiter in mid-air, then slam it back down to grab traction at WOT.

Then tell me your ATV engine lasts longer [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Bill O'Neal]

WOT doesn't kill the motor if it has the oem rev limiter on it. Abuse and neglect kill PWC motors more often than not.

An ATV has a transmission. Tires slip on the dirt surface. An ATV motor is under much less stress and loaded much less than a PWC motor.

A pwc motor is loaded like a car with the emergency brake half on during operation.

[TNT]

That was good reading, what SBT & flexnit were saying , when you think about it , your more likly to have you PWC at WOT more then your ATV , thanks for your input.

[Dick]

Neglect and poor storage is the biggest killer around here, Michigan.