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Several months ago I purchased a 1997 Sea Doo Challenger 1800 with a known problem. The root of the problem was not known, but the fact that there was a problem was made clear. The problem is exclusively with the right engine. The problem was that the right engine would quit after 15 to 20 minutes of run time. Until that point, the engine(s) ran fine. In an attempt to fix the problem the dealer drained and replaced the fuel. That did nothing to fix the problem. They next removed and cleaned (supposedly) the carburetors and they also removed the rave valves. When I received the boat, these parts were still off the boat.
I installed the rave valves paying particular attention to their proper rotation as specified by the factory manual. I also installed the carburetors and associated linkage without any adjustment, i.e. it seemed to fit as it was.
We had problems starting the engine after a short run. I took it in to my local dealer and he couldn’t get the engine started, and ended up replacing the MPEM (ouch).
Over the weekend we had a chance to test the boat. The engine(s) start fine, however, I am having a problem, again with the right engine. The LEFT engine seems to go through the entire RPM range from idle to 7000 rpm with no problem. You can increment the rpms to any value in the range. The right engine is another story. It seems to go from the idle range to 4000 to 4500 fine. Then it jumps to 6000 and above. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground. I tried this many times, even to the point of going to the 6000 plus rpms and slowly throttling back to attain a “middle ground” within the 4000 – 6000 area. I seem to drop into the high fives then directly back to the 4000 – 4500 area.
I am wondering if this could be related to the carburetors. Since the previous dealer had them off but didn’t reinstall them. The rave valves are adjusted to specs.
I would hope that the populous of informed Sea Doo owners will have some wonderful ideas of where to look to solve this problem.
I installed the rave valves paying particular attention to their proper rotation as specified by the factory manual. I also installed the carburetors and associated linkage without any adjustment, i.e. it seemed to fit as it was.
We had problems starting the engine after a short run. I took it in to my local dealer and he couldn’t get the engine started, and ended up replacing the MPEM (ouch).
Over the weekend we had a chance to test the boat. The engine(s) start fine, however, I am having a problem, again with the right engine. The LEFT engine seems to go through the entire RPM range from idle to 7000 rpm with no problem. You can increment the rpms to any value in the range. The right engine is another story. It seems to go from the idle range to 4000 to 4500 fine. Then it jumps to 6000 and above. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground. I tried this many times, even to the point of going to the 6000 plus rpms and slowly throttling back to attain a “middle ground” within the 4000 – 6000 area. I seem to drop into the high fives then directly back to the 4000 – 4500 area.
I am wondering if this could be related to the carburetors. Since the previous dealer had them off but didn’t reinstall them. The rave valves are adjusted to specs.
I would hope that the populous of informed Sea Doo owners will have some wonderful ideas of where to look to solve this problem.
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