2001 XP (# 951CARB) Possible Thrown Rod Bearing, maybe oil pump

[Scooby]

2002 GTX Bombardier 4-TEC
2001 XP (951) carb

Hi fellow water-sport enthusiasts!
My friend and I went out to Parker, AZ, a few weeks ago to the Colorado river…we live in the “OC” (Orange County, Ca., not Florida) so it’s about a 31/2 hour ride from home.

He takes very good care of these skis, uses nothing but Rotax 2-stoke oil, and maintains it the best he can. His son works on trucks and Dirt bike engines, so they both know a thing or two about a thing or two. Anyway, he was riding the ski, he told me, long and fast, and then heard a noise. He thinks it was a blown Rod Bearing.


We towed the ski back to the beach and he also noticed an air bubble in the oil Reserve to the oil Pump. As far as he knows, he did not get any water in it, and questions why there would be a bubble in the oil line anyway. He also suspects oil Pump. We will take it apart tomorrow, hopefully and see if there is anything else.



We were going to rebuild it ourselves, but checking around for parts would be costly, so we checked out a few local shops (Corona, Temecula, and Mission Motorsports) I believe they all would ship our shortblock out to SBT, but they told me their engines are on backorder to the 17th. So now we are contemplating going through BRP in Canada and use all genuine SeaDoo Parts.

Anyone have any suggestions, or experienced any problems with directly going through BRP in Canada, with genuine Seadoo parts.

What could cause this rod bearing to fail? Thanks for any comments or suggestions.


Jim

[dsolie]

Re: 2001 XP (# 951CARB) Possible Thrown Rod Bearing, maybe oil pump

I would verify exactly what the cause is. A small oil bubble in the line (especially on a high spot) is not uncommon. What exact noise did he hear, have you performed compression tests on the cylinders? How about removing the rave valves and looking at the piston skirts from that angle.

My suggestion, since he is mechanically inclined is to start taking it apart. Find the cause and the extent of the damage before you decide on what you want to do.