New Guy Checking In- 2001 Challenger

[Seadoo4me]

Finalizing purchase of above boat this week. I've had several jetski's but this is our first jetboat. I've downloaded the operator and service manuals and will be going over everything in the checklist before she hits the water. I'd like to rebuild the oil pumps but can't locate the parts. do most people just switch over to pre-mix fuel for added reliability ?

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

I believe your boat has a v 6 mercury engine, those are basically outboard engines adapted to a jet pump so I would think the outboard oil pump would be the same . also be sure you can get pump parts as those may be difficult to locate if you ever need them check with short bloc technology in Clearwater Florida and see if they carry any parts. And N A P A auto parts carried a lot of parts for outboards , Ask them to look in their small engine parts catalog if the person you talk to is not familiar with those parts I had was surprised to find that they carried boat parts but it has been many years since I did so maybe they don't carry those any more but it's worth a try. Also find mercury dealers that have been around a long tims as they could have parts as well.

 

[Speedling]

Grats on the boat!
Oil pumps allow for more/less oil when needed and are the way to go if you can. Going premix works but may be oil rich in some cases which isn't bad per se. I don't know how the oil lines are on that engine but look to see how old they look and possibly replace them. It's cheap added insurance of the system. A line falling off from being dry and cracked causes catastrophic failure. I have a piston on my desk to show what happens!

 

[Seadoo4me]

I believe your boat has a v 6 mercury engine, those are basically outboard engines adapted to a jet pump so I would think the outboard oil pump would be the same . also be sure you can get pump parts as those may be difficult to locate if you ever need them check with short bloc technology in Clearwater Florida and see if they carry any parts. And N A P A auto parts carried a lot of parts for outboards , Ask them to look in their small engine parts catalog if the person you talk to is not familiar with those parts I had was surprised to find that they carried boat parts but it has been many years since I did so maybe they don't carry those any more but it's worth a try. Also find mercury dealers that have been around a long tims as they could have parts as well.

Actually this boat has twin 85hp Rotax engines. Thanks for the welcome !

Grats on the boat!
Oil pumps allow for more/less oil when needed and are the way to go if you can. Going premix works but may be oil rich in some cases which isn't bad per se. I don't know how the oil lines are on that engine but look to see how old they look and possibly replace them. It's cheap added insurance of the system. A line falling off from being dry and cracked causes catastrophic failure. I have a piston on my desk to show what happens!

Thanks Speedling. I am building a list of stuff to renew and the oil lines and filter are first up. The PO replaced both carbs so I'm going to use a Wix water absorber to get as much water out of the fuel system as I can and hit the fuel filters while I'm at it, along with some Amsoil Ethanol treatment. Gotta be some water in there I reckon. Would suck to have to pull reserve and just get water (Don't ask). After that are the electrics and water lines and driveline lube. Should keep me busy until the lake thaws out

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

ok then sea doo pumps should be easy to get

 

[biffdotorg]

That's good news and odd news.

Seadoo engines and pumps will be easy to work on and get parts for. If it's a 2001, Jeff was right, they were all Mercury Sportjets in the Challenger 1800 and 2000. Run the VIN at a BRP dealer and confirm it's age. And don't over pay, there are many on the market.

If it's one of the little 4-person Challengers, I do believe that was one of the last years of what some called a Challenger 15, as it was 15' long. They had dual 787 Rotax engines.

Sounds like a 4-person tilt-a-whirl. Enjoy!

 

[Scottintexas]

glad to have you on board, show us some pictures and let us know how the rebuild goes,

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

787 is a 110 hp 720 is 85 hp My info was a v6 and all he needs to do is look at the last 2 digits of the hull number to see the year

 

[biffdotorg]

Exactly, checking the hull number was more or less to determine if they size engines it shipped with are actually installed. It's pretty easy to see if it has a single merc, due to one pump. And the size is obvious on the air cleaner.

I'm not sure if the size of the rotax engines is obvious by looking at them. My guess is it says something on them.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

On boats the last 2 digits of the id number is always the year of the boat so if he is confused about the year this would answer that question. as for engines the sea doo boats use jet ski engines if they don't have the v 6 mercury engines

 

[Seadoo4me]

This little critter is strange as far as cataloging goes I discovered. I haven't checked the model number on the tag, just working off the hull ID. She does have 2 Rotax engines and they aren't the 787 since I don't see any RAVE hardware which I believe those motors have, yes ? I wish they were actually but oh well. On one parts website the specs for model #5699 boat seem accurate. I'll throw some pics up when I get her home. Thanks for all the help guys, sorry for all the confusion.

 

[Seadoo4me]

That's good news and odd news.

Seadoo engines and pumps will be easy to work on and get parts for. If it's a 2001, Jeff was right, they were all Mercury Sportjets in the Challenger 1800 and 2000. Run the VIN at a BRP dealer and confirm it's age. And don't over pay, there are many on the market.

If it's one of the little 4-person Challengers, I do believe that was one of the last years of what some called a Challenger 15, as it was 15' long. They had dual 787 Rotax engines.

Sounds like a 4-person tilt-a-whirl. Enjoy!

She is 15 feet but motors appear to be 720's, no RAVE valves evident. I wouldn't mind having 787s but these will get me across the lake hopefully ?

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

One thing you need to know about all rotary valve sea doo engines is the rotary valve shaft relies on the oil reservoir for it's oil, so if you end up deleting the oil injection you must not remove the oil lines to the rotary valve compartment and you must monitor the oil level.
The seals between that section and the cylinder section on the crank shaft often leak oil into the sections at the bottom of the cylinders this will be obvious if you start the engine after it has been sitting a long time like a few days or weeks and the smoke is very heavy until the oil burns off. The only way to fix that is to tear down the engine and replace the seals , often people do not understand that the rotary valve shaft also needs the oil so they remove the injection system all together and end up destroying the gears on the crank that drive the rotary valve shaft. The only 2 stroke sea doo engine that does not use the rotary valve is the 951 all the others have them.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

The 15 foot uses the 85 hp twin engines the 18 and 20 foot challengers use the single mercury v6 engines in 2001 I totally forgot they called the 15 foot a challenger I thought that was a sportster but that was 2002 when they changed the name to sportster and in 2001 they made a 13 foot single engine 85 hp called the explorer .

 

[Seadoo4me]

Thanks for the reply. I had 2 SP that had pump issues but after I put seals in them and bled/adjusted them they were GTG. I haven't found a vendor that still carries the kits yet unfortunately. I'm likely pulling the non rebuilt motor this winter and going thru it, one of my customers here does a lot of Rotax engines and I have done a couple myself. We have long winters here...My hull# CECB0314K900, which I guess makes it 2000 M/Y. Probably should have put that out in first post, sorry guys

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

It would be a 2000 check with S B T in Clearwater Florida for parts. 1-877-330-0231 sbt.com

 

[Seadoo4me]

Some reading at Greenhulk is recommending I replace all of the grey fuel lines and clean the on/off valves in addition to draining all the old fuel and cleaning the filters in the carbs which get clogged with broken down hose material. The PO replaced the carbs and hopefully they're clean but I'll check anyway. I'm going to replace the oil lines at the pumps to rotary cover and inline oil filter as well. Driveline greasing and all nozzle and steering pivots also. If the battery is more than 2 years old I will replace it. The pumps were rebuilt last year. I do have the list from the manual for guidance is there anything I'm missing ?

 

[Seadoo4me]

SIT-REP. Have lost count of all the hours I have put into getting this boat ready for duty. Countless hacked up PO wiring repairs, newer oil pumps, replaced 1 rotary valve and cover with a SBT reman cover, 2 rebuilt bronze pumps and carbon seal kits. New engine oil lines, fuel system cleaning. New DESS post, beeper, rebuilt both engine electrical boxes and much more. On the plus side both engines have very good compression and the new pumps will be better than what came off for sure. I also installed a NOCO Genm1 onboard charging system and replaced a starter on the port engine. Unfortunately I haven't had her wet yet, hoping for next weekend. Everything the PO's bothered to try to fix they screwed up and just plain didn't bother on some repairs at all.