New to me 165 Ghost - what things to check / replace to prevent oops moments.

[mat_l_1]

Hi jetboaters...

Recently found a 2016 165 Ghost that needed a new home. So I sold the family 2010 pontoon and decided to buy a fun boat. Took quick on water test drive and it appeared to be solid before I bought. Wanted to see if there is a list of stuff I should do for a good 'shakeout' to make sure I don't have any surprises this summer - so I can be comfortable with the family taking it out.

Boat details...

• Base level 165 Ghost 61 hours.
• Scarab factory tower added.
• Has aftermarket cover
• Prior owner was saying the stock bilge float kept sticking and would drain battery.. so he added battery shutoff and different Bilge.
  • I may want to add back in the OG bilge and have 2x bilge ready, but need to figure out 'where' that one actually 'is hiding' / 'was hiding'

Trailer -all lights checked out OK. Note - looks like the left bunk had a 'hard reload event' and they added a 2x wood underneath as extra support

Boat Lift- will need to swap the pontoon setup to a jet runabout setup..


While trailering I started without the aftermarket snap on cover installed - however the whole back engine cover popped up while driving. I originally thought that I must not have shut it hard enough, but on the second event where It popped open, I pulled into a service station and installed the cover - no issues after that for another 150 miles

• Is there an adjustment on the latch to make it more secure?

Just because it is a 6 year old boat and things wear out - I do want to make it the best experience for my family i can.I'm not a boat mechanic, but not afraid to disassemble, reassemble, and torque a wrench on cars...

• Does anyone have a good checklist of things they would verify - stuff to check out and in water / running/ at rest
• Symptoms to watch for
• Items that should be replaced / checked- just because stuff wears out.

After making it home - I trailered to the boat launch and I did another quick solo run yesterday keeping RPMs and speed lower ... noticed - small amount of green antifreeze in bilge and low reservoir. Let it all cool off and after a quick tighten on a few clamps (thanks to this forum for the advise and link to pictures) - and next quick run - no green in bilge. Will keep an eye on the coolant (i did top it off with premix green)

Today I will give it a run w full throttle and watch for more stuff (again looking for water in bilge / ski locker / elsewhere) based on what I've read in this forum.


Thanks in advance & happy boating.

 

[mat_l_1]

OK - I see a lot of good stuff pinned at the top of the forum.. https://jetboaters.net/threads/scarab-jet-boat-information-repository.4802/. will be reading awhile..

Still wondering about stuff to check on a 6 yo. boat.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Prior owner was saying the stock bilge float kept sticking and would drain battery.. so he added battery shutoff and different Bilge.

• I may want to add back in the OG bilge and have 2x bilge ready, but need to figure out 'where' that one actually 'is hiding' / 'was hiding'

The original bilge was probably like mine. A yellow supersub 650. Located slightly to the port of the centerline of the boat under the exhaust manifold. If it's there, it's bright yellow. If it is that type and the float was stuck, it's actually not a float. It's a solid state electric sensor that detects water. The older models like ours were often installed at too shallow of an angle. The bow side of the bilge pump (where the sensor is) sits too low relative to the stern side of the pump (where the water intake is). This makes the pump always detect the little bit of water left and NOT be able to suck it up since the intake is too high. It has to be inclined further. I installed a stainless clamp and rotated the bolt so it sits under the pump forward of the black mount. This raises that side of the pump and solves this. New models of this pump now come with an included wedge that does this for you.

however the whole back engine cover popped up while driving

The cover popping open can be due to various things. Here's what you need to do:

- Ensure the latch side (on the engine hatch), is properly screwed and tight. Make sure nothing is cracked (a few have found cracks in the plastic).
- The pin side (bolted to the boat) must be secure and NOT shift at all. Vibrations often make that nut come loose. When it does, it allows the pin to tilt and will allow the latch to let go. I highly recommend adding some lock washers, loctite, etc. To prevent it from becoming loose. Still, check it before any significant towing or a few times throughout the season.
- The pin has two flat sides, and two rounded sides if you look at it carefully. Make sure the rounded sides are positioned along the stern/bow axis of the boat. The flat sides should be oriented port/starboard. The reason this matters is that the hole in the latch is round. There is a tiny catch pin inside the latch if you look carefully. It grabs the FRONT of the pin. If the flat spot is oriented to the front, then there's a gap between the pin and the latch. This means that it can flex a little inside and if it does, the latch lets go. Having the rounded part towards the front fills the hole fully and prevents this. I did a test a while back and discovered that if I hit the fiberglass wall hard right above the middle seat (apply force towards the stern), the whole back wall behind the seats can flex just a little. I was able to consistent make it let go of the catch pin if the flat spots were in the wrong position. If I rotated, then the problem went away.
- Another solution if it becomes really problematic is to simply replace the gas springs with weaker ones. If you can figure out how much force is needed to make the hatch "weight neutral", then it will never pop up. I actually added soundproofing to my engine hatch which added weight. In effect, made the hatch weight neutral. I have to lift it slightly to get it to open but it has the benefit of never popping open by mistake anymore.

• Does anyone have a good checklist of things they would verify - stuff to check out and in water / running/ at rest
• Symptoms to watch for
• Items that should be replaced / checked- just because stuff wears out.

Things to do/check:

- Check all screws through the boat and tighten them. Especially the hatch hinges (I actually replaced them with through bolts now). Don't forget the ladder screws!
- Tug on all hoses twice a year to ensure nothing comes loose.
- Listen for vibrations and add dampening tape accordingly. The ski locker hatch is a big source of vibrations. Adding tape around the perimeter can help considerably.
- Change spark plugs, oil and filter once a year in my case.
- Change engine coolant antifreeze every other year.
- Inspect the impeller and wear ring semi regularly through the intake grate with a flashlight. Check for dings, gouges, and clearance between the impeller and ring. I like to have a spare wear ring on hand since they are relatively inexpensive and are the main thing that can break if you suck something up. With that being said, 245h+ now and I've never had to change it. I also bought a spare impeller boot (goes in front of the impeller, black rubber piece), again because it's cheap and common to have it break if you suck up a rope.

Since many 165 owners have had this issue, including myself. Keep a close eye on your gas gauge. If your gas gauge shows full and you feel like there's no way... start being suspicious. It's entirely possible for your fuel float to become stuck in the full position inside your gas tank. Many have ran out of gas because of this issue and had to be towed. Hopefully you don't have this issue (many don't). But if you ever do, ping me on that one. Probably the world expert on this problem. lol

I'm sure there's more I could say. But this is probably plenty. Enough to get you started at least. Feel free to post more questions. Happy to answer as time permits.

 

[mat_l_1]

Luc - thank you for such thorough answers - as always - and your exeprtise on these boats.


Will be looking for OG bilge, playing with the latch pin (and looking at soundproofing ideas - will search the forum - to make weight neutral and quiet things down), checking hinge screws and inspecting impeller (once I take boat out or get my lift squared away - converting from toon to runabout)..

I like the ideas of having extra parts 'ready' Impeller, boot, wear ring, plugs, oil, antifreeze, damping tape, etc... [should probably search for a list on here of 'consumables' - and good things to have on board]



Now on to Continued testing...
Left the boat in the water overnight and no excess water in bilge - it floats. NOTE- if you have stock bilge it will pump out water that comes in. so this test is different.

Yesterdays on water continued test on the little 150 rotax engine - Took a longer 30 min run to test out some more stuff...

• idle rpm 1800
• top rpm 75XX (40/60/80 flipping around)...
• temps around 188 degrees - at least the 1 time I checked about 15 minutes in. (oops forgot to check that at the end)
• top speed approx 40ish mph on speedo. didn't check the phone GPS - next time... but that felt VERY FAST compared to 20 mph 'toon.
• Gas gauge ticking down - during OG tests just under 3/4 - now about 1/2 tank
• Bilge had a little water that I had to turn on the pump to empty (guess I just learned that isn't an autofloat one - and I'm lucky my overnight float test was a success) - However - no antifreeze green tint in the bilge after tightening the clamps. (and will check the antifreeze level later today to see if any was 'used' after the system cooled down overnight)
• when putting in neutral - it slows quickly and then sometimes i swear I'm going backwards (this time I tested neutral in an area with no current/wind)
• Ski locker did have small amount of water in it... (during test run, I know we took a lot of wave/splash so I wrote that off a bit).. HOWEVER this time - I put my hand in the water and it was WARM - so it came from somewhere in contact with the system. GOING to SUSPECT either the BOOT or Carbon Ring, but could be other stuff as well..

After I'm confident that she is ship shape mechanically - will look at.. more fun stuff over time.. (like winter projects)

• removing vibration sounds,
• adding sound system & 2nd house battery
• mats on the decking
• changing cleats to pop-up and possibly adding one 'port side' opposite the grab handles
• looking IF the seadoo modules to add eco/ski/docking mode - can be plug in and then candoo enabled (I see the lights on the existing dash and remember reading about those modules being available to add on to Seadoos)

Also does the ghost 165 come 'stock' with a big red ON/OFF batter switch right above the battery? (I may have to swap that out to a dual on/off system if I want to add 2nd 'deep cell' house battery with sound system)

Will use this post to track my progress - and so that others can search / learn from my mistakes

Thanks in advance & happy boating.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Your speeds/rpm all look good for your boat. That's what I get on my 150HP as well.

Ski locker did have small amount of water in it... (during test run, I know we took a lot of wave/splash so I wrote that off a bit).. HOWEVER this time - I put my hand in the water and it was WARM - so it came from somewhere in contact with the system. GOING to SUSPECT either the BOOT or Carbon Ring, but could be other stuff as well..

The lowest point in the boat is the ski locker. Water can travel between the ski locker and the bilge area. The engine will warm up the cavity and water there and it will move to the ski locker when you slow down. So warm water is common in the ski locker. If you want to test properly, the best thing to do... make sure your bilge pump is not going to turn on (disconnect it) and put your boat on a trailer. Fill it up like a bath tub and watch underneath for leaks. Then you'll know if there are any. Make sure things are dry outside first so you can spot leaks. Even food colouring.

removing vibration sounds,

The most thorough sound proofing info out there on the 165 will be mine. Look here and at post #34 for the work, #39 for the results. https://jetboaters.net/threads/scarab-165-mods.17479/page-2

That entire thread may be of interest since it's about a bunch of stuff I did on my 165.

• looking IF the seadoo modules to add eco/ski/docking mode - can be plug in and then candoo enabled (I see the lights on the existing dash and remember reading about those modules being available to add on to Seadoos)

Uncertain if Candoo can do this. I don't think so. I don't remember seeing any such options in the software. This may be a dealer/BUDS thing.

Also does the ghost 165 come 'stock' with a big red ON/OFF batter switch right above the battery? (I may have to swap that out to a dual on/off system if I want to add 2nd 'deep cell' house battery with sound system)

Yes.

 

[mat_l_1]

Rain for the holiday weekend - so i will search more fun stuff for the boat.

Luc - I was thinking the eco/ski/dock modes are a modules to add-on. Like on seadoo jetskis via https://shop.sea-doo.com/us/en/295100756-ski-module.html
I'm thinking scarab either uses similar or has 'their own'..

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Yes. I suspect you need their modules and their dealer software to unlock this.

 

[mat_l_1]

FYI _ I used Luc's align the round ends Bow/Stearn on latch pin -- before a 4 hour trip trailering and it SOLVED the issue of the hatch opening at highway speeds.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Yep. But keep an eye on it especially after trailering. Vibrations loosen it pretty quickly. Doesn't seem to matter how many lock washers or loctite you use. I keep a close eye on it.