Oh just pullin a 15 month old sbt engine

[Jaycav]

We been in the water since Thursday. Got about 1/4 or so left on the second fill up

 

[Babin Farms]

I was on the water 3 days this weekend and went through 25gal of fuel. I thought I used a lot. WOW!

Went out with 3 coworkers Thursday after work, kneebarded, wakeboarded and cruised, first thing the DW asks when I got home was "how much gas did you use?", not hi, how was it, have fun, all go good?

 

[Lilman573]

I just dropped a SBT new standard in my 09 ar210. Broke it in for about 5 hours. Heat cycles, varied throttle, and no wot. Seems to be running lime a champ. 8 hrs, and decided to tube last time out, didn't flinch.

For what its worth, my last motor failed due to corrosion in the block. Actually broke a piece off the mag side. I'm going to weld the block and rebuild that motor because it probably has to have less than 100 hours. I still have the same fear as you guys on here. My goal is to run the sbt motor hard while in warranty and build the spare ready to drop in in case of failure because of everything I have read. I mean, my new SBT motor is serial #3459. There is now way all 3k of thise motors have failed right?

Glad to hear you go it all sorted out!

 

[scokill]

I've seen some folks look for a ski with the same engine. Never seen anybody report a quick demise of donor engine. How many hours were on the original engine? Just trying confirm my observation over the years that if an MR1 makes it to a certain number of hours it's good from then on. I've mostly seen engines with catastrophic engine failure with low hours over a long period of time. I have yet to see someone post...."my MR1 with 1,500 hours finally crapped out"

 

[Lilman573]

Unfortunately, my MR-1 still ran, except for showing overheat, when it was removed. There was so much salt and corrosion in it from not being properly flushed (coupled with a bad design) the block actually had a piece break off over the winter. The cooling jacket was filled. Motor #2 had the head removed, cleaned and the block cooling jacket was cleaned as well. I now use salt away with every flush. See how long that helps!

 

[WREKS]

Unfortunately, my MR-1 still ran, except for showing overheat, when it was removed. There was so much salt and corrosion in it from not being properly flushed (coupled with a bad design) the block actually had a piece break off over the winter. The cooling jacket was filled. Motor #2 had the head removed, cleaned and the block cooling jacket was cleaned as well. I now use salt away with every flush. See how long that helps!

@Lilman573 Not to change topics but I have had similar overheats on both of my engines and I always flushed them. I do not attribute the overheats to salt or corrosion. The cylinder water jackets were filled hardened sediment, the worst of it was by cylinder#1. It was like concrete. I had to chip it out. I would like your explanation of what you call "bad design." I have documented my experience at Overheat Prevention. Are the photos at the beginning of the thread at all similar to what you observed? I will appreciate your feedback. Thanks in advance!

 

[Lilman573]

@WREKS , I have pictures of what the second block looked like. I have yet to tare into the first, but can tell you the front was completely blocked with salt/corrosion. From what i can tell, the block progressively filled up and the hard sediment is salt and the motor actually corroding and creating that hardened calcification.

This is an issue that is pretty well known in this motor. I am not sure if it is a combination of not having a large enough flush tube, how the motor is angled, or why it wouldn't be able to fully flush the block.

 

[WREKS]

@WREKS , I have pictures of what the second block looked like. I have yet to tare into the first, but can tell you the front was completely blocked with salt/corrosion. From what i can tell, the block progressively filled up and the hard sediment is salt and the motor actually corroding and creating that hardened calcification.

This is an issue that is pretty well known in this motor. I am not sure if it is a combination of not having a large enough flush tube, how the motor is angled, or why it wouldn't be able to fully flush the block.

@Lilman573 Did it look anything like the pictures in this link: Overheat Prevention?

 

[Lilman573]

Starboard motor damage:


Port motor, head taken off with the cooling passages clogged.


Sorry to thread jack! Still hoping i am rebuilding just to have a ready spare.... I do hope the SBT motor holds out.

 

[WREKS]

@Lilman573 Looks like same crud that collected in mine. I cleaned it out. Motor is working properly.

 

[Lilman573]

@WREKS , Looks exactly like yours. I have a friend that runs a jetski repair business. He does at least a dozen a season locally.

The motor that was cleaned, works flawlessly. The motor I pulled will be cleaned out and have that part re-welded and trued so that the head fits good again. It will be a great ready spare.

I have to hookup to YDIS, but there can't be more than 100 hours on this boat. Maybe even around 50.

 

[Russell]

Do you guys think that this crud is lime? Maybe a Lime-a-way flush is in order to keep the jackets flowing freely. Safer yet would be a vinegar flush.

 

[Lilman573]

Do you guys think that this crud is lime? Maybe a Lime-a-way flush is in order to keep the jackets flowing freely. Safer yet would be a vinegar flush.

@Russell , not really sure but i do see the OP's motor has some degree of scale as well...

I am trying to use saltaway after each run this season. I will see how that goes.

 

[WREKS]

Do you guys think that this crud is lime? Maybe a Lime-a-way flush is in order to keep the jackets flowing freely. Safer yet would be a vinegar flush.

In my overheat thread Overheat Prevention there is a photo of the some of the debris that I chiseled out. It probably is a combination of compounds, but I think, mostly sand. When it dries it becomes a granular. I tried soaking the water jackets in vinegar and Dawn for a half day to break it up. It did not seem to have any effect.

 

[Lilman573]

In my overheat thread Overheat Prevention there is a photo of the some of the debris that I chiseled out. It probably is a combination of compounds, but I think, mostly sand. When it dries it becomes a granular. I tried soaking the water jackets in vinegar and Dawn for a half day to break it up. It did not seem to have any effect.

Tried a few spray on things, even carb cleaner, on the exhaust manifold to see if anything helped. Mechanical removal was really the only thing that helped, which is why I was pretty sure it was aluminum oxide. Its actually the aluminum oxidizing and basically hardening in the passages.

 

[WREKS]

The substances that collected in the oil cooler water jackets and on both sides of the gaskets was different. They looked like little globs of clear silicone and sediment.

 

[Jaycav]

@Russell , not really sure but i do see the OP's motor has some degree of scale as well...

I am trying to use saltaway after each run this season. I will see how that goes.

My engine was freshwater only with around 10 hrs on it

 

[Lilman573]

My engine was freshwater only with around 10 hrs on it

Well, I'm at about 8. I better get to rebuilding that spare motor. I also chose the SBT standard so I plan on using it hard to prove it through the warranty period. Hoping to get 20-30 hours on it by the end of the season. I'll have the motor rebuilt over the winter and then if I need to I already have a spare.

I have heard both sides on SBT. I would expect to read mostly failure posts. People don't go out of their way to say nothing went wrong with their motor swap. I'd be curious about others who have done the MR-1 SBT clone replacement and what their luck has been. I know of a few shops locally that use these as replacements and i have only heard of a few that came back....

 

[Milligsc]

I have an sbt engine in my 1500 stx jetski and it has been good. I build my own car engines, rebuild several types old and new engines. The quality on the sbt looked pretty good to me. We only hear the bad stories. Pre start lubrication and proper break in are important for example.

 

[Babin Farms]

I have an sbt engine in my 1500 stx jetski and it has been good. I build my own car engines, rebuild several types old and new engines. The quality on the sbt looked pretty good to me. We only hear the bad stories. Pre start lubrication and proper break in are important for example.

It's kinda like going to the casino. You only hear the one side of when someone wins big. Never when they loose or how much they spent to win. With SBT or any aftermarket parts you always hear the one side & it happens to be the losing side. If they built junk and most of their engines that went out the door blew up they would be out of business. There is going to be a failure rate with anything, it's just that we hear a majority of the SBT failures.