Problems with new 165

[Scarabski]

We have a camp on the Sacandaga,if you would like to see how ours goes let me know,you can't be too far away

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I'm not bashing and don't want anyone to 'pile on' but I hope someone high up in the Scarab food chain is reading this thread. How about water testing EVERY boat before it leaves the factory like the competition does.

I really feel for you guys that are having major issues right out of the box. Hope we can help as much as possible.

 

[Scarabing]

We have a camp on the Sacandaga,if you would like to see how ours goes let me know,you can't be too far away

My good friend had a slip at Dominick sandbar. Spent a lot of time there. is your camp close? Sacandaga is about 55 minutes from me.

 

[Scarabski]

We are in North Broadalbin about 1.5 miles south of Fish House rd.

 

[speedindevil]

Just to update everyone, we have found the problem!!! When they assembled the boats, they missed a small amount of sealant where the pump mount meets the hull. It is water tight but not air tight. So what is happening is the pump has so much suction, it is sucking in air from inside the engine bay, causing it to cavitate. Not necessarily a super easy fix, but definitely not a huge problem. We are working on fixing the two that we have now, but I at least wanted to post the solution up here for others

 

[itsdgm]

Just to update everyone, we have found the problem!!! When they assembled the boats, they missed a small amount of sealant where the pump mount meets the hull. It is water tight but not air tight. So what is happening is the pump has so much suction, it is sucking in air from inside the engine bay, causing it to cavitate. Not necessarily a super easy fix, but definitely not a huge problem. We are working on fixing the two that we have now, but I at least wanted to post the solution up here for others

Great to hear @speedindevil. Cavitation is usually caused by things that are simple. Either impeller damage, missing sealant or things lodged in the pump. Glad that your following through and posting up the solution so others can benefit too. The odds are that the same crew back at the factory put out several other boats with the exact same condition. Hopefully Scarab can track those boats down and fix them before other owners discover it on their first outing too.

 

[Glassman]

I'm not bashing and don't want anyone to 'pile on' but I hope someone high up in the Scarab food chain is reading this thread. How about water testing EVERY boat before it leaves the factory like the competition does.


I really feel for you guys that are having major issues right out of the box. Hope we can help as much as possible.

@Murf'n'surf I think most of the bigger builders all have access to lakes somewhere in Tennessee don't they? That should be the last thing they do before loading them on the trailer!

Just to update everyone, we have found the problem!!! When they assembled the boats, they missed a small amount of sealant where the pump mount meets the hull. It is water tight but not air tight. So what is happening is the pump has so much suction, it is sucking in air from inside the engine bay, causing it to cavitate. Not necessarily a super easy fix, but definitely not a huge problem. We are working on fixing the two that we have now, but I at least wanted to post the solution up here for others

@speedindevil A tip of my hat to you for the follow-up. I've seen posts go on for weeks with absolutely no interaction from anyone even remotely connected with a dealer or manufacturer chiming in. It's reassuring to know you care - now, let the dealership owner know that even though you guys are stuck with the product you get, it goes a long way with your customers and potential customers when you let them know you care and that you are working to resolve the problem - exactly like you did!

By the way, do Scarab boats have locking glove boxes?

 

[speedindevil]

Let's hope so! Even just being a service guy I still feel horrible for these unfortunate customers, they spend the money for them to have fun with, not to aggravate them! But at least now we know what has to be done and so does scarab and brp's marine propulsion division.

 

[Scarabing]

Thanks Josh, spoke to Scott in sales about it. He tried to explain the issue but you just made it much clearer. Guessing you have to break the plate off and reseal and new one in its place. Scott is in the process of finding us a replacement boat. Both Alpin Haus and Scarab have been doing everything they can to make this right...Just takes time which we do not have much of with our short boating season here in the northeast. Thanks again bro

 

[Murf'n'surf]

There are a few manufacturers on the same lake as Yamaha, not sure if they all water test after final build but I know Yamaha and Mastercraft do.

Where are Scarabs manufactured? Canada? That would explain not testing.... don't want to hit an iceburg!!

 

[ScarabMike]

@Murf'n'surf They are close. Michigan,lol

Scarabs are built by Four Winns

 

[Scarabski]

Glad to hear you have found the solution!

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

Wow, very interesting thread. I am glad you guys have your boats fixed or are in the proess of getting them fixed. I can speak from a BRP owner with my sons Sea Doo that I would get a few spare wear rings and have them in your tool kit. While they are a great idea of a sacrificial piece, I personally am done with them. We run on lakes here and whenever we have a major rain etc or first of the year, the debris in a lake wreaks havock on the wear rings. My son has gotten pretty good at swapping them out... not something he or I ever wanted to do (specially at $60 a pop). Other than that issue, the motor runs great and I am sure you will have a lot of fun with it. Id have to say even though I do not own a Scarab, they should beashamed of themselves with this poor QC... 2 boats to the same dealer with the same problem is not good. Just makes you wonder how many others are sitting at dealers and unsuspecting owners and dealers will be finding this out... I am certain they will get it fixed but I sure hope they do somethign for you guys who dealt with this like maybe a few free services on Scarab (not the dealer). I would push them for it.

 

[Scarabing]

Yes you are so correct. They should do something. Second guessing my whole BRP and Scarab decision. Bought my boat 6/3/15 Dropped it in the water 6/6/15 and then straight back to the dealer. As of today still no boat. I have a insurance premium and a loan but no boat. They are going to let us know how long it will take to build us another boat 6/23/15. A fast turnaround is 3 weeks. Our summer will be just about over. I would really like to know how many people this has happened too. If there are 2 at this dealler there must be many more out there. Scarab was asked but of course they wont say.

 

[Slugger55]

I had a similar issue with my 195, 4 hours on the engine, and we found that it was the locking nut on the impeller came loose. This was after a water test. WARNING!: At 14 hours I was running down the Patuxent River and the boat just quit, left me sitting in the middle of the river drifting. BoatUS towed me back to the launch and I loaded the boat and took it back to the dealer. The mechanic said that the when the locking nut came off, at 4 hours on the engine, it pushed the drive system into the main bearing and it was a matter of time before the bearing failed. BRP replaced the entire propulsion system in my boat to include the super charger. I hope you don't have the same problem! The only good thing about my situation is when it happened, right before I was going to put it up last fall. They had it most of the winter.

 

[Scarabing]

Wow that would suck. Here is my update. After 3 weeks of problem solving scarab and Alpin Haus agreed to give me a new boat. There wasn't one available so the said they would build me a new one. Building a new one would take 4 weeks best case scenario. I opted to cancel the sale due to our short boating season. Going to try again next year but with a test drive. Alpin Haus has done everything they could to make things right. Hopefully they will give me a good deal come next season. Hope you all have a great season and be safe

 

[Scarabski]

@Scarabing, the boat is a ton of fun! Hang in there!

 

[Karl Clements]

And I thought my boat had problems lol. Glad everything has worked out for everyone.

Yes the scarab is made in Michigan. We've have plenty of lakes for them to test trial the boats.

 

[Blake]

Having similar problems here.

When we first received the boat we had problems with it cavitating and making the engine overheat and then shut down. Took it to a scarab dealer in the Chicago IL area for repairs. They applied a sealant around the ride plate. This was at the end of the 2014 boating season so we could not confirm that year that it was fixed.
This summer it was still cavitating but not overheating when applying full throttle and would not even run in ski mode 5. I Noticed that the reverse basket was not fully locking up when going in forward gear. I adjusted the linkage to make it lock in the up position and that helped out a lot we were now able to use ski mode 5 but still were having cavitation problems. Took it to a scarab dealer in Missouri to get looked at again they said they could not find what was causing the problem so they just reprogrammed the engine.
Now the last time and only the third time we were able to use the boat cause of it being worked on all the time I have noticed that it still cavitates. At 8000 rpm when the boat first starts going under full throttle it starts to cavitate and loses load on the engine and makes the engine to bounce up to 9000 rpm for about one or two seconds then comes back down to 8000 rpm and then stops cavitating about one second after the rpms come down to 8000.
That is the main problem that we have been with this boat besides a couple more that I have not been satisfied with. When in ski mode 5 while pulling a wakeboarder and 3 people in the boat it has been able to pull them out of the water now and not like before when it was cavitating bad but I have noticed when the speed is set to 21 mph the boat would only get up to 15 to 17 mph after about 10 - 15 mins of pulling the boarder and would never get to the set 21 mph. The Scarab sales rep that I talked to a couple of days ago said that the ski mode is only for beginners and he never uses it for what he does but I don't think that should be right because when you are wakeboarding you want a set speed to cruise at to give you the best wake that the boat can produce and if ski mode cant do this this the boat is pointless for wakeboarding even though it was advertised to us this feature as a wakeboading type of boat. Another problem I've notice is about five times I have heard a loud rattle around 2000 rpm and idle and would not let me increase engine speed above 2000 rpm then I heard a loud bang and finally let me have full engine speed.

 

[Karl Clements]

Well I hope since they took about the whole drive that I wont have this issue. So no resolve yet @Blake ?