Possible Wear Ring Problem?

40346 Views 18 Replies 14 Participants Last post by SparkMeUp, Feb 26, 2016

thekendog

Discussion Starter · Jun 15, 2014

Hey guys, I'm new to the board. I just bought a Spark and few weeks ago and it's my first PWC. I'm not going to lie, I don't know a lot about jet skis and what not so bear with me if I ever ask dumb questions on here.

I have a little over 8 hours on it and I'm already experiencing my first problem. I think it's a wear ring issue but I just want to make sure as I'm kind of paranoid. Yesterday, I was cruising on the lake when all of a sudden I heard a weird sound and I lost the ability to accelerate. It cranks up fine and revs but I hardly move when I give it gas. I limped back to the dock. After reading a bunch of threads on here (this place is awesome for a newbie like me) and calling a local dealer nearby, it sounds like it is the wear ring. I'm taking it to them tomorrow to get it looked at. One thing I'm paranoid about is the fact that when I give it gas there is a strong vibration. Is this a symptom of a bum wear ring? I'm hoping it is. I can't see anything stuck in the jet. Is there any way to tell if it's the wear ring without having to take off the pump?

Also, what are the thoughts on a stainless steel ring? The lake I live on can get a bunch of gunk in it and from what I've read and been told by the dealer, it seems like the plastic one is a better idea so I don't trash the impeller.

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

Mark

· #2 · Jun 16, 2014

Did you ride in shallow water? Not understanding why I m at 30 + hours with no wear ring issues and a lot of people experience issues in just a few hours. I'm riding in salt water with a lot of junk in it. I never go shallow and use a iphone charting program to stay deep.not sure if depth is the difference.

Reactions: 1

Bug Stomper

· #3 · Jun 16, 2014

Mark said:
Did you ride in shallow water? Not understanding why I m at 30 + hours with no wear ring issues and a lot of people experience issues in just a few hours. I'm riding in salt water with a lot of junk in it. I never go shallow and use a iphone charting program to stay deep.not sure if depth is the difference.

Good point. Wondering if unintentional high speed in shallows you don't know about has something to do with it. I have a depth finder on mine and anything 4-5 ft and below I pull back the throttle. 3 ft and I'm coasting and idling.

thekendog

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 16, 2014

Mark said:
Did you ride in shallow water? Not understanding why I m at 30 + hours with no wear ring issues and a lot of people experience issues in just a few hours. I'm riding in salt water with a lot of junk in it. I never go shallow and use a iphone charting program to stay deep.not sure if depth is the difference.

I've only gone in shallow water once and that was over a week ago and I killed the engine once I got in about 3 feet.

NetAtNite

· #5 · Jun 16, 2014

Mark said:
Did you ride in shallow water? Not understanding why I m at 30 + hours with no wear ring issues and a lot of people experience issues in just a few hours. I'm riding in salt water with a lot of junk in it. I never go shallow and use a iphone charting program to stay deep.not sure if depth is the difference.

Which charting program Mark?

Bug Stomper

· #6 · Jun 16, 2014

Curious which program too. I have some free app on my iphone called "Skipper" and because it's free its a crap app....though will tell you basically where you are.

Bug Stomper

· #7 · Jun 16, 2014

thekendog said:
I've only gone in shallow water once and that was over a week ago and I killed the engine once I got in about 3 feet.

Crap happens I guess. Tires on the road pick up nails. Propellers and Impellers suck up crap and implode.

TK423

· #8 · Jun 16, 2014

Mark said:
Did you ride in shallow water? Not understanding why I m at 30 + hours with no wear ring issues and a lot of people experience issues in just a few hours. I'm riding in salt water with a lot of junk in it. I never go shallow and use a iphone charting program to stay deep.not sure if depth is the difference.

Not trying to sound like a dick, but from what I seems to me, most of the wear ring issues are from people new to skis. Sounds like they are just sucking stuff up from being in too shallow water. It doesn't really sound like an inherent design flaw. I could be way off base here, but there seems to be a pattern.

thekendog

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jun 16, 2014

TK423 said:
Not trying to sound like a dick, but from what I seems to me, most of the wear ring issues are from people new to skis. Sounds like they are just sucking stuff up from being in too shallow water. It doesn't really sound like an inherent design flaw. I could be way off base here, but there seems to be a pattern.

As I said, I only went in shallow water once and killed the engine once I got to 3 feet. I live on a lake near a big city and it can get a bunch of crap in it so I'm suspecting I just got unlucky.

I just want to make sure it's definitely the wear ring and not something else. I'm really paranoid. When I give it gas it barely goes anywhere, there's a strong vibration, and it makes a loud sound.

thekendog

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jun 16, 2014 (Edited)

Good news, I was able to fix it myself! I'm pretty relieved. I'm not mechanically inclined whatsoever, but after reading some threads on here and seeing a guide on another site, I was able to take off the pump and see what was wrong. It only took me about half an hour. There was a pretty decent sized piece of plastic that had become stuck on one of the blades of the impeller. The wear ring wasn't cracked or anything, but it was all scratched up on the inside from the piece of plastic. I don't know if it needed to be replaced or not, but I did anyways just in case. So stoked now.

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Reactions: 2

serpent710

· #11 · Jun 17, 2014

Congrats bro...always a good feeling when you can fix something yourself and not have to bring it to the dealer

Reactions: 3

Sarge707

· #12 · Jul 6, 2014

http://www.greenhulk.net/forums/showthread.php?t=210730&highlight=replace+wear+ring
For New people- The directions to replace wear ring!!!!

Eric Demaline

· #13 · Aug 11, 2014

I think also those of us on shallow water with iBR may need to stay deeper than 3ft...if you actuate iBR it really pushes up more debris from the bottom...as soon as you turn on your ski you are auto neutral and that jet is thrusting downward... So be quick to pull the throttle a bit

RunItTwice

· #14 · Aug 11, 2014

I seem to launch fine from the beach with IBR. I have 55 hours across 2 sparks, and no wear ring problems.

I agree getting out of neutral asap is prolly a good idea though.

Wrench4fun

· #15 · Aug 11, 2014

thekendog said:
Good news, I was able to fix it myself! I'm pretty relieved. I'm not mechanically inclined whatsoever, but after reading some threads on here and seeing a guide on another site, I was able to take off the pump and see what was wrong. It only took me about half an hour. There was a pretty decent sized piece of plastic that had become stuck on one of the blades of the impeller. The wear ring wasn't cracked or anything, but it was all scratched up on the inside from the piece of plastic. I don't know if it needed to be replaced or not, but I did anyways just in case. So stoked now.

Yes, once you replace a wear ring you realize how easy it is! makes you kinda mad when you hear about people paying a shop 3hrs labor to change one out!! if you can feel with your finger that there is material missing from the wear ring then it will cost you performance, the amount of material missing will determine how much performance is lost, in deep water usually it is something floating just under the surface that people pick up, the stuff floating on top of the water usually gets pushed out of the way, but for newbies its the shallow water and reverse that causes the issue! when I am in shallow water and using reverse I am very carful on how much throttle I use!

michigan spark user

· #16 · Jul 13, 2015

Maybe not wear ring afterall?

I am sure most of you will think this is incredibly stupid but sometimes it might not be the wear ring. The wear ring was replaced last summer and then a week ago started experiencing the same lack of power characteristics. Thought "Great! what a piece of junk!" since we had been very careful this year about avoiding shallow water. Before pulling it out of the lake decided to read the owners manual. I learned about "Touring" and "Sport" mode. I went out and sure enough it was in Touring mode. Put it into Sport mode and quickly got up to 50 MPH! So just in case someone else had not read the owner's manual and their Spark got put into Touring mode. I know most of you probably think "What an effing idiot!"

Cormacs

· #17 · Jul 13, 2015

michigan spark user said:
I am sure most of you will think this is incredibly stupid but sometimes it might not be the wear ring. The wear ring was replaced last summer and then a week ago started experiencing the same lack of power characteristics. Thought "Great! what a piece of junk!" since we had been very careful this year about avoiding shallow water. Before pulling it out of the lake decided to read the owners manual. I learned about "Touring" and "Sport" mode. I went out and sure enough it was in Touring mode. Put it into Sport mode and quickly got up to 50 MPH! So just in case someone else had not read the owner's manual and their Spark got put into Touring mode. I know most of you probably think "What an effing idiot!"

Seriously?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

xdrian

· #18 · Jul 13, 2015

michigan spark user said:
I am sure most of you will think this is incredibly stupid but sometimes it might not be the wear ring. The wear ring was replaced last summer and then a week ago started experiencing the same lack of power characteristics. Thought "Great! what a piece of junk!" since we had been very careful this year about avoiding shallow water. Before pulling it out of the lake decided to read the owners manual. I learned about "Touring" and "Sport" mode. I went out and sure enough it was in Touring mode. Put it into Sport mode and quickly got up to 50 MPH! So just in case someone else had not read the owner's manual and their Spark got put into Touring mode. I know most of you probably think "What an effing idiot!"

That's fine we are all learning every day that's the best way

SparkMeUp

· #19 · Feb 26, 2016 (Edited)

I won't say it's a design flaw or operators error. The plastic is a lot more thin making it far less durable as other rings I've seen. I've blown holes thru mine, which I've never seen before on the skis I've had .

A few more mils of thickness would do wonders for this not so uncommon occurrence.

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