[rx8wej]

I just bought a 2up spark last month, took it out to the river this past weekend, and after possibly sucking in some rocks, it stopped working properly. I pull the throttle, and the engine revs, but the ski barely moves, not even fast enough against the current of the river. I ended up having to tow it back to the ramp with my VX Sport.

I've done a little googling and some people mention that it could the wear ring being destroyed. I have been looking at it from every angle I can with a flash light, but I can't seem to see any problems with it. It doesn't look busted or even cracked. The impeller looks like it's in good shape as well. I can't figure out how to get the bottom intake grate off to give it a closer inspection. I am using a ratchet with a 13mm socket, but the bolts just spin forever.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why the bolts don't seem to want to loosen? I can turn them in either direction and am met with the same amount of resistance, it doesn't feel like the bolt is tightening or loosening.

Am I on the right track trying to pull the intake grate off to give it a more thorough inspection?

 

[Dmshirkey]

I just bought a 2up spark last month, took it out to the river this past weekend, and after possibly sucking in some rocks, it stopped working properly. I pull the throttle, and the engine revs, but the ski barely moves, not even fast enough against the current of the river. I ended up having to tow it back to the ramp with my VX Sport.

I've done a little googling and some people mention that it could the wear ring being destroyed. I have been looking at it from every angle I can with a flash light, but I can't seem to see any problems with it. It doesn't look busted or even cracked. The impeller looks like it's in good shape as well. I can't figure out how to get the bottom intake grate off to give it a closer inspection. I am using a ratchet with a 13mm socket, but the bolts just spin forever.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why the bolts don't seem to want to loosen? I can turn them in either direction and am met with the same amount of resistance, it doesn't feel like the bolt is tightening or loosening.

Am I on the right track trying to pull the intake grate off to give it a more thorough inspection?

My suggestion is to take the pump off and inspect, three bolts on pump and one for steering. I replaced my intake grate and it's a 3 hour job to take off. The three intake grate bolts have nuts on the inside, so you have to take the ski apart to access them.

I had oone of my skis suck something up last weekend and I just knew it was the wear ring, I pulled to shore and inspected, wasn't broken. Wouldn't get on plane, finally I nailed it a few times and whatever was stuck came right out

 

[PPIJAY]

You could have stripped the drive shaft. I relaxed one in a 2000 model. Big job and you need the right tools. Sounds like a trip to the dealer.

 

[srsbz]

id bring it to the dealer or mech to have it looked at

going to be hard to diagnose on the internet

 

[BTMG]

yea tow it over to the dealer, would they cover that under warranty? I mean technically it didnt break on its own accord, but then again it was normal operation that sucked up the foreign objects...

 

[Jet One]

Chances are it wont be covered under warranty since you sucked up rocks. Depending on your mechanical ability I would recommend removing the pump. You just need a couple 10mm wrenches to remove the steering cable and a 13mm socket to remove the 3 pump bolts and you can pull the pump off. Make sure you pull the bilge fitting out of the pump before you try and remove the pump. It is the hose on top and you can just pull the plastic fitting out of the pump without actually removing the hose from the fitting. Then you will hopefully be able to figure out what is wrong.

 

[Bane]

Guarantee its your wear ring...same thing happened to me last weekend and it was broken.... all it takes is a crack to lose pressure and it will barely move. It's a relatively cheap and easy repair. If you have iBR its a bitch but not too bad... took me about an hour and a half to do.

 

[rx8wej]

I just decided to take it into the dealer to have them take a look at it. I'm waiting to hear back from them now. Upon a cursory inspection when dropping it off they had no idea what was wrong, but mentioned that the impeller had a few nicks in it. Hopefully it is something as simple as the wear ring...

 

[srsbz]

keep us updated

 

[RandyTX]

Dealer charged me $400+ for 3 hours labor and a new wear ring and seal.
If you have IBR have them install the flush kit when they do the wear ring repair. It would be easier to get to the two screws and hose clamp.

 

[Dmshirkey]

Dealer charged me $400+ for 3 hours labor and a new wear ring and seal.
If you have IBR have them install the flush kit when they do the wear ring repair. It would be easier to get to the two screws and hose clamp.

Thats sad. Considering I take less than 10 minutes to replace wear ring on my non ibr unit. Ive seen the instructions on replacing with IBR and its not that much more difficult.

I am picking up a spare wear ring to carry on my ski with tools to replace. I break one, I will pull it on shore and replace.

 

[ALSpark]

Had this same issue within the first hour on our Spark. Dealership called yesterday and said broken wear ring. They agreed to fix it for just the part cost, because we had literally just picked it up the day before. They also said it was a piece of bark the size of a quarter. So, my question is this: if the wear ring breaks that easily, where am I supposed to ride? Will BRP eventually take a closer look at this situation? I have seen posts all over several forums regarding broken wear rings. The wear rings were already on back order until mid June, so now I have a brand new Spark that will sit for almost half of the summer. A little frustrated to say the least.

 

[Wakeskatr72]

Pickup a stainless wear ring and forget about it .

 

[Mark]

Had this same issue within the first hour on our Spark. Dealership called yesterday and said broken wear ring. They agreed to fix it for just the part cost, because we had literally just picked it up the day before. They also said it was a piece of bark the size of a quarter. So, my question is this: if the wear ring breaks that easily, where am I supposed to ride? Will BRP eventually take a closer look at this situation? I have seen posts all over several forums regarding broken wear rings. The wear rings were already on back order until mid June, so now I have a brand new Spark that will sit for almost half of the summer. A little frustrated to say the least.

I am using mine in salt water with a lot of debris floating in it . 20 hrs. and no wear ring issues. The first time I do it will be replaced with a stainless wear ring and a Solas impeller. With the ibr this doesn't look like an easy job.

 

[Wakeskatr72]

I am using mine in salt water with a lot of debris floating in it . 20 hrs. and no wear ring issues. The first time I do it will be replaced with a stainless wear ring and a Solas impeller. With the ibr this doesn't look like an easy job.

It's much easier than it appears, after you do it once its not a big deal just make sure you have the right tools to do it.
I'd reccomend
(1) normal 13mm wrench
(1) ratcheting 13mm wrench (Makes the job MUCH easier!)
(1) normal 10mm wrench
(1) ratcheting 10mm wrench
(1) 1/4" ratchet and a couple of extensions (For when you need to take the pump bolts off)
(1) 13mm socket
(1) Set of metric allen keys (I can't remember what size it was for the pump nozzle but i'm pretty sure it was 6mm)
(1) Sea doo impeller tool
(1) Tube of loctite (I use 243 Blue)

And lastly but most important
(6) Cold beers of your choice to help get the job done.

 

[rx8wej]

So I got it back, and total it cost me over $800 to repair it. I know I got ripped off. They told me it was some tiny nicks in the impeller and the wear ring. I had them save the parts they removed so I could look at them myself. I am not a mechanic, or an expert in jet propulsion, but I don't think the "damage" on the impeller would be enough to cause the ski to act like it did. I'm attaching some pictures of the "damaged" wear ring and prop. I had less than 2 hours on it at this point, and the stickers hadn't even worn off yet!

Just a heads up, if you don't know what you're doing when it comes to mechanical things like repairs, do NOT go to Bert's in So. Cal. I knew it was a bad idea to take it to such a big dealership, but the convenience of them being only a few miles away outweighed it. I know, now, to not deal with Bert's Mega Mall again in the future.

Side note: I bought it from Bert's as well (about 3 weeks before this happened), and it's the bare-bones 2up model, and it still cost me over $7200 out the door after taxes and big dealership fees.

 

[JeffinWesternWA]

So I got it back, and total it cost me over $800 to repair it. I know I got ripped off. They told me it was some tiny nicks in the impeller and the wear ring. I had them save the parts they removed so I could look at them myself. I am not a mechanic, or an expert in jet propulsion, but I don't think the "damage" on the impeller would be enough to cause the ski to act like it did. I'm attaching some pictures of the "damaged" wear ring and prop. I had less than 2 hours on it at this point, and the stickers hadn't even worn off yet!

Just a heads up, if you don't know what you're doing when it comes to mechanical things like repairs, do NOT go to Bert's in So. Cal. I knew it was a bad idea to take it to such a big dealership, but the convenience of them being only a few miles away outweighed it. I know, now, to not deal with Bert's Mega Mall again in the future.

Side note: I bought it from Bert's as well (about 3 weeks before this happened), and it's the bare-bones 2up model, and it still cost me over $7200 out the door after taxes and big dealership fees.

$7200~ for a machine thats $4999 MSRP + freight? I know CA registration is high but...???

 

[rx8wej]

Here's my cost breakdown:
$4999.00 MSRP
$1039 Dealer Prep & Freight
$65 Document Fees
$550 Sales tax
$37 DMV Fee
$949 Sucker Fee / Extended Warranty (which doesn't cover stupidity, sadly enough)

Comes out to a little over $7600 total out the door. They are definitely not the inexpensive toys BRP advertises. Throw in the $800 Stupid Tax (Repairs) and this thing cost me as much as my 2012 VX Sport.

Side note: I think I got a check from the DMV in the mail for $16 a few weeks ago stating that excessive fees were charged, so the DMV charges were only $21.

 

[JeffinWesternWA]

Here's my cost breakdown:
$4999.00 MSRP
$1039 Dealer Prep & Freight
$65 Document Fees
$550 Sales tax
$37 DMV Fee
$949 Sucker Fee / Extended Warranty (which doesn't cover stupidity, sadly enough)

Comes out to a little over $7600 total out the door. They are definitely not the inexpensive toys BRP advertises. Throw in the $800 Stupid Tax (Repairs) and this thing cost me as much as my 2012 VX Sport.

Side note: I think I got a check from the DMV in the mail for $16 a few weeks ago stating that excessive fees were charged, so the DMV charges were only $21.

$1039 Freight and PREP and a $65 doc fee! WOW !!

(My dealer is charging a $795 Prep on the Spark vice $495 on everything else they sell- ATVs, motorcycles, snowmobiles, other brand PWCs, etc ) but, they fast came down to the $495 number for me, ...which I still felt was double of "reasonable" but, I got the Spark for $4900, a single trailer also new for $800 and the $100 doc fees for both reimbursed in a gift card, so didn't feel that bad..(also accesories discounted %10% off and another $100 gift card too

Ohers should avoid that dealer! And the Ext Warranty: is it "Theirs" (worthless as the paper printed) or an actual BRP factory warranty?

 

[Dmshirkey]

I paid MSRP + $125 per ski setup fee. That was it.