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Spark revs but doesn't go anywhere

97K views 52 replies 31 participants last post by  Waston 
#1 ·
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?
 
#2 ·
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
 
#6 ·
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.
 
#7 ·
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.
 
#8 ·
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...
 
#11 ·
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.
 
#12 ·
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.
 
#15 ·
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.
 
#16 ·
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.
 

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#17 ·
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...???
 
#18 ·
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.
 
#19 ·
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 !!:mad:

(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 :):cool:

Ohers should avoid that dealer! And the Ext Warranty: is it "Theirs" (worthless as the paper printed) or an actual BRP factory warranty?
 
#25 ·
Spark is right. Older sea-doo's used the the water that you were riding on to cool the engine. Which meant, if you went into the ocean, you were using sea water and had to flush the ski. Now it is a closed loop system, which means the engine never get's water from the outside, it uses coolant. You sucked up a sticK through yopur pump ( Like Spark mentioned ). The pump sucks water from under the ski to propel it foward. All skis have this. So it doesnt matter what brand you would have been on, the results would have been the same.
 
#26 ·
rx8wej - i got raped without lube about as hard in miami. they actually charged an assembly fee on a ski that was their last spark that " came fully loaded because it came assembled " ...but had to do further assembly. $500 on that. lmao. plus all the fees you mentioned . 3up, with IBR $9,200 out the door.

Does anyone have an online manual (the tech, in depth one) not the one it comes with. I'd rather DIY than pay $75 each way to and from the dealership for shipping and then prob pay more for things the warranty wont cover. I have more tools than the average woman and have rebuilt my 49cc scooter so i should be able to handle this.
 
#32 ·
Yikes! I paid $1000 less than that for my VX Sport with a dual trailer, including tax, registration and delivery to my house; and it's much more versatile than my Spark.
lucky! i know i could have gotten better for the price but i wanted something super light weight. did get the supply and demand ass rape living in miami price bump though
 
#34 ·
If anyone has this problem, just remove like 5 bolts from the back of the doo and check the wear ring, 70$ about to replace and then if the impeller is chipped just file it.... dealer in kelowna was gonna charge us 1000 bucks when really all that is needed is a wear ring replacement.. save ur money and do it urself!!!
 
#41 ·
AMEN!!! Greater Vancouver Powersports in Chilliwack quoted me $770 today for wear ring, gasket seal and impeller. My impeller looks not to bad to me and I am certain I can change out the wear ring myself. Screw dealerships...they are evil

I'll never go back there again...I have had the unit for 1 hour...1 freaking hour, and they had no sympathy, didn't offer any type of discount...nothing. Jerk offs, over there.
 
#36 ·
Had mine out less than 4 hours and I must have sucked up a rock docking. Ski would rev but no power 5-6 MPH. Tried everything it said in the book but no luck. Brought it to my dealer and they had to replace the wear ring. $242.65 parts and labor. They don't recommend steel wear rings because they are designed to break to prevent further damage. Seems like many are having problems with this. Was wondering if anyone has installed some type of cage on the intake to prevent rocks from entering.
 
#38 ·
Brought it to my dealer and they had to replace the wear ring. $242.65 parts and labor.
exactly why I will be teaching myself to replace it myself.

I was thinking about a metal wear ring to but then as I've learned it from these boards, it breaking apart is better and cheaper than messing up your prop so ill keep getting the plastic wear rings but as has been said before, they should come out with better plastic ones.


BobC- before i even bought my ski I was wondering about some sort of cage type mod on the intake to help block crap from getting in but I dont know of anyone and everyone things it would hinder the flow of water into the intake and sadly I agree. :( it would be great for some sort of system to come out to help keep junk out of there. id be inline to get whatever it is.
 
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