[Paul]

I am a new member to the forum here as well as a first time owner of a pwc. I have owned boats for many years but none with a jet drive. I bought my Spark about four weeks ago and have 5 hours on it. Today I sucked up a stick and apparently damaged the wear ring. I took it to the dealership where I bought it and they pulled the stick out for me, and advised me that it may or may not be damaged. Put it back in the water and sure enough the engine revs but no go. So what should I use to replace this wear ring? The 70 dollar plastic part or the 180 dollar stainless steel part? I understand the plastic is sacrificial but wouldn't a stainless ring and impeller chop your average stick and send it on through? What am I missing?

 

[JeffinWesternWA]

An email to the manufacturer of the stainless stell ring...one that is answered in full as to "why" would be a great post here! Wondering the same, seems only matter of time...

 

[Wakeskatr72]

Welcome to the forum!
Sorry to hear about your misfortune but it seems to be happening to a lot of people here, the factory plastic wear ring is very fragile and prone to breaking. I for one am a big advocate of the stainless wear ring as its strong and like you said will most likely chew up a small stick easily without damage, on the flip side if you suck a large rock into it you can cause some major damage to your impellers, wear ring, shaft, etc. Ive had my stainless ring on for about 10 hours now and am very happy with the purchase, I know others with sparks that made the switch and are also satisfied.

You can go the route as some others here have done if you don't have Ibr, a good idea is to stick with plastic and carry a spare with some tools on board for a quick changeout but if your like me with Ibr then thats out of the question.

 

[serpent710]

I'm still undecided

 

[spark-orion]

All of Sea Doo's ski's use plastic wear rings. The other ski's use a light grey color plastic for their wear rings. The spark probably has a new, untested out in the wild, plastic that hopefully Sea Doo will let go and use the other material for wear rings. Hopefully they do something because these stockers do seem fragile.

Yep, my phone sent this...

 

[Paul]

Hopefully I have some good news. I crawled under the Spark last night and looked up into the intake grate and discovered another stick about the same size as the one that the mechanic at the dealership pulled out. I was able to get most of it out with a rod with a hook on it. A small piece broke off and fell between the impeller blades where I can't get to. I am going to take it back to the lake today and try again. I can't see any damage to the ring but than again maybe it's FUBAR.

 

[Muddy Water]

might be best to go with a stainless part this time around

 

[Paul]

Well I got lucky. Removing the second stick did the trick. I'm sure I probably took a good bit of life off of the wear ring, but performance wise I can't tell the difference. At least I don't have to choose stainless or plastic just yet. Maybe by the time I do I will have some more knowledge of all the pros and cons.

 

[Muddy Water]

right, right. Theres also been talk there may be a bad batch of them out there?

 

[Straightbangin]

This seems like an older thread but....

1) Paul your mechanic missed a 2nd stick stuck in there? LOL! Was he smokin' something?

2) has anyone come across a better plastic wear ring than what comes with the spark? if so please link to it here i'd like to get a spare to have on hand

 

[doneuald]

Check out this on eBay #390924157239
It's made from delrin And it's cheaper than brp. Just a thought. I bought a replacement wear ring when I pick up the skis so I'm good for now

 

[Straightbangin]

thanks. someone from the seadoo owners facebook group suggested a derlin one to me too. ill check it out

 

[Spark-DY]

Jammed stick fragment

Stick fragment about 1.5" long, ended my day at lake. Impeller still turned enough for thrust back to shore.

 

[Straightbangin]

Sorry sparkdy that sucks, the grate over intake cover Bazza is using and I've been considering since before buying my ski is sounding better and better.

 

[Sarge707]

Stick fragment about 1.5" long, ended my day at lake. Impeller still turned enough for thrust back to shore.

Its been my experience that when you get something like that stuck in the pump where it causes a terrible vibration throughout the boat when you try to bring it on plane you can still get back home at about 2,800 rpms or 4 mph without the terrible vibration which is better than a towing fee?

 

[Straightbangin]

any idea why the spark wear rings appear to look ribby? I thought wear rings were smooth.

 

[serpent710]

Your looking at the wrong side,.The inside of the wear ring is were the impeller goes not the outside.

 

[Straightbangin]

LOL! I know that! I mean I've never seen a wear ring where the outside wasn't smooth also. From what I understand they usually look like this

I want to go with a derlin wear ring for a spare but the ribs are making me say hmmmm

 

[seaking]

Your looking at the wrong side,.The inside of the wear ring is were the impeller goes not the outside.

Thanks for clearing that up, i would have thought it was the outside.

 

[Spark-DY]

Vibration

Its been my experience that when you get something like that stuck in the pump where it causes a terrible vibration throughout the boat when you try to bring it on plane you can still get back home at about 2,800 rpms or 4 mph without the terrible vibration which is better than a towing fee?

YES that's exactly what happened.
Makes me wonder what's between the engine and driveshaft - a clutch?