2006 Sugar Sand Tango Super Sport

[Shoe07]

Good afternoon folks.
I’m going to look at and possibly purchase the boat in the title this weekend. It appears to be in great shape. The seller has agreed to a water test and I plan to check compression.

this has the 240hp Mercury engine. I’m not all that familiar with these powerplants. If I purchase it I plan to get a service manual. I am handy and knowledgeable when it comes to engines, and I understand these Mercury are no longer in production.

I plan to do a compression test and check it over as I would any other engine.

Is there anything in particular I should watch out for or check? I know the yamahas like to have the lanyard pulled when doing the

As I said it looks very clean in pictures. It has an older owner who used it primarily at a one week vacation from 09-2015. After a family member passed it has been used a few times a year at a more local venue, but has mostly been hanging out in a garage.

I’m not scared of a project, but this certainly doesn’t look like one. I’ve owned seadoo xp and hx jet skis, and my family has had Yamaha, and tiger shark jet skis.
Currently there is a Rinker with a mercury 4.3L and an old Johnson 85hp outboard powered boat in the family.

please let me know anything I should check out.
Thank you!

 

[biffdotorg]

The service manual for the 240 EFI is floating around out there, as it was used in so many jet boats. I have one in PDF if it helps.

The big things on these is the oil injection system, and the plastic impeller that pumps the oil can fail. If it's a 2006, it should be the later generation, so probably trouble free.

The expensive items to fix if messed up is the sleeve in the pump. They are stainless and very expensive. So look at the pump sleeve and impeller for wear. They also had a goofy spring loaded grate, make sure no tines are broken off. It can be replaced with a stainless fixed grate, if you can find one.

I sold off ours, not that it was in bad shape, I just knew I would be screwed if we had a catastrophic break down. As parts are minimal if any.

Good luck,

 

[Shoe07]

Interesting, the wear rings are stainless? Seems odd.
What kind of money are we talking if it is damaged? $300? $800?

 

[Shoe07]

Looks like I found my answer, 740 for the ring and 650 for the impeller sound right?

what is the measure-able allowance for impeller to wear ring?

 

[Bilmon]

Wear ring is aluminum, impeller is stainless. No gear on the oil pump, newer 240 has external electric pump. Haven't had any trouble with parts.....yet, it's the same 2.5 that Merc used in outboards, only the crank spline is different.

 

[Bilmon]

Your price is about right for the ring but you can get an impeller for about 1/2 that, at least the last one I bought a few years ago was. When running right you have a 60 MPH boat, my son has the same boat at least until his new Yamaha shows up.

 

[biffdotorg]

Interesting, the wear rings are stainless? Seems odd.
What kind of money are we talking if it is damaged? $300? $800?

Bilmon is right, the stocker is not Stainless. Many of the merc powered Seadoo owners were going to stainless for better wear. It was closer to $1500. Totally stupid, as the term wear ring, should imply it is a less expensive wear item and meant to give if you get an object in there. Better the ring, than the impeller. So that the impeller can hold it's shape with impacts.

There is nothing cheap about the motor. That being said, we had little to no issues with our 240EFI and loved the performance. The service manual allowed me to do most things.

Biggest things are do your annual maintenance and change the oils in the stator and pump to be sure there is no water in there over the winter. I'm sure you are far enough north to damage it, if it gets in there.

Good luck,

 

[Shoe07]

Thanks for all the info gents.
I am in Ohio so definitely north enough to freeze.

My typical plan with compression is all cylinders within a 10 psi window. Is this to be expected? What’s typical on these engines? 125 psi or so?

 

[Shoe07]

Saturday I loaded the family up and off we went to Michigan to check out this boat. Checked compression, 4 cylinders were 125, one was between 120 and 125, and another was between 125 and 130. Overall in very nice shape. We went for a test ride on lake st Clair. That was exciting. Didn’t get over 25mph, was extremely choppy.
We’re enjoying it quite a bit so far. It’s a little rocket!

If anyone has a pdf of the shop manual for the 240efi I would appreciate it. It does not say M2 on the belt cover so I’m assuming it’s just the normal jet drive.

 

[biffdotorg]

So you have a photo of the cover, as I don't believe any of them had an M2 on it. There is very little chance that you have the old 240EFI, they went away in 2002-2003. If yours is a 2006, you have the most current model.

Quick tip to avoid the Law enforcement, they may frown on the water wing vest, unless it is coast guard approved. It may very well be, but I don't see those very often outside the pools.

Good luck!

 

[Shoe07]

It’s not the circle cover, and it has a belt an alternator. So I guess it is an M2.

the two main things I noticed are
1: the belt has some chunks out of the ribs and squeaks. Needs replaced.
2: cavitates quite a bit under hard acceleration. The leading edge of the impeller is definitely not clean, lots of dings and scrapes, but the clearance to the wear ring is good. I’m planning to purchase a new impeller, and have this one sent for reconditioning to have as a backup. Does anyone have a special shop they like?

Are there any other options for impellers other than the Mercury oem? I found a mercury model that seemed well regarded by outlaw boat owners, however it’s even more expensive than the normal one ~$800.
I also found Solas MC-CD-22/39. Anybody use one of these?

I wouldn’t mind giving up 1-3 mph for hole shots with no cavitation.

Those wings (puddle jumpers) are great for the kiddos and are coast guard approved. They’re much more comfortable than the between the legs straps with the pillow deal. and they don’t get upset wearing them like they do the super oversize infant/toddler vests.
we have probably 8-10 of them in the extended family. They’re absolutely fantastic.

 

[biffdotorg]

That's awesome, if they are comfortable, there is much less squawking for sure.

Impros does a great job refurbishing the impellors and stators on the Merc SportJet. Many will do the pair together, as the Stator can cause cavitation as well. In our previous 20' SeaDoo the 240 efi pushed that boat up to 54 on GPS, so I was happy with the performance. So I would have no issues sticking with it.

The sleeve is what can get costly. Some have gotten them refurbished for $1400, but new stainless is more like $2400.

This is where guys learned to do the JB Weld trick to fill the holes, and sand the liner smooth again. It's seems pretty ghetto, but lots of good write ups on how it performed after the fact. and stupid cheap.

 

[Bilmon]

I'm using a Solas, lost a few MPH from the stock one but otherwise works fine, 51-52 from 55. Everything above the 175 uses the M2 pump, 175 is XR2. Haven't done it yet but I want to send my old wear ring out, Sport Jet (maverickwatersports.com) can put a replaceable liner in. If your on facebook the Sugar Sand Group has the 240 manual on file, be aware there are 2 240 manuals, one for the older 240 which is combined with the 210 and the one you want for the newer version

 

[Chuck Buck]

Saturday I loaded the family up and off we went to Michigan to check out this boat. We went for a test ride on lake st Clair. That was exciting. Didn’t get over 25mph, was extremely choppy.

HA! You launched from the Harley Ensign DNR facility. You were almost in my neighborhood! Boating on Lake St. Clair means you usually head into the wind/weather for calmer waters. With all the different features of the lake, that's not hard to do.

AFA compression, the spec on the 175 is 15 psi max deviation from lowest to highest, so it looks like you're good. And the HydroSurge spring-loaded grate? Love mine on this shallow, weedy lake. Has keep me from taking an unwanted swim numerous times.

 

[Shoe07]

I found a problem with my new to me boat. There is water where it should not be. I was installing some stays to connect a bungee net so I can store things in the engine compartment without it flying all over. Starboard side went fine. Port side, when I drilled a hole in the stringer? Water started shooting out of the hole. I don’t even know where to begin looking for the problem.

 

[Shoe07]

It’s been 3 weeks since I was on the water.

 

[Shoe07]

This is the only abnormal thing I’ve found on the port side exterior. Some minor cracks around this hook.

one other thing I noticed was when running on the hose, the tell-tale Does not shoot out water. I noticed this yesterday when-fogging for the winter. Is it possible it’s shooting water back in that area? I tugged on the hose and it feels secure. I have no idea how these are put together in the transom.

 

[Chuck Buck]

You probably already know the bad news – water inside a structural support on any boat is a time bomb. It must be removed, the sooner the better, thoroughly and completely. There is no “quick fix”, “easy route”, or “simple way” to do this.

There’s one thing that comes to mind with my refrigeration experience – in the HVAC world, before recharging an A/C system, a vacuum is applied to not only remove any trapped air, but also to “boil” any moisture out of the system. Just as high altitude lowers the boiling point of water, taken to the extreme, water will boil at room temperature under extremely low pressure (partial vacuum).

Just a thought, but I might buy a cheap electric vacuum pump from “Hazard Fraught” (Harbor Freight) and drill a large enough hole in the fiberglass to thread in a fitting to connect to said pump, seal everything else off, then let the pump run for a few days. Afterward, drill a longer hole into the stringer for a “core sample.” Can’t hurt anything, and if the drill brought up dry wood, I might consider sealing the hole off and calling it good for a season, then sample again next year. Crazy talk? Perhaps, but if it were mine, I’d give it a shot. The alternative is stringer replacement.

BTW, this is the reason I’m SUPER fussy about sealing any fittings/cracks/etc. below the rub line as this is exactly what can happen. Good luck!

 

[Shoe07]

When you say drill a hole, whereabouts would you drill it? In the engine compartment?
I was thinking about this but in reverse, pressurizing with the air compressor to see if I could figure out where the water went in. Set regulator to 30 psi or so and have at it.

 

[Chuck Buck]

When you say drill a hole, whereabouts would you drill it? In the engine compartment?

Right where the water came out.

I was thinking about...pressurizing with the air compressor ....Set regulator to 30 psi...

30 psi over a 12 x 12 inch area would equal over two TONS of force. BOOM!