2008 Sea-Doo Challenger 180 Super Charger

[dunhams]

I just bought a 2008 Sea-Doo Challenger 180 with 67 hours. It's runs great. Is it okay to wait until 100 hours to rebuild the supercharger?

 

[Sidarousmg]

I just bought a 2008 Sea-Doo Challenger 180 with 67 hours. It's runs great. Is it okay to wait until 100 hours to rebuild the supercharger?

that depends on your risk tolerance. the 08' came with ceramic washers from the factory. if thesupercharger has never been rebuilt, then i would probably recommend doing it now. if the ceramic washers fail "read: grenade" then your engine is toast. if the supercharger has been rebuilt at some point, then you may be OK as it likely has the new metal washers. rebuilding the supercharger is super easy (see what i did there?) and the winter time is a great time to get it done. removing it takes a couple of hours of work, you can ship it off to get rebuilt and have it back in about a week, ready for boating season. cost about $500 if you remove and install it yoruself.

 

[ThatJeepGuy]

I just bought a 2008 Sea-Doo Challenger 180 with 67 hours. It's runs great. Is it okay to wait until 100 hours to rebuild the supercharger?

Absolutely rebuild the supercharger.

I bought a challenger back in 08 and my dealer assured me the 08’s had metal washers. With zero hours I pulled the supercharger just to be sure and just as I expected they were the ceramic washers. They’re a bomb waiting to explode and destroy your engine.

 

[dunhams]

Could I just swap out the ceramic washers? Seems silly to rebuild a perfectly well working turbo charger if it's relatively simple? Hard to find any info online on how to do an it. Advice is much appreciated.

 

[Ronnie]

Here is the first video I found on the subject. I’m not sure if it’s the same engine but the rebuild should be similar anyway.

rebuilding now instead of just replacing the washers is good preventive maintenance, especially if you are going to rebuild it at 100 hours anyway. Kind of like replacing the water pump in your car because you are already having the timing belt replaced. You may as well do it now versus duplicating the down time and expense later.

 

[dunhams]

Found a place that will rebuild for about $400 if I bring in the supercharger. If I take the boat they charge near $900. Costly maintenance expense every two years.

Trying to remove the supercharger to get it rebuilt and I can not get enough leverage to loosen the engine side e8 screw that holds the supercharger to the engine. Have to use a e8 box wrench because of the tight space. Scrapped the 4" e8 box wrench and got a 10" e8, I can get it on the exhaust side, but can not get it loose, combination of lack of leverage and afraid I will strip the screw. Maybe I can get more leverage if I remove the full exhaust from the engine. Don't really want to do that because there appears to be enough room to get the supercharger out with out disconnecting.

Any suggestions? About ready to give up and take the whole boat in. Frustrating because it's literally 3 screws that hold the supercharger on and I can get the first one off.

 

[Sidarousmg]

Found a place that will rebuild for about $400 if I bring in the supercharger. If I take the boat they charge near $900. Costly maintenance expense every two years.

Trying to remove the supercharger to get it rebuilt and I can not get enough leverage to loosen the engine side e8 screw that holds the supercharger to the engine. Have to use a e8 box wrench because of the tight space. Scrapped the 4" e8 box wrench and got a 10" e8, I can get it on the exhaust side, but can not get it loose, combination of lack of leverage and afraid I will strip the screw. Maybe I can get more leverage if I remove the full exhaust from the engine. Don't really want to do that because there appears to be enough room to get the supercharger out with out disconnecting.

Any suggestions? About ready to give up and take the whole boat in. Frustrating because it's literally 3 screws that hold the supercharger on and I can get the first one off.

yes, you have to at least move the exhaust back a few inches. once you disconnect the large metal clamp holding the exhaust pipe to the manifold, you can remove the rubber strap holding the "muffler" box off and just slide the exhaust back a few inches. this will give you enough clearance to access the front bolt. it's still a pain because it's a long bolt and you can only get 1/8 of a turn each time.

 

[Miitch]

no comment on the hard to reach screws... i did mine this past summer and my knuckles were not happy with me...

as stated above, i agree you should rebuild your SC despite being shy of the 100hr mark. The manual states 100hrs or every 2 years - which ever comes first. Also, i believe when you get the old SC rebuilt, they replace your ceramic washers with stainless steel ones, which boosts your rebuild interval from every 100hrs to every 200 hours.

 

[dunhams]

Got it off. Penetrating oil and heat gun helped me get the engine side tough e8 bolt loose.
Had to move the exhaust. Since this is a 2008 I heard it's 50/50 if washers are steel/ceramic. Are the washers steel or ceramic?

 

[ThatJeepGuy]

Use a magnet to check

 

[SwissDoo]

Sell it as used working unit, get the latest version, maintenance free.

Forget it and enjoy the Sea Doo!

 

[Joe Starbuck]

Sell it as used working unit, get the latest version, maintenance free.

Forget it and enjoy the Sea Doo!

I wouldn't do that. Some people interpret "Maintenance Free" as "Does not need Maintenance". In fact, it means "not maintainable". When it fails a spin check you just replace it. That is not an improvement.

 

[MrBubbaGump]

I have a 2007 speedster 200, just rebuilt 2 years ago for the first time at 101 hours. Never had an issue, after rebuild one of them failed about 10 hours later. Luckily I had a dealer rebuild it so they replaced the failed unit with a new on free of charge since it was under warranty. They claim this has never happened before and tore down the other one again too just in case. No problems since then but it makes me wonder if I had just left it alone would I have had the issue.

 

[Joe Starbuck]

I have a 2007 speedster 200, just rebuilt 2 years ago for the first time at 101 hours. Never had an issue, after rebuild one of them failed about 10 hours later. Luckily I had a dealer rebuild it so they replaced the failed unit with a new on free of charge since it was under warranty. They claim this has never happened before and tore down the other one again too just in case. No problems since then but it makes me wonder if I had just left it alone would I have had the issue.

If you have ever watched Star Trek you know that changing something in the past will create an alternate future where many things will be different. In that alternate future your SC may or may not have failed, you may have met the Pope, been struck by lightening, etc.

 

[Sidarousmg]

I have a 2007 speedster 200, just rebuilt 2 years ago for the first time at 101 hours. Never had an issue, after rebuild one of them failed about 10 hours later. Luckily I had a dealer rebuild it so they replaced the failed unit with a new on free of charge since it was under warranty. They claim this has never happened before and tore down the other one again too just in case. No problems since then but it makes me wonder if I had just left it alone would I have had the issue.

curious, what were the symptoms of the failed supercharger? did it happen while under way on the water? at high rpm? did it just start to slip and lose power, or did it seize or "grenade"?
thank you,

 

[MrBubbaGump]

curious, what were the symptoms of the failed supercharger? did it happen while under way on the water? at high rpm? did it just start to slip and lose power, or did it seize or "grenade"?
thank you,

RPM was dropping on that engine…. Might not have noticed if I didn’t have two. Shut it down immediately. Troubleshot saw nothing wrong tried to restart but the engine wouldn’t turn over.