Impeller jam caused serious leaking

[Jubin Payandeh]

Was out today with 24 hrs on my 195 HOI. I was water skiing, my friend driving, ran over the rope while circling to get me. The engine quit. The ski rope was obviously caught in the impeller.

Fair enough.... BUT...

As I was swimming to the boat, the bilge pump comes on. When I re boarded, the bilge was full of water and the pump could not keep up. Water was pouring in from under the engine.

Fortunately, we were near a launch. We got a tow back. I was able to get back with the trailer as my friends bailed the boat, keeping it afloat until we could trailer it.

Looking under, the rope is wrapped many times around the shaft. It looks like a seal has broken or perhaps the impeller cut through.

I'll have to take it in for repair. Has anyone had this happen?

Jubin.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I believe this is common with the carbon seal setup. Rope can push the seal open and allow water to enter. It must have been run long enough to get wound up so much. Thank goodness you were close to a ramp.

 

[Julian]

We've seen this happen once or twice before....ropes and jetboats are not a good match. As soon as you notice a rope you must stop the engines....running or reving the boat, or attempting to restart an engine with a rope around the shaft can be a recipe for disaster.

Does the Impluse have the sleeve around the shaft?

Here is a thread with photos of a Yamaha with a similar incident:

https://jetboaters.net/threads/jet-shaft-through-hull-blowout.3195/

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Please report back on what you or the dealer finds. Pics are worth a million for future owners.

 

[treeskier]

I have a question...I thought the impeller shaft on the Scarab's and the Chaparral's went through a sleeve so the spinning shaft would not entangle a rope?

I looked at the Chaparral at last years OC boat show (they didn't have the Scarabs) and specifically asked how the lack of clean out ports was addressed. He showed me a cut away mock up of the system and basically said clean out ports were not necessary.

I read this post and a few others about using a mask and fins to go under the boat to clean things out...now I am not so sure. I assume that the Scarabs and Chaps are essentially the same Seadoo bottoms. I really like some of the finish options on both the Scarab and the Chaparral and want to consider all of my options on my next boat. One of the things I like about this forum is that we have people with experience with all of the brands out there and can give first hand knowledge on the pros and cons and as a current Yamaha owner I think we need competition in the jet boat market to keep the quality and value high.

 

[Jubin Payandeh]

I crawled under the boat and took some photos.

Tried to get it out. Not happening with my skill set.

Will call the local Sea Doo dealer Monday and make an appointment.

Will update regarding progress.

Jubin.

 

[Bry-n-Jess-165/HOI]

I hope all works out quickly so you can get back on the water by next weekend! I'm pretty sure your insurance will cover "accidents" like running over a rope . You may want to look into that option If the damage is going to be too costly.

 

[Bruce]

Looks like it wrapped around the sleeve that is supposed to prevent things wrapping around the shaft. That would make it more difficult to remove than a rope wrapped around the shaft.

The leaking part worries me. Is it possible that the rope jam pulled the shaft out of its seal? If so it might be as easy as pulling the pump, removing the rope and reinstalling.

 

[Hillt]

If you want to give a try cut one end of the rope that is on top of the shaft and with a long screw driver begin to grab the wound rope at the bottom and pull the rope down. It will begin to unwrap repeat until it is all un wound. You have a lot of rope wound so it will take a bit. Speaking from experience that's how I got mine out.

 

[njmr2fan]

damn! I have the same rope, glad its strong but at the same time it sucks that its that strong. Hope the damage is not too bad. I will include this photo in my wifes driver training and explain to her to never ever get close to the rope.

 

[Jubin Payandeh]

I had a surprise from my local Sea Doo dealer. They fixed my boat. According to them, the ski rope had melted and jammed around the impeller causing its housing to crack. They replaced that and figure it was the cause of the leak.

I am advised to put it in the water, keep it on the trailer and start it to see if the leak is resolved.

So, fingers crossed, will head out tomorrow AM and keep everyone posted.

Jubin.

 

[njmr2fan]

Great news! Stand up dealer too!

 

[SCSTWG]

Glad to see you got a quick repair. Good luck at the ramp.

 

[itsdgm]

I had a surprise from my local Sea Doo dealer. They fixed my boat. According to them, the ski rope had melted and jammed around the impeller causing its housing to crack. They replaced that and figure it was the cause of the leak.

I am advised to put it in the water, keep it on the trailer and start it to see if the leak is resolved.

So, fingers crossed, will head out tomorrow AM and keep everyone posted.

Jubin.

I really hope that you're out of the woods, but I have a feeling that if you had water entering the boat that replacing a pump liner isn't going to be the problem. I'd be more concerned with possible damage further up at the shaft seal area. Looks to me like the rope might have wrapped around the shaft protector and possibly spun that around. If so, that would be where the water is coming into the boat. But like I said, hopefully I'm looking at this all wrong and that you're all fixed up like the dealer said.

My previous Sea Doo boat had shaft protectors too. But they were plastic, yours looks like it might be metal? From my experience, the rope would catch in the impeller, spin around the the shaft protector and ingest the plastic shaft protector and rope into the pump. Like yours, the spinning debris would melt the pump liner. But my shaft protectors were plastic, so the would break away easily. If yours is metal, it might cause more severe damage to where it attaches up by the shaft seal. But
Like I said, I can't see all the details in your pic and Could be way off on a diagnosis here.

One thing that you could do is to put the drain plug in and put some water in the bilge while the boats on the trailer (bow up as high as it will go) and look for any leaks back there. It might save you a trip to the lake.

I'm crossing my fingers that your all fixed up here. Keep us posted.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Make sure you throttle it up fairly high while on the trailer. Your carbon seal was the issue in my opinion, hopefully that was replaced, cleaned up or o-rings replaced.

 

[Bry-n-Jess-165/HOI]

I had a surprise from my local Sea Doo dealer. They fixed my boat. According to them, the ski rope had melted and jammed around the impeller causing its housing to crack. They replaced that and figure it was the cause of the leak.

I am advised to put it in the water, keep it on the trailer and start it to see if the leak is resolved.

So, fingers crossed, will head out tomorrow AM and keep everyone posted.

Jubin.

I THINK YOU WILL BE FINE, ENJOY YOUR DAY ON THE WATER !

 

[Jubin Payandeh]

I did fill the back of the boat with water in my driveway to check for leaks. Looked good.

Started it on the trailer, in the water at the ramp. Good... Zipped around the bay. Good... Drove around to my place, about 2.5 miles. Bone dry. Great acceleration and topped out at 44 mph.

Looking at my invoice, it was the 'impeller boot' that they changed. Says they checked the carbon seal.

I am quite pleased about this. The dealer was great. I figure the mechanic was pretty excited as they have never seen or heard of Scarab before. Perhaps this got me to the front of the line as they fixed it within 24 hrs. I'm hoping they decide to become a dealer... That 215 looks sweet!

Many thanks for the advice and support.

Jubin.