Lost power when turning

[Ddip1125]

Hi All,

I had something happen that I thought was odd but it may be completely normal for a jet boat. I have a 2016 AR240. As I was pulling a tube the other day and turning on a pretty sharp radius I noticed I lost RPM on one motor and the boat lost a lot of power. I'm not sure if that is due to cavitation from the turn or if it's from the water forcing the directional guard closed but I would not think that should happen. Once I noticed that, i tried it a few more times and was able to get it to happen again. I had to hold the throttle to make sure I kept power. Anyone else have this issue or is this normal?

 

[JDSCHMOO]

Totally normal, I believe due to cavitation and how far over our boats lean. I've gotten used to backing off throttle slightly, then full throttle thru the turn to keep the feeling of acceleration and get a good whip.

 

[Ddip1125]

I was hoping you wouldn't say that. Major downside to a jet boat. I wonder if the cruise control would help that?

 

[swatski]

Hi All,

I had something happen that I thought was odd but it may be completely normal for a jet boat. I have a 2016 AR240. As I was pulling a tube the other day and turning on a pretty sharp radius I noticed I lost RPM on one motor and the boat lost a lot of power. I'm not sure if that is due to cavitation from the turn or if it's from the water forcing the directional guard closed but I would not think that should happen. Once I noticed that, i tried it a few more times and was able to get it to happen again. I had to hold the throttle to make sure I kept power. Anyone else have this issue or is this normal?

This is interesting!
Loss of power/acceleration due to cavitation in a hard turn is one thing. Loss of RPM, that's another. If you were cavitating, RPM would go up, so that isn't it. But these boats also do not bog down the engines like a propped boat could under heavy load (beauty of jet drives), so - what is it???
Hopefully someone can come up with an explanation. I can only think of throttle controls slipping.

 

[Julian]

Yeah.....cavitation or even the pump coming out of the water would cause your RPM to go up HIGH, not lower.....

 

[Ddip1125]

I'm going to run it around today and see if I can get and idea of which pump does it when I'm turning in each direction. I feel like the nozzle is closing off causing my RPM to decrease. I just had the 10 HR service done (complete license to steal by the way) and the dealer said that shouldn't be happening.

 

[chesbay007]

Its completely normal. Read the article below on dual pump loading.

http://www.groupk.com/yjetboat.htm

 

[bronze_10]

My boat doesn't loose rpm... but in a sharp turn u do have to add power to keep the fun factor up... what I find interesting is that one engine is dropping rpm while the other isnt... I can spin my boat around almost like a jet ski but my rpm always jump up when the back end come up..... sounds like a trotted cable slipping.... or the next step would be some kinda full pick up problem in high turns with that engine... just throwing ideas out there..

 

[ToddW850]

I have a 2007 AR210 and we tube and wakeboard A LOT. I've never had the issue of losing RPM's in a turn. Like @bronze_10 said, I do sometimes have to give it more throttle to keep up speed in sharp turns. But this is not due to losing RPM's. My RPM's would stay the same if I didn't touch the throttle.

Will be interested to see the cause of your issue @Ddip1125 Good luck.

 

[swatski]

Its completely normal. Read the article below on dual pump loading.

http://www.groupk.com/yjetboat.htm

That is completely not the case. Did you read the article?

 

[itsdgm]

How much fuel did you have in the tank? If you were on the lower end of fuel in the tank, it's conceivable that one of the fuel pumps is sucking a bit of air while making a hard turn.