IMPORTANT INFORMATION 1

MAINTENANCE
Table of Contents
Page
Flushing Cooling System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B-1
Following Complete Submersion . . . . . . . . . 1B-1
Salt Water Submersion
(Special Instructions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B-1
Submerged While Running
(Special Instructions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B-1
Submerged Engine (Fresh Water)
Plus Special Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B-1
Fuel System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B-2
Out-of-season Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B-2
Out-of-season Battery Storage . . . . . . . . . . 1B-2
Detonation: Causes And Prevention . . . . . . 1B-3
Compression Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B-4
Water Pressure Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B-4

1B-0 - IMPORTANT INFORMATION 90-852396 MAY 1996

Flushing Cooling System Following Complete Submersion
Flushing the cooling system is essential after each Submerged engine treatment is divided into three
use in salt water, after the boat has run aground, or distinct problem areas. The most critical is submer-
when the overheat warning horn sounds (possible sion in salt water; the second is submersion while
debris in jet powerhead). running; the third is submerged in fresh water.
1. Remove flush adaptor plug and attach water SALT WATER SUBMERSION (SPECIAL
hose. INSTRUCTIONS)
Due to the corrosive effect of salt water on internal
engine components complete disassembly is nec-
essary before any attempt is made to start the en-
gine.
a SUBMERGED WHILE RUNNING (SPECIAL
INSTRUCTIONS)
When an engine is submerged while running, the
possibility of internal engine damage is greatly in-
creased. If, after engine is recovered and with spark
plugs removed, engine fails to rotate freely when
turning flywheel, the possibility of internal damage
(bent connecting rod and/or bent crankshaft) exists.
If this is the case the powerhead must be disas-
sembled.
a - Flush Adapter Plug FRESH WATER SUBMERSION (SPECIAL
2. The engine may be run using the Flushing At- INSTRUCTIONS)
tachment: DO NOT run the engine above idle 1. Recover engine as quickly as possible.
speeds.
2. Flush exterior of engine with fresh water to re-
3. Turn water on and flush engine block for at least move mud, weeds, etc. DO NOT attempt to start
10 minutes. engine if sand has entered powerhead, as pow-
4. Remove water hose and install flush adaptor erhead will be severely damaged. Disassemble
plug. powerhead if necessary to clean components.
5. Flush outer surfaces of pump with water stream. 3. Remove spark plugs and get as much water as
possible out of powerhead by rotating flywheel.
4. Pour alcohol into carburetor throat (alcohol will
absorb water). Again rotate flywheel.
5. Pour alcohol into spark plug openings and again
rotate flywheel.
6. Pour engine oil into throats of carburetors while
rotating flywheel to distribute oil throughout
crankcase.
7. Pour approximately one teaspoon of engine oil
into each spark plug opening. Rotate flywheel to
distribute oil in cylinders.
8. Remove and clean carburetors and fuel pump
assembly.
9. Reinstall spark plugs, carburetors and fuel
pump.
10. Attempt to start engine, using a fresh fuel
source. If engine starts it should be run for at
least one hour to eliminate any water in engine.

90-852396 MAY 1996 IMPORTANT INFORMATION - 1B-1

11. If engine fails to start determine cause (fuel,
Permanently Installed Fuel Tank: Pour the re-
electrical or mechanical). Engine should be run quired amount of Quicksilver Gasoline Stabilizer
within two hours after recovery from water as se- (follow instructions on container) into a separate
rious internal damage may occur. If unable to container and mix with approximately one quart
start engine in this period disassemble engine (one liter) of gasoline. Pour this mixture into fuel
and clean all parts and apply oil as soon as pos- tank.
sible.
Place the Sport Jet in the water or use the flushing
Out-of-Season Storage attachment. Run the engine for ten minutes to al-
low treated fuel to reach the carburetors.

WARNING 1. With Sport Jet in the water, start the engine and
let it warm up to operating temperature.
As a safety precaution, when boat is in storage,
remove positive (+) battery cable. This will 2. Disconnect the fuel line. When the engine starts
eliminate possibility of accidental starting of to stall quickly spray Quicksilver Storage Seal
engine and resultant overheating and damage to into each carburetor throat. Continue to spray
engine from lack of water. until engine dies from lack of fuel.

In preparing for out-of-season storage, two precau- 3. Remove spark plugs and inject a five second
tions must be considered: 1) The engine must be spray of Quicksilver Storage Seal around the in-
protected from physical damage caused by freezing side of each cylinder. Manually turn engine over
trapped water and 2) the engine must be protected several times to distribute Storage Seal
from rust, corrosion and dirt. throughout cylinders. Reinstall spark plugs.

The following storage procedures should be fol- 4. Drain and refill drive housing unit and stator as-
lowed to prepare the Sport Jet for out-of-season sembly with Quicksilver Hi Performance Gear
storage or prolonged storage (two months or long- Lube as explained in “Jet Pump” section (see
er). Table of Contents).
5. Clean engine thoroughly including all accessi-
ble powerhead parts and spray with Corrosion
CAUTION and Rust Preventive.
Never start or run the Sport Jet (even
6. Lubricate all lubrication points.
momentarily) without water circulating through
the cooling system to prevent damage to the 7. To prevent freeze damage drain the speedome-
unit. ter system of water completely before storage.
FUEL SYSTEM Remove tubing from speedometer fitting and
blow through tubing to remove water.
IMPORTANT: Gasoline containing alcohol (etha-
nol or methanol) can cause a formation of acid 8. Store battery as outlined in Out-of-Season Bat-
during storage and can damage the fuel system. tery Storage following:
If the gasoline being used contains alcohol, it is IMPORTANT: Check and refill housings with
advisable to drain as much of the remaining gas- Quicksilver Hi Performance Gear Lube before
oline as possible from the fuel tank, remote fuel storage to protect against possible water leak-
line, and engine fuel system. age into housings which is caused by loose lu-
Fill the fuel system (tank, hoses, fuel pump, and car- bricant vent or fill plug. Inspect gaskets under
buretors) with treated (stabilized) fuel to help pre- lubricant vent and fill plugs replacing any dam-
vent formation of varnish and gum. Proceed with the aged gaskets before reinstalling plugs.
following instructions. Out-of-Season Battery Storage

Portable Fuel Tank: Pour the required amount of
1. Remove battery as soon as possible and re-
Quicksilver Gasoline Stabilizer (follow instruc-
move all grease, sulfate and dirt from top sur-
tions on container) into fuel tank. Tip fuel tank
back and forth to mix stabilizer with the fuel. face.
2. Cover plates with distilled water, but not over
3/16 in. (5 mm) above perforated baffles.

1B-2 - IMPORTANT INFORMATION 90-852396 MAY 1996

3. Cover terminal bolts well with grease. Detonation: Causes and Prevention
4. Store battery in a cool, dry place in a dry carton Detonation in a 2-cycle engine resembles the “ping-
or box. ing” heard in an automobile engine. It can be de-
5. Remove battery from storage every 60 days. scribed as a “rattling” or “plinking” sound.
Check water level and place on charge for 5 to Detonation generally is thought of as spontaneous
6 hours at 6 amperes. DO NOT fast charge. ignition, but it is best described as a noisy explosion
in an unburned portion of the fuel/air charge after the
CAUTION spark plug has fired. Detonation creates severe, un-
timely shock waves in the engine and these shock
A discharged battery can be damaged by waves often find or create a weakness: the dome of
freezing. a piston, piston rings or piston ring lands, piston pin
How Weather Affects and roller bearings.
Engine Performance While there are many causes for detonation in a
2-cycle engine emphasis is placed on those causes
It is a known fact that weather conditions exert a pro- which are most common in marine 2-cycle applica-
found effect on power output of internal combustion tion. A few which are not commonly understood are:
engines. Therefore, established horsepower ratings
refer to the power that the engine will produce at its 1. Over-advanced ignition timing.
rated RPM under a specific combination of weather 2. Use of low octane gasoline.
conditions.
3. Lean fuel mixture at or near wide open throttle.
Corporations internationally have settled on adop-
tion of I.S.O. (International Standards Organization) 4. Spark plugs (heat range too hot, incorrect
engine test standards as set forth in I.S.O. 3046 reach, cross-firing).
standardizing the computation of horsepower from 5. Inadequate engine cooling (deteriorated cool-
data obtained on the dynamometer correcting all ing system).
values to the power that the engine will produce at
sea level at 30% relative humidity at 77° F (25° C) 6. Combustion chamber/piston deposits (result in
temperature and a barometric pressure of 29.61 in- higher compression ratio).
ches of mercury. Detonation usually can be prevented provided that
(1) the engine is correctly set up and (2) diligent
Summer Conditions of high temperature, low baro-
maintenance is applied to combat the preceding det-
metric pressure and high humidity all combine to re-
onation causes listed.
duce the engine power. This, in turn, is reflected in
decreased boat speeds--as much as 2 or 3 miles-
per-hour (3 or 5 km per hour) in some cases. Nothing
will regain this speed for the boater, but the coming
of cool, dry weather.
In pointing out the practical consequences of weath-
er effects, an engine running on a hot, humid, sum-
mer day may encounter a loss of as much as 14% of
the horsepower it would produce on a dry, brisk
spring or fall day. The horsepower that any internal
combustion engine produces depends upon the
density of the air that it consumes and, in turn, this
density is dependent upon the temperature of the air,
its barometric pressure and water vapor (or humid-
ity) content.

90-852396 MAY 1996 IMPORTANT INFORMATION - 1B-3

Compression Check Water Pressure Check
1. Remove spark plugs. NOTE: To perform these checks a Water Pressure
Gauge Kit P/N 91-79250A2 is recommended. Wa-
2. Install compression gauge in spark plug hole.
ter pressure is taken at the top of the powerhead.
3. Hold throttle plates at W.O.T.
4. Crank engine through at least four compression
strokes to obtain highest possible reading.
5. Check and record compression of each cylin-
der. Variation of more than 15 psi (103.5 kPa)
between cylinders indicates that lower com-
pression cylinder is in some way defective such
as worn or sticking piston rings and/or scored
piston and cylinder.
6. Compression check is important because an
engine with low or uneven compression cannot
be tuned successfully to give peak perform-
ance. It is essential, therefore, that improper
compression be corrected before proceeding
with an engine tune-up.
7. Cylinder scoring: if powerhead shows any indi-
cation of overheating, such as discolored or a - Water Pressure Taken At This Location
scorched paint, visually inspect cylinders for
scoring or other damage as outlined in Section
4: Powerhead. CAUTION
Static test requires the boat be stationary in the
water secured to a dock or trailer and run in
forward. Do not use a flushing device for this
test.
RPM Water Pressure PSI
(kPa)
1,000 - 1,100 in neutral 1/2 - 1-1/2 (3.4 - 10)
5,300 boat on trailer 9 - 10 (62 - 69)
(static)
5,300 boat on plane 35 - 40 (241 - 276)

1B-4 - IMPORTANT INFORMATION 90-852396 MAY 1996