Thread:

Whine...

Hey Greg,
Hope that you may be able to help me. I have an 01 Carrera 202XR, open bow, 454 Marine Power, 380hp model. I was at the river this weekend to do my annual service, got the oil changed, and decided that since I had a day and a half before I had to head out I would put the boat in the water to run some fuel through it. It fired right up no problem, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until I pushed the handle forward to get out of the No Wake zone, that's when I heard a slight whine coming from the motor compartment. I let the engine idle and lifted the hatch, it wasn't the motor that was whining, it sounded like it was coming from the pump, maybe the bearing between the pump and motor? I did run the boat with no performance problems, gets up on plane nicely, ran really good for the rest of the weekend. The whine got just a tad bit louder as the day went on but again the boat ran great. Any ideas? The service that I did included greasing all zerk fitting on the pump, the one inside the boat and the one that you access by pulling the nozzle.

Thanks in advance,
BarryMac

Mac, There are only 2 thing that whine in a jet boat the alternator and the front bearing in the pump. The alt can be checked on the trailer. Disconnect the belt and start the engine no whine pull the alt and have it checked. The front bearing is a little harder the thrust bearing has to have pressure on it to establish a load so a water test is next. Leaving the boat on the trailer start the engine and bring the rpm's up slightly if the whine goes up with the engine rpm's your propably starting to lose the front bearing on the pump. Do not use the boat until you determine where the whine is coming from or you could cause some serious damage.

That doesn't sound good if it's the bearing, does the motor have to be pulled in order to change this? I'm assuming that it's a fairly complicated job? I will be back out in a couple of weeks and I will check both things that you've suggested.

Thanks for the information...

Any idea on what it would cost to have the bearing replaced? Does the motor have to be pulled to do the job?

yah

The motor wont need to be pulled. The pump will.

Is this a pretty tricky job? If I can do it myself I will but I don't want to screw anything up. I've never pulled the pump off, never had a need to before. I talked to a guy in San Marcos yesterday, Maxx Marine, I told him that the boat had less then 200 hours on it, he was very suprised to hear that it is possible the thrust bearing, he said that they should last upto 1,000 hours? I am religious about greasing it, I can't say if the previous owners were though, kinda bums me out, I was hoping to be back on the water next weekend, I may have to postpone the trip for a little while...

i have a 97 202xr also. I just went through the jet this winter. my bearing
was in perfect shape after 250 hours of hard use. check the alternator first , my original alt got noisy after 2 years. replaced it and the noise was gone.

Originally Posted by sac carrera

i have a 97 202xr also. I just went through the jet this winter. my bearing
was in perfect shape after 250 hours of hard use. check the alternator first , my original alt got noisy after 2 years. replaced it and the noise was gone.

Thanks, I am really hoping that this is the problem. I will be out this weekend to check it and will report back...

do what greg suggested. just because someone says a bearing -should- last for 1000 hours doesn't mean it will. it -could- last for 10,000 hours, but that's not applicable to the whine you're hearing. it's a bearing with balls in it, it could have gotten wet at some point, and could be failing. if you remove the alternator belt, and still hear the whine, park the thing until it's fixed, or you can cause A LOT of damage to the pump. more damage = more money. removing the pump is a bit tedious, but pretty simple - an hour or two. but the pump would need to be completely disassembled to replace the bearing. get it to a good shop that checks -everything-, and you'll have it back together in short order.

Thanks to all for the great advice, I am heading out this weekend to test the things that Greg and the rest have suggested, I will report back on Monday as to my findings, I have my fingers crossed that it is the alternator, if not I will be dragging it back to So Cal to get the bearing replaced...

Originally Posted by barrymac

if not I will be dragging it back to So Cal to get the bearing replaced...

at that point, you should give Greg a call at his shop. He does great work and will treat you right.

alternators whine, bearings growl ...