How to prevent salt water corrosion?

[Lucas]

Ride mostly salt. Try and get a tank or 2 in a week.

Heavily hose the exterior, pole, pump and trailor and rear of the car down first. Bilge the accumulated water out, take the hood off, lightly spray, hose engine and compartment being careful to miss the filters, bilge it out again.

Lastly, with the hose, I run a spray in the compartment continuously for a couple of minutes using the bilge (on and off) to get it out. Then I flush the engine for a max of 2 minutes. Spray the motor, pipe when still hottish, with some kinda (I use a siliicon based), lubricant, then spray all moving parts (cables etc) with the same. Then I sponge the residue water out of the hull. I then start the motor again for approx 20 seconds and I'm confident the ski's ready for the next ride.

Never had the heads off and have rarely changed plugs in 2 differently modded SJ's in the four and five years respectively that I've owned them.
I've only had one negative lead corroded that had to be replaced.

Some of my friends own newer ski's and clean them in the same way as me but spend more time wiping down over lubricant spray etc etc

I envy those that ride lakes, rivers etc that don't have to flush/clean.:Banane35:

I do pretty much the same, except I spray my engine down heavily with T-9 its like WD-40 but it leaves a film/wax over everything that will protect it from rust, I usually do this before I ride when everything is good and dry, then after riding do the above, let everything dry and give it a light coat of T-9 along with all the moving parts, so far my engine bay looks new

 

[Frosty]

I just bought some of the boeshield t-9 today for the Daytona ride from Sears. TXJ Frosty recomended it from when he was living on the gulf coast. His ski and motor look like they never saw salt water. http://www.boeshield.com/

i swear by this stuff - i used it and it works awesome.

when i would get home from riding in the Gulf I would flush the motor with Salt Terminator for 10 minutes. Then wash the entire ski, inside and out, with soapy water with some salt terminator mixed in. Then rinse the entire ski with fresh water. Let it dry thoroughly and respray with T-9.

BTW, don't forget to wash/rinse your trailer... even galvanized trailers have parts that will corrode. Spray those parts with T-9 as well.

 

[wydopen]

this sounds bad but my ski hasnt had a flush kit for months now....mabye sence june??...but i ride it 3times a week..i know a couple guys that have been running the same motor for 5+years..never flushed never in fresh..its a bad habit but it goes to show you that your motors not gonna crap on ya if you dont flush a few times..

 

[hangtime]

WD 40 can break down some plastics and rubber over a long period of time .I use 100% silicone spray and make sure to flush BEFORE the salt has a chance to dry and crystalize to your boat /motor.

My buddy has a 2007 SJ and he asked me why I flush every time I ride and I look at his motor and it's all rusted and caked with salt /dirt and my 97 is so clean you could make eggs on the top of my motor .


Rinse off boat first and spray motor down very well around pipe and down by starter and then use a backflush which means flushing your ski the oposite way the water comes in to try and make any debris go out the pump again .The heat from running will dry the motor that's why you rinse motor first .
I use a kit that connects to the pissers and that way you can flush with your hood on for those of you who like your neighbors

Let dry and spray with a lot with silicone .Don't store with hood clamped tight and water in bilge .

 

[Tuttle]

this sounds bad but my ski hasnt had a flush kit for months now....mabye sence june??...but i ride it 3times a week..i know a couple guys that have been running the same motor for 5+years..never flushed never in fresh..its a bad habit but it goes to show you that your motors not gonna crap on ya if you dont flush a few times..

That's the ticket. Your salt never has a chance to dry. :bananapowerslide:

 

[wydopen]

That's the ticket. Your salt never has a chance to dry. :bananapowerslide:

thats my theory:biggthumpup:

 

[hangtime]

Flushing has absolutely nothing to do with how your ski runs but how it looks and also how it comes apart when you need to maintenance it.

Having a super clean looking ski can also help with resale.


If you don't flush for 5 years your going to have a hell of a time getting bolts out and I like my ski to look clean with no rust .Stainless does rust after a while .

 

[wydopen]

Flushing has absolutely nothing to do with how your ski runs but how it looks and also how it comes apart when you need to maintenance it.

Having a super clean looking ski can also help with resale.


If you don't flush for 5 years your going to have a hell of a time getting bolts out and I like my ski to look clean with no rust .Stainless does rust after a while .

i wash..just no flush..and id say if all your cooling jackets were clogged with salt it wouldnt run good for very long

 

[hangtime]

i wash..just no flush..and id say if all your cooling jackets were clogged with salt it wouldnt run good for very long

Wash is more important than flush and the chances of your cooling jackets getting filled with salt are zero .I would think the heat and water flow would keep the salt from building up .take apart your head and look

 

[michael950]

apparently some jet ski's have a piece of zinc mounted inside the cooling area of the cylinders, apparently this helps prevent the aluminum from corroding, it seems like my 61x cylinders have a spot to mount it (looks like a little fin in between the individual cylinders)....although mine didnt have anything mounted there

has anyone ever heard of this?

also has anyone ever powder-coated the cooling area of the cylinders or coated it with any type of paint?

That is a sacrificial anode, and it will corrode before the steel/aluminum engine does.

Some people remove it for whatever reason. If you flush every time after riding in surf, it's not that big of a deal.

 

[choab]

I use CRC 656 on almost everything. The engine compartment, pump housing, bars and controls. Even after riding, there is still a film left on all metal parts. I sometimes use "fluid film" (lanolin), but I dont feel that it holds up as well as CRC 656.

 

[tbaer]

sometimes i pour a little dawn dish soap in the flush hose and flush until i don't see bubbles anymore.

 

[suva]

I'm pretty sure dish soap has salt in it.

 

[clintopher]

apparently some jet ski's have a piece of zinc mounted inside the cooling area of the cylinders, apparently this helps prevent the aluminum from corroding, it seems like my 61x cylinders have a spot to mount it (looks like a little fin in between the individual cylinders)....although mine didnt have anything mounted there

has anyone ever heard of this?

also has anyone ever powder-coated the cooling area of the cylinders or coated it with any type of paint?

Zinc is for electrolysis...doesn't have anything to do with salt water corrosion. At least, that's what it's for on every other boat in the world...don't have enough experience with skis yet to say that w/ 100% certainty. However, I would put $20 on it...not a whole pay check though.

 

[itismejoshy]

luckly i have a rinse system built into one of my trailers! because it's a 45 min hual back to house from the gulf.

 

[Speleopower]

I fill the bilge up with water and then start flushing with salt away. As it is flushing out the motor I turn the bilge on. I use a sponge to get the last little bit of water out of the bilge. Then use a good bit of WD40 or TC9 or T-11 (which ever one is closest to reach) etc all over everything.

I also use some WD40 and spray it on the steering cable at the handlebars and at the nozzle. Sometimes I put a few drops of oil down the throttle cable with the pole up. The idea is that the oil will run down hill through the cable. I do the same thing with the steering cable.

Later on after water has dripped off everything I will sponge out the remaining water and hit it again with spray.

The other thing I do is fog the carbs with lube after I turn the water off. I fog the carbs until the engine dies or about 10-15 seconds of run time.

-Scott

 

[masterblaster]

wd 40 by the gallon is a lifesaver for everyday salt rides,or the cheap advance silicone spray.it slicks everything off,motox chain lube down the throttle and steering cables both ends every 3rd ride. pos and neg cables last much longer if you heat the ends up with a torch and run solder through them till the wire is solid about a inch back without melting the jacketing

 

[jjchambers]

how many people fog their engines? Do you think it's necessary if you ride once a week / or twice every 3 weeks? What's a good cheap fogging spray to use? I ride exclusively salt water.

J

 

[Flash-FX]

This stuff works great. Less greasy build up, NO explosive fumes.

 

[masterblaster]

Ive heard that stuff is good also,how much is it?