Zodiac Jet

Two good friends in Florida bought a pair of them at the same time. They both used them as tenders for larger boat, one a 56DB the other a 460DA. They ran well and did as they were advertised for about 18 months and from there on they were absolute maintenance nightmares. Both guys, replaced them with RIB's and tried to sell them. Neither ever got an offer so both were donated to a local marine institute for troubled youth. The problems were all over the map, too. No spark, loose connections, fuel pumps, water ingestion, but the big lick was when salt/silt collected between the impeller and impeller housing causing the impeller to lock up. Now, these boats were used in warm salt water in a 12 month/yr boating cycle and I'm not going to tell you they were flushed after each use...but one probably was.

When we were looking for a tender/toy, I never considered the Projet, even thought we get great performance from Zodiac products here.
 
Can't help you with the Zodiac but when i was researching jets, most of the troubles I saw were due to not flushing them regularly. I bought my novurania jet off a guy who also used it as a tender for a 560DB and 44DA. He had it for 4 years and didn't have any problems but he IS the most anal person I've ever met when it comes to boat maintenance and flushing it is very easy. Assume a Zodiac probably is too. Guess I'd ask if jet skis see a shorter lifespan or have more problems due to salt, sun or sand? Now, the reason he sold it is he wanted a tender he could run right up on the beach which seems ideal for you coastal beach-going boat people. I mainly run in freshwater and the only hard my jet sees is the lift. I'll have the boat and novurania in FL over the winter, so it'll be interesting to see how I feel about it after 6-7 mos of salt and sand. but, darn, that little thing sure is a blast right now and the kids even like it.
 
It is critical that you remove all the salt water from aluminum housed engines or pumps when in salt water. With jets in particular, the stainless impeller runs in an aluminum housing and any salt left between the 2 turns into a corrosion build up farm due to the dissimilar metals. When the build up occurs, you first get a little noise then the impeller freezes up and you are done for...until you remove the engine, disassemble the ski and ream the inside of the housing then sleeve it to the tune of about $3500. Even a freshwater flush doesn't guarantee you get it all. Most PCW or outboard owners here use Salt Away or Salt Terminator with a mixing attachment to neutralize salt. Neutralize the salt, wash the exterior and keep a moisture displacing lubricant on the metals and you'll be fine. I kept a freshwater Yamaha Waverunner at the beach for 2 years, invested the time needed in flushing and when we sold it, it looked as good as when we took it down to the beach.
 
Never have any problems with my waverunners in salt. Just flush and wash after each use. 6 years old and running strong. I would think any jet would be te same.
 
spfortjohn said:
Never have any problems with my waverunners in salt. Just flush and wash after each use. 6 years old and running strong. I would think any jet would be te same.
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Not the sea doo with the older rotax engine, those things are junk.
 
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