Does salt water damage a jet ski?

Question

looking for people who have riden in salt water for a few years with the same ski. even flushing i hear doesn't won't do it, the salt will corrode the inside out. are there preventative measures i can take or ways to avoid the damage?

Answer 1

Gawd Yes! I was a professional Kawasaki mechanic for over 20 years and although I worked on Jet Skis used in Lake Superior, some of our customers used to haul theirs to Florida for the winter. You cannot believe the damage that salt water does! Even though every part is aluminum or stainless on a Jet Ski, there was extensive damage on those not properly maintained.

Do everything your owner's manual tells you to do after you complete a ride or you will be very sorry. Off season storage instructions are also very important to follow. I had one machine where they didn't do this and the motor fused itself together so completely that we had to cut the connecting rods off to remove the cylinder! Even the water passages were clogged with a rock hard build-up. The entire motor was toast.

Everyone who posted this warning above me is correct. The rest of you should stick to riding in your local pond.

Answer 2

Yes flush it off with fresh water.

Answer 3

Salt water has the potential to really damage your ski if you neglect taking care of the problem, I know people who've ruined their engine with only 25 hours on it by neglect.

Salt water damages by two ways, through corrosiveness and electrolysis.  What you want to do is limit the damage as much as possible.  Some jet skis have a sacrificial zinc anode that will corrode before the base metal, but the bad news is it can dissolve fairly quickly and you need to tear apart the engine to replace the zinc anode, not something most people are willing to do.  Some simple things you can do are:

1) Wash ski inside and out with fresh water as soon as possible after riding in salt water, using a salt dissolver like "Salt-Away" also helps by dissolving the salts faster and leaving a protective barrier.

2)Flush your engine for at least 10 minutes after each ride, again spraying "Salt-Away" through the pump and engine.

3) use a good corrosive preventing spray like CRC "Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor" or "Corrosion Block" on all exposed metals ( such as battery terminals, carbs, oil injection pump, cable linkage, etc. ) and on all electrical terminals and connectors.  The spray leaves a thick waxy film that helps keep salt water away from these parts, and just needs to be done once a season. A lot of people like using WD-40, I don't because it's not as good protecting the metal and will break down rubber parts and the electrical wire insulation.

4)Fog your engine, both through the carbs while you're flushing the engine with fresh water, and afterwards by removing the spark plugs and injecting directly into the engine.  Crank the engine a couple times without the plugs to give the engine cylinders a good coating.

5) At the end of each season, I usually tear down the pump assembly and throughly clean all the parts and lubricate with a good marine grease. You'll be surprised by how much salt deposits you'll find hidden in places no matter how well you think you've flushed your ski. I also will inspect the entire ski at this time for any sign of corrosion, cleaning, replacing, or repairing  as nessasary. Some skis have a replaceable impeller housing ring that you need to inspect, eventually salt water will cause the ring to swell as it gets behind the ring and the housing wall causing impeller will dig into the housing.  I usually spend about 2.5 hours cleaning my ski after each ride, by following the above practices, to date my oldest one has close to 500 hours on it riding in salt water, so far I've had to replace the reverse cable and the impeller housing due to salt damage, everything else has been fine.

Answer 4

No. They are not only made for lakes, but are also made for the ocean. You don't have to do anything extra with them if you use them in the ocean. Just keep it clean as you would if you were using it in a Pond. A little extra maintenance couldn't hurt though, if you have to.

Answer 5

SIMPLY PUT

YES

NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO!!!!!!!!!!

SALT WATER WILL CORODE YOUR ENGINE AND THE SKI'S COMPONENTS FASTER THAN FRESH WATER

BOTTOM LINE

I'VE SEEN THE INSIDE OF MANY AN ENGINE

AND SALT WATER TURNS THE COOLING JACKETS ,AND MESHING SURFACES OF MANIFOLDS INTO CANCER LADEN LOOKING

CHUNKS OF STEEL

FLUSHING JUST DOESN'T CUT IT

IT HELPS BUT JUST ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH

SALT = COROSSION

WE USE IT ON OUR ROADS IN THE WINTER

LOOK WHAT IT DOES TO OUR CARS

TRULY CANADIAN

Answer 6

it depends if u buy it in a place that doesnt have any lakes just the ocean the jetski will probably be made to withstand the salt then u can just ask the dealer on what to do

salt is not going to ruin your engine because obviously the skis are made to run in salt water i know people that just keep the skis in the water all the time or never flush the engines after hundreds of hours and the engine is still fine

Answer 7

Just rinse it off when you get it out. It will be fine.