Going to look at 2003 Shockwave Skier

[SIK-06]

454 with Dominator Jet and Place Diverter. First Jet boat. What do I ask and what do I look for?

 

[RCDave]

454 mag or regular? The mag has 390hp and the regular 330.

 

[Deckin Around]

Ask:
Does it run?
Does it float?
Does the engine noise drop panties?
Does the speed make bikini tops fly off?

Buy it.

 

[SIK-06]

Ask:
Does it run?
Does it float?
Does the engine noise drop panties?
Does the speed make bikini tops fly off?

Buy it.

lmao!

 

[SIK-06]

454 mag or regular? The mag has 390hp and the regular 330.

Regular. carb just rebuilt.

 

[RCDave]

With that motor and the cab forward open bow design, it will probably run 52-54 mph. 2-4mph faster if it had the mag?

 

[Backlash]

They are a roomy boat due to their design. Take a look at the trailer too. You can tell a lot about how the boat was kept by the condition of the trailer. Just my .02.

 

[Flynryan]

Meet him at a lake if you like it and take it for a test drive

 

[satellitemike]

454 with Dominator Jet and Place Diverter. First Jet boat. What do I ask and what do I look for?

First question you should ask is " how do I convert this from a jet boat", second "you should look for a non jet boat". Sorry I couldn't resist!

 

[2Driver]

Id ask him what he did to maintain the jet just see what his answer is. My jet had 3 zerk fittings as well as a weep gland in the bildge that needed a slight adjustment.

Check date code on the trailer tires if they are over 5 years old or so they are trash no matter what they look like

Im sure there is a lot more but if it has a bunch of hours I want a compression test and at some point the jet may need a refresh.

crawl underneath and look up into the grate to inspect the impeller. check operation of foot throttle cable steering and gate ( forward reverse) cable. All should be easy to operate and smooth.

Ask for the service records anyone detailed enough to care for the boat should have a file.

 

[BingerFang]

If you're getting a really good deal than there is something probably wrong with it..... ask me how I know. Lol

 

[Sherpa]

if I sold my mastercraft, it would have no service records.......

because I've changed the oil and filter every 25 hours. greased the steering cable, serviced the trailer about every 2-3 years, did major work on it like full bearings, races replacement, new hitch just because, etc.

water test is important. but a seller is gonna want to make damn sure you're serious about it and not out for a boat ride.

--Sherpa

 

[TrollerDave]

454 with Dominator Jet and Place Diverter. First Jet boat. What do I ask and what do I look for?

Contact Tom or Josh at Jet Boat Performance. Tom is a member here and is good with advice.
2Driver has some good points. Ask the what he did. It’ll give some insight if it was maintained. Steering cable, forward/reverse cable and diverter cable. Make sure everything moves freely and cable jackets aren’t cracked.
Look into the intake with a flashlight. Check the grate/loader for any cracks or broken pieces. Check the impeller for dinged edges.
If you can, open the hand hole cover and check for any play in the shaft. This can help check the bearings. I’m not sure about Dominator, but bowl bears can be either greased or have oil, or water cooled
https://www.riverdavesplace.com/forums/threads/dominator-jet-oil.23880/
Pumps are pretty straight forward. If everything looks good, water test. Check steering, reverse, and diverter. Feel for any vibrations and listen for noises. Raise the hatch and check for leaks with the motor running. There should be a minimal drop around the packing gland. This is the seal for the shaft where it comes out of the suction housing to attach to the motor.
A worn out wear ring will cause your RPMs to go up, while your speed goes down. I don’t know what stock RPM and speed are for that, probably around 4800-5000 and maybe mid 50’s. Just something to look at and be aware of.
Other than taking it apart, I think that might cover it.

 

[D19]

I had a 2000 with 454, jet, open bow.

Good boat, but burned a lot of fuel. After that I went to a 21 Ultra XS (Same mold beside little change to the rear of top mold) jet with 502 and it got a lot better fuel economy. Performance was about the same.

If you're in So Cal, take it over to B1 in Santa Ana for a full service. Doesn't hurt or cost much to pull the bowl off and just make sure everything is good to go.

You want to ask if water ever filled the bilge and got into the thrust bearing.

 

[SIK-06]

Contact Tom or Josh at Jet Boat Performance. Tom is a member here and is good with advice.
2Driver has some good points. Ask the what he did. It’ll give some insight if it was maintained. Steering cable, forward/reverse cable and diverter cable. Make sure everything moves freely and cable jackets aren’t cracked.
Look into the intake with a flashlight. Check the grate/loader for any cracks or broken pieces. Check the impeller for dinged edges.
If you can, open the hand hole cover and check for any play in the shaft. This can help check the bearings. I’m not sure about Dominator, but bowl bears can be either greased or have oil, or water cooled
https://www.riverdavesplace.com/forums/threads/dominator-jet-oil.23880/
Pumps are pretty straight forward. If everything looks good, water test. Check steering, reverse, and diverter. Feel for any vibrations and listen for noises. Raise the hatch and check for leaks with the motor running. There should be a minimal drop around the packing gland. This is the seal for the shaft where it comes out of the suction housing to attach to the motor.
A worn out wear ring will cause your RPMs to go up, while your speed goes down. I don’t know what stock RPM and speed are for that, probably around 4800-5000 and maybe mid 50’s. Just something to look at and be aware of.
Other than taking it apart, I think that might cover it.

Awesome! Thanks for the info

 

[D19]

PS Don't fire it and let it run on the trailer forever. Make sure it idles and revs a few times then shut it off. You can stick a garden hose in the intake. It helps, but still not good to run the pump when not submerged.

 

[SIK-06]

Id ask him what he did to maintain the jet just see what his answer is. My jet had 3 zerk fittings as well as a weep gland in the bildge that needed a slight adjustment.

Check date code on the trailer tires if they are over 5 years old or so they are trash no matter what they look like

Im sure there is a lot more but if it has a bunch of hours I want a compression test and at some point the jet may need a refresh.

crawl underneath and look up into the grate to inspect the impeller. check operation of foot throttle cable steering and gate ( forward reverse) cable. All should be easy to operate and smooth.

Ask for the service records anyone detailed enough to care for the boat should have a file.

I asked how the jet is maintained and he repeated what you said. Greased bearing by zerk fitting at beginning of every season.

He's getting me the date code later.

It has 112 hours.

Does not have service records, he does all the maintenance him self, I do as well. Bought from Original owner in 2009.

 

[2Driver]

I asked how the jet is maintained and he repeated what you said. Greased bearing by zerk fitting at beginning of every season.

He's getting me the date code later.

It has 112 hours.

Does not have service records, he does all the maintenance him self, I do as well. Bought from Original owner in 2009.

might want to verify the hours via the engine computer vs the hour meter. anyone can install a new hour meter

 

[SIK-06]

might want to verify the hours via the engine computer vs the hour meter. anyone can install a new hour meter

Yea i was thinking the same

 

[NicPaus]

I don't think the jet boat 454 can be scanned. They are not Merc engines. I had a 2000 Ultra with 454 merc. Hour meter never worked correctly even after bringing it back to them numerous times when I bought it new. Make sure it was not rigged and sold at valley location.

 

[J 2]

I looked at several jet boats at the end of last season, mostly turds. My 1st look is at the owner himself. Then the boat, clean is clean, dirty is dirty. Dirty bad, usually. Clean is always promising in that it probably doesn't need that much work and has been well kept. All used boats will need some work. I bought the cleanest 20 year old boat I've ever seen, everything about it was perfect from the owner on down. Still needed work, some major points that had to be addressed. I do my own work so at this point I'm very pleased with my purchase. If I had to pay someone for what I did, several thousand. At 17 years old the engine & jet may need work now, maybe not. At some point in the near future work will need to be done. You never really know how much until you do.

 

[77charger]

I had a 2000 with 454, jet, open bow.

Good boat, but burned a lot of fuel. After that I went to a 21 Ultra XS (Same mold beside little change to the rear of top mold) jet with 502 and it got a lot better fuel economy. Performance was about the same.

If you're in So Cal, take it over to B1 in Santa Ana for a full service. Doesn't hurt or cost much to pull the bowl off and just make sure everything is good to go.

You want to ask if water ever filled the bilge and got into the thrust bearing.

Having b1 go through the pump and do a little cleaning up on the bowl and impeller will increase the effeciency of the pump as well may go a little faster and lower rpm too all while cutting the fuel bill by quite a bit

 

[2Driver]

I don't think the jet boat 454 can be scanned. They are not Merc engines. I had a 2000 Ultra with 454 merc. Hour meter never worked correctly even after bringing it back to them numerous times when I bought it new. Make sure it was not rigged and sold at valley location.

Yeah maybe. My 2003 Ultra jet with the 6.0 vortec was scannable. I found the hour meter to be 15 hours off. No biggy.

That was the nicest jet boat I have ever owned, great performance good on fuel. Id buy it back.

 

[SIK-06]

Decided not to pursue the boat. Here’s the ad

 

[RCDave]

Wow. Thats a nice lookin boat!!!

 

[SIK-06]

It looks good! One little cut on the bench headrest area. Needs new tires (6yo) but other than that It looked super clean

 

[Rondog4405]

What held you back then??

 

[gqchris]

Whenever I see a recent carb rebuilt, you can assume the boat has sat for a long time and they did it to list the boat. Check everything else as well, because the boatprobably has sat for years and they are putting lipstick on it to sell. Just my opinion.

 

[SIK-06]

What held you back then??

not 100% sold on a Jet. Wife likes to drive too and she trailers the boat so she was nervous about that. 5 hr drive and no lake test.

 

[RCDave]

Jets are very easy to drive.

 

[SIK-06]

Jets are very easy to drive.

Didn't help her friend at work literally had the same boat and told her otherwise. Her friend is also that chick with her own Sand Car and Can-Am so she drives shit.

 

[getch]

Didn't help her friend at work literally had the same boat and told her otherwise. Her friend is also that chick with her own Sand Car and Can-Am so she drives shit.

IMO once you're used to it, jets are the easiest to drive. Docking and on off the trailer especially. No waiting for gears to engage, no worry about dropping the rpm to shift, blip the throttle anytime, even play with how much you "engage" into forward or reverse.

 

[J 2]

These guys are right, jets are easy to maneuver once you get a feel for it. I've had outboards, outdrives & jets, around docks and trailer much easier.

On the price of that boat, no way I pay $24k. Although I wouldn't be surprised if he got it with the market the way it's been.

 

[D19]

If I were to buy another one of those 21' hulls (Ultra, Shockwave, Cobra, etc), I'd get an I/O and I boat north of Needles. The I/O in that boat makes it so much more enjoyable to drive. With a jet, you're spinning 4500 rpm to go 45 mph. I had to run the boat hard to stay up with friends with 496 Merc I/O equipped boats. In 21' I/O with say a 350 or 6.2 Mercury engine, you can spin the engine slower and have a higher cruising speed while burning less gas. Those 21' boats are not meant to go fast so putting a big HP engine in one with a jet or doing a lot of engine mods doesn't make any sense.