Flush & clean your JetSurf like a pro

Flush & clean your JetSurf like a pro

Watch the walkthrough

Watch on YouTube ↗ · Jetboard Australia — "Flush and Clean Your Jetsurf Like a Pro" (~21 min). Timestamps below follow the video's own time. See also JETSURF's Fresh-water rinse & dry-down and JETSURF USA's Cleaning your board after a ride.

The long version of the after-ride clean, from someone who rides in salt and surf every week. The engine bay is what kills these boards — salt in the starter-gear assembly seizes it — so the engine-bay rinse, flush, and lube are the parts that matter.

You'll need

• Garden hose
• JetSurf flusher fitting (comes with a small end for older boards and a large end for later ones) — or the built-in snap fitting on new Cruiser boards
• Intake filter sock, or a hand / plastic bag over the intake
• Ignition lanyard
• Lambswool mitt + a car wash with canola (leaves a light wax)
• Lanox spray (non-petroleum — won't attack rubber, won't wash off with salt)
• Chamois, clean rags

Hose the outside — 0:39

1. 0:42 — Hose the whole board — deck, bindings, and up through the jet unit, around the pump, and underneath. The drive shaft corrodes if it isn't rinsed.
2. 0:53 — Keep the throttle handle out of the sand. Sand gets into the throttle cable and jams it — a miserable clean-out that often means pulling the hand piece apart. Rod's tip: stick the handle into a foot binding whenever you carry or set the board down.

Rinse the engine bay — 2:03

3. 2:47 — Fit the intake filter sock (it tucks under the lip), or cover the intake with your hand or a plastic bag.
4. 3:12 — Hose lightly from the top with your hand over the intake, sprinkling around the bay to rinse the salt away. That's all it needs.

Bilge-pump the water out — 3:41

5. 3:52 — Remove the lid cover so it doesn't get damaged. Put the lanyard in to wake the ICU — the bilge pump runs — then pull the lanyard back out.
6. 4:16 — The pump only clears the back corner, so lift the nose — the flow improves as water runs back to where the pump sits. Let it pump dry.

The flusher fitting — 5:12

7. 5:39 — The JetSurf flusher comes with two ends — a small one for older boards and a large one for later boards. New Cruiser boards have a built-in snap fitting instead (the old style will phase out).
8. 6:08 — In the intake port there are two tubes: the one facing outward is the suction bilge (draws water out of the hull cavity while you ride); the one facing forward is the engine cooling intake. The flusher replaces the forward one.
9. 7:12 — Slip the flusher into the tube — the small O-ring locks it in; set the shaft O-ring on the nozzle edge so it carries the hose's weight. Fit the hose.

Flush the engine — 7:37

10. 7:37 — Start the engine BEFORE turning the water on. The exhaust is water-cooled — exhaust-gas pressure is what pushes the water through and out. No engine running = no pressure = the exhaust fills with water and it runs back into the engine. This matters more on a JetSurf than a jet ski — the exhaust loop is short.
11. 8:32 — A dead-cold engine runs happily out of water for a few minutes. Temperature check: a hand on the cylinder — if you can't hold it, shut off and let it cool.
12. 9:01 — Don't run the hose too fast. Aim for water coming out of the telltale about 30 cm high — more than that is too much water, and at idle the exhaust can flood, stall the engine, and push water back into it.
13. 9:23 — Give it light revs as you flush — each rev pushes water through the system (you'll see it pulse out the back).
14. 12:21 — Turn the water off, then run the engine a little longer dry until it's just warm to touch — the heat evaporates the water inside. Not hot.
15. 13:19 — Tip the board on its side — water drains out of the telltale, emptying the engine block. Do this especially before long storage.

Soap wash — 13:50

16. 14:41 — Soap the board down with a lambswool mitt — soap breaks down salt. Work it around the bindings and every fitting.
17. 15:03 — Use a car wash with canola in it — it leaves a light semi-wax so salt doesn't build up as fast in the sun.

Lubricate the engine bay — 15:50

18. 15:58 — The run knocked more water loose — bilge-pump once more (tip the board on the angle before you pull the lanyard).
19. 16:26 — Spray Lanox over everything metallic — throttle body, drive shaft, alternator, pipe and exhaust. Not the fuel tank itself; its fittings, yes.
20. 17:03 — Into the starter-gear assembly through its vents — the gears are plain hardened steel and they corrode and seize. Plenty of spray, and into the small hole onto the starter-motor main gear.
21. 17:34 — Lube the drive-shaft bearing: older boards have no tube — aim at the bearing and fill it; newer boards have a lube tube — put the straw in and hit it hard until lubricant runs out the bottom. Finish with an external spray.

Store it right — 18:07

22. 18:09 — Don't put the lid on. Leave the engine cover off and let the bay air out — it stops mould and corrosion. Rod lays a rag in the lowest point (the drive-shaft area) to wipe it dry, and only fits the lid once it's dried out over a day or two.
23. 18:42 — For long storage, remove the fuel tank and pour the fuel out.

When to flush — and when not to — 18:47

• 19:04 — Fresh water: don't flush and don't do the engine wash-down — it only introduces water into the engine area. Everything else is the same.
• 19:22 — Salt water: flush as often as you can — when the board is going to sit.
• 19:33 — Using it every day (a holiday): don't stress about flushing until you're finished, or the weather turns and it'll sit 2–3 days. Corrosion builds while a board sits with salt water in it, not while it's being used — a daily-used board's cooling system stays spotless.
• 20:53 — Between back-to-back days: just rev it out, tip it on its side to drain the block, and go again tomorrow. Sitting 2–3 days or more: flush and store as above.