Having a jet ski or any other personal watercraft will give you a lot of fun if you go for a beach or ocean. Going in saltwater will hurt your jet ski or personal watercraft; however, you can do some things to protect that as well—first, let’s see whether salt water is bad for jet skis (personal watercraft) or not.
Saltwater is bad for jet skies (for PWC and boats as well) because the jet ski is made up of fiber-reinforced plastic, which will damage if it is overexposed to saltwater. All metals will experience corrosion over time, but with salt water, the corrosion rate increases by 5 times. So, saltwater is bad for jet skis.
The main problem with boating in salt waters is corrosion. Jet skis (not only the jet skies, all boats, and PWCs) corrode quickly in salt waters if they are not appropriately maintained.
You can’t avoid the saltwater to get onto the jet ski while driving. So, it would help if you did some small maintenance works to prevent corrosion. However, it is impossible to avoid corrosion completely, but it is possible to prolong the process with the proper maintenance precautions after every ride.
Check my article on the Effects of saltwater on boats (opens in a new tab) to know what all parts of the boat will get affected by saltwater and prevention tips as well.
Check my article on Is saltwater bad for jet boats (opens in a new tab) to know how saltwater affects the jet boat and to understand how to prevent corrosion for jet boats.
Jet ski or personal watercraft maintenance (for salt waters)
Saltwater maintenance for a jet ski (PWC) is cleaning the jet ski (PWC) thoroughly, which means cleaning outer and inner areas of the jet ski (PWC) and flushing the water inside the engine exhaust—and applying the lubricant to prevent the corrosion.
- Wash the jet ski (PWC) thoroughly after completing the ride.
- Flush the water inside the engine to remove salt or dirt inside the internal cooling and exhaust systems.
- Apply lubricant on all the metal areas after drying the jet ski (PWC) completely.
And if you are taking your jet ski (PWV) in saltwater, then you should do those maintenance works after every use; otherwise, it will corrode quickly. If you are taking jet ski (PWC) in freshwater, then you can do all those maintenance works after using the jet ski for 2 or 3 times.
Okay, before starting the actual process, I will introduce a small product that removes salt, inhibits corrosion, and breaks apart salt accumulation in your engine’s saltwater cooling system. The essential use of the product is to remove all the salt particles that are stuck on or inside the jet ski (PWC).
That is the Salt-Away (linked to Amazon) or click on the image (image is linked to Amazon).
This product removes all the salt particles that are stuck on the jet ski, PWC, boat, and inside the engine as well, forming a layer of a coat to prevent corrosion in the future. You can connect the mixing unit to the hose and then start spraying on the jet ski (PWC), and you can use this for flushing the engine and inside the engine bay as well.
If you didn’t find that product, an alternative for salt-away is CRC salt terminator (linked to Amazon). Both are good and helps a lot to prevent corrosion by forming a layer of coat on the surface wherever you spray. It breaks down all the salt particles that are stuck on or inside the jet ski (PWC).
NOTE: Generally, all the mixing units will leak all the time (the ones come along with the salt-away or CRC salt products). But first, check the one you got with the product is leaking too much or not. Suppose it is not leaking, then it okay. If it is leaking more, then use some other products like Gilmour Water Soluble Fertilizer Feeder (linked to Amazon) (still, this one leak but does the work better than others).
Check my article on How long you can leave the boat in the water (opens in a new tab) to know how long can you leave the boat in the saltwater and growth prevention tips as well.
1. Wash the jet ski (PWC) thoroughly after completing the ride
Washing the jet ski (PWC) is the essential task to do if you are taking your jet ski (personal watercraft) in salt waters, to prevent corrosion. You should thoroughly wash the jet ski (PWC) to remove all the salt particles that are stuck inside and outside the jet ski (personal watercraft).
NOTE: Don’t wash the engine just after finishing the ride. If the engine is hot and if you wash the engine, it will cause problems.
1. First, clean the outer area of your jet ski with a hose
You can clean with anything but a hose will do an excellent job for you. The essential thing to note while washing the jet ski (PWC) is not to use high-pressure washer or hose to clean the jet ski (personal watercraft). A high-pressure hose will flush the water at high speed, and it can damage any electric components (if there are any electrical components located outside). Wash the hull of the jet ski (PWC) properly.
After washing the jet ski with a garden (low-pressure) hose, then take some cleaner (any cleaning liquid or boat cleaner), and clean the jet ski (PWC). By cleaning the boat with any cleaner or boat cleaner, the boat will shine as it was in the past.
After cleaning the jet ski (PWC) with the cleaner, then use any soft cloth such as microfiber cloth to get rid of any water droplets on the surface. Microfiber cloth is a soft cloth; you can wipe the things well with this cloth, and it will not leave any lint or dust on the surface of the jet ski (PWC).
Overall, after washing the jet ski (personal watercraft) with water, clean the jet ski with a cleaner to remove any hard stains on the jet ski (if any). After finishing the outer cleaning, go for inner cleaning.
2. Second, clean the engine bay
NOTE: Don’t wash the engine just after finishing the ride. If the engine is hot and if you wash the engine, it will cause problems.
Remove the seat of the jet ski (PWC) and wash them and under the seat as well after finishing that wash the engine bay. Again, don’t use a high-pressure hose because it will flush the water at high speed, and it can damage any electric components since there are more electrical components in the engine bay use low-pressure hose or garden hose to wash it.
The essential thing to note while washing an engine bay is not spray water inside the engine’s air intake, which causes problems if you spray water inside the air intake. The simplest way to prevent that is by covering the air intake with hand while washing the engine bay.
After finishing that, you are done with engine bay cleaning. Now, the engine bay is filled with water, so open the drain plugs to remove the water. The best way to remove all the water from the engine bay is by lifting the bow a little bit. So, by doing that, it removes all remaining water inside the jest ski (PWC) and on footwells as well.
2. Flush the water inside the engine to remove salt or dirt inside the internal cooling and exhaust systems
Another essential thing to do for preventing corrosion is by flushing the water inside the engine exhaust of the jet ski. To pump water inside the engine exhaust, connect the hose to the flush port of the jet ski (PWC). For some of them (sea doo), you can find that near the jet nozzles in the above picture; you can see that.
First, start the engine and then flush or pump the water (essential step). Otherwise, suppose you start pumping water inside the engine before starting the engine. In that case, the water can fill up the exhaust and engine cylinders, damaging the motor if you start the jet ski with water flooded inside the engine.
So, start the engine first and then start flushing or pumping the water for 5 min (for time, you can see that in your user manual). After finishing that, first cut off the water, and then the cut off the engine (essential step). But before cutting off the engine, run the engine at 4000 or 5000 rpm for 5 sec, and then stop the engine so that all the water left inside the engine will be blown out.
Then drain the jet boat for some time and finally start the engine once more to blow out the remaining water in the exhaust completely. Don’t run the engine for more than 15sec without pumping water inside the engine exhaust because it can heat the engine if you are starting the engine without pumping water inside the exhaust.
One more essential thing to note is if the engine stops while flushing or pumping the water inside the engine, then cut off the water supply quickly so that engine (inside) will not be flooded with water.
3. Apply lubricant on all the metal areas after drying the jet ski (PWC) completely
Use any lubricant to coat the outer layer of the metals to prevent corrosion over time. Since you are using a jet ski (personal watercraft) in saltwater, WD-40 may not work well. WD-40 will work well for normal (fresh or non-alkaline) waters.
The best lubricant for skiing in saltwater to prevent corrosion is CRC Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor. It can be used on electrical connections, engine components, equipment storage, fasteners, motors, shaft, spindles, steering, and throttle linkages.
The image is linked to Amazon or click here (linked to Amazon). You can get the product on Amazon as well.
CRC corrosion inhibitor will coat a thick layer of lubricant on the surface where you spray so that it lasts long and essentially works well for salt-water uses. Finally, coat all the metal surfaces with CRC to prevent corrosion over time if you are leaving the jet ski (personal watercraft) for a long time.
Those three maintenance works are the essential things to do to prevent corrosion with jet skis (PWC). And one more crucial thing to do is open all the caps or any openings of the jet ski and let it dry overnight so that if there is any moisture present inside the engine or under the seat or anywhere, it will evaporate.
Check this helpful video on cleaning the jet ski (PWC) to get better visualization.
Key takeaways
Saltwater will damage the jet ski is it is exposed to saltwater for a long time. The Hull and surface of the jet ski are made up of fiber-reinforced plastic, which will fade out or wear off quickly in saltwater than in freshwater. So, proper maintenance is essential for a jet ski (PWC) if you are boating in saltwater.
- Wash and clean the jet ski (personal watercraft) after every use if you are taking your jet ski in saltwater. Otherwise, if you are taking your jet ski in freshwater, then clean it after using it every 2 or 3 times.
- Flush or pump the water inside the engine to remove all the salt or dirt particles that are stuck inside the internal cooling and exhaust systems.
- Use salt-away to remove all the salt particles that are stuck on or inside the jet ski (PWC), and also use a lubricant to coat all the metal areas in the jet ski (PWC) to prevent corrosion.
However, it is impossible to avoid corrosion completely, but it is possible to prolong the process with the proper maintenance precautions after every ride.