Personal watercraft (PWC) owners often have questions about their air filters. One common question I get is “where’s my air filter on my watercraft”?
It’s a good question, not something many people ask, but many are surprised when I tell them that most PWCs don’t have air filters. The few that do, need them, but they don’t get as dirty as the ones in your car.
Have you checked the air filters on your jet skis?
No, seriously, have you?
Most jet skis don’t have a paper cartridge or foam air filter like you find in your car, and the few that do, give it a good look. What do you notice?
They don’t get that dirty.
I always get a laugh when I say a watercraft doesn’t need air-filters because it’s not that dirty on the water (but it’s true!).
Sea-Doo watercraft lack air-filters, but a few models of Yamaha and Kawasaki jet ski can come with them.
The reason why Yamaha will use them is that they repurpose motorcycle engines to use in their jet skis. Kawasaki does this too, but they don’t always use air-filters.
If your jet ski came with an air filter, I suggest you keep it on, as that is how the manufacturer designed it to run.
There are modifications you can do for increasing performance and many of these mods utilize air-filters like in the video below:
Should You Install An Air Filter On Your Jet Ski?
The reason PWCs don’t often use an air-filter is because they don’t need one – There is not much dust and dirt when on the water.
- If your jet ski came with an air-filter, it will need it to run, as that is what the engine was designed to run with.
- If yours did not come with an air filter, then you don’t need to add one.
You may see future jet skis start to come with air-filters to keep up with “government regulations”. The move has been done to Jet Boats, so expect future personal watercraft to contain some type of air-filter.
Models With Them
When it comes to Sea-Doo and Kawasaki jet skis, they rarely, if ever, come with air-filters from the factory.
Yamaha & Honda
Yamaha and Honda, on the other hand, will give most models that come with them from the factory.
Sea-Doo Jet Boats
I say Sea-Doo rarely has any air-filters because the company Rotax (who makes the Sea-Doo jet ski engines and is owned by BRP, who also owns Sea-Doo) will put on jet boats.
Jet boats use the same engines found in Sea-Doo PWCs, but they may get an air-filter added. The picture at the very top of this post is a Jet Boat with a Rotax engine with them attached.
The Sea-Doo will certainly use a flame-arrestor, but that is not an air-filter and not something you need to mess with!
Marinized
The reason why other manufacturers utilize air filters is that their engines are “marinized” motorcycle engines.
This is not a bad thing, but the engines were built for motorcycles first and then retrofitted for watercraft, which are just motorcycles of the water.
Jet Boats
Since jet boats use the same engines as PWCs, then why will come with air-filters?
The biggest reason why jet boats get them is due to government regulations. Jet boats also have a catalytic converter and jet skis don’t... yet.
If your jet boat is equipped with an air filter, it’s important to keep it installed, as the boat is tuned to operate with it. While it’s possible, the boat may not run noticeably worse without the air filter, removing it could potentially impact the warranty!
Noise
Another reason why jet boats get air-filters is to cut down on noise – Jet boats tend to be much louder than similar boats.
Changing Filters
Since it’s not that dusty on the water, many boats air-filters don’t get that dirty, especially after using it for years.
So changing your air-filter is not something you always need to do when you do a service or oil change on your boat or jet ski.
It may never look dirty, but it won’t hurt to change it at least every 3 to 5 years, as the fibers of the filter will break down over time.
Air Intake
The air intakes on a PWC is mostly around the seat and around the gauge console. There isn’t a perfect seal around all the plastics, so air does find a way into the hull.
If you look inside, you’ll see black tubes either from the seat or around the front console that are used to guide air in. The tubes often go to the floor of the jet ski hull to keep water from dumping in too quickly if you flip, when upside down, the lowest point becomes the highest point.
