How Often Should a Jet Ski
Be Serviced?

Jet skis don't usually die of old age — they die of skipped maintenance. The difference between a machine that's still strong at 300 hours and one that's junk at 120 is almost always the schedule below. And on Long Island, where most riding is in salt water, the schedule matters twice as much.

After Every Ride (5 Minutes)

• Flush the cooling system — the single most important habit in salt water. A few minutes on the hose keeps salt from crystallizing in the cooling passages.
• Rinse the hull and jet pump — get salt off the metal before it starts working.
• Drain the hull — pull the plugs, tip it, and look: more than a little water means something needs attention.

Every 10 Hours or Monthly

• Check the battery terminals and charge level.
• Inspect the impeller and wear ring through the intake grate for nicks and debris.
• Look over hoses, clamps, and cables for cracking or looseness.

Every 50 Hours or Annually — the "Real" Service

This is the service interval most manufacturers specify, and the one that matters most:

• Oil and filter change (4-stroke) — the heart of the service.
• Spark plugs — cheap insurance against misfires and hard starts.
• Pump oil / sealing check — the jet pump works hard and gets ignored.
• Full inspection — corrosion points, electrical connections, fuel lines, ride plate, intake grate.

Ride fewer than 50 hours a year? Do this annually anyway — time degrades oil and rubber even when the machine sits.

Seasonally on Long Island

Book-end every season: a proper winterization in the fall (with shrink wrap if you store outdoors), and a spring startup before the first ride. Skipping either is where most expensive failures start.

Salt Water Changes Everything

Salt is why two identical machines age completely differently. It corrodes electrical connections, seizes hardware, and eats cooling passages. If you ride the Great South Bay or the Sound, treat every interval above as a maximum — and never skip the post-ride flush.