2002 SeaDoo Utopia 185 pinging sound

"I have a 2002 Utopia 185 jet

"I have a 2002 Utopia 185 jet with a 210 HP V6 Mercruiser, and when I accelerate, it responds well except for a small pinging sound from the engine..Is this the carbs that need cleaning? Any information for or against are welcome. Also information on this type of motor would be greatly appreciated...Good choice or bad choice? Thanks in advance."

"Engine "pinging" is u

"Engine "pinging" is usually caused by predetonation in the cylinder.

That could be caused by an overheat condition (lighting the fuel because it's hot, not because the sparkplug fired), excess carbon build-up in the cylinders or even the timing slightly out of whack.

I would start with fresh gas treated with "Seafoam" (or similar product used according to the directions on the can) to deal with carbon issues if present - that's the cheapest/easiest first attempt to fix the problem, and why not throw in some new sparkplugs as well unless they were recently changed (like this year recent).

As to the possible elevated heat levels - when was the cooling system inspected/serviced?...

The V6 Mercruiser is a very popular, very prolific motor - commerical builders drop it into thousands of production boats. That should tell you that it is at least "half decent" "

"Thanks for the tips...It make

"Thanks for the tips...It makes sense because I bought the boat late August last year and the owner said it sat all summer not used, so fuel went bad..problem is I went and topped it up with fresh gas...so will need seafoam added then. Mechanic wants to do a thorough check so maybe not a bad idea, and maybe clean the carbs.. Thanks again."

The old gas could well be the

The old gas could well be the culprit. As it ages it loses "octane" and lower octane will (fire) at a lower temperature than higher octane.

That may not be the root problem (the old gas) but it may be tipping you off of another issue that needs to be dealt with (such as mentioned above)...