96 GSX wont go..(cavitates)

[Baja89]

rode about 2 hours and stopped to fill up with gas...idled back out to the channel and cracked the throttle and it just revs up with a very small amount of vibration....Put on tralier and pulled impeller housing off...Have some gouges that you can catch with your fingernail in the wear ring....Checked clearance with feeler gauge and is .025...Is this too much...manual states .040 max....Whats wrong??? Before this i notice that boat is only running 6000 RPMs at WOT....Can anyone help....Thanks in advance

[gmcjack]

I had this same experience with my 97 GTS. I found out that with even a slightly worn wear ring that even a small twig hung on the end of the impeller causes it to cavitate and not move at all . I also discovered this after removing the pump.