Kawasaki 650sx cooling problem and other - PWC Forum: The best hang-out for Personal WaterCraft enthusiasts

beachbum4liff · 09-10-2009, 12:56 PM

So i purchased my first ski a week and, got a 88' kawasaki 650sx for 500. the ski started up when i got it and sounded great. I added my own bildge pump before i tossed the ski in the water. Anyway, my and my friends filled it up correctly and had the checklist down. I started it up and took off, had trouble balancing but got the hang of it. As i rode it for 10 min on and off, i felt warm water spitting at my so i shut the ski off and slowly got it to the shoreline. When i took the hood off, the intake and engine were hot, maybe an 8 on the scale from 1 to 10 being 10 burning. We cooled and down then tried it again, after 10 min again it, was burning hot so we stopped, let it cool. Then we tried flushing it out and then trying it, rode it for 10 min again then stopped because i was tired of it heating up constantly. Then when we had it docked, we started it up and it would rev high at idle and the kill switch wouldnt work so we manually had to shut it off.

Any help ? or suggestions

no fear here · 09-11-2009, 11:34 PM

If you are able to put your hand on the head and not get burnt then it's O.K.
Make sure that water is coming out of the through hull fitting, AKA pisser.

What do you mean by you flushed it out?

Try to remember it's 21 years old.

It's common for the start and stop switches to corrode and not make proper contact. If you pull the assembly apart at the handlebar, you can then get to the switch. There is a rubber boot that get's screwed on with a plastic nut. Open that up and WD40 is your best friend.