CrAiGzEE

Hi Guys, I just bought my first ski, i got what i thought was a pretty good deal. It does however have a light issue.

The story goes like this.

Guy hasnt had ski running for 2 years, starts it up hooked up to water, and shreads what looks like a rubber seal/ bush on the shaft that is connected from the engine to the jet (on the jet side) he quickly turns it off and leaves it.

So my question is what is the best way to repair this? do i have to pull the engine out? anyone know where i can get this part? should i be raplacing anything else at the same time?

Also what other things should i putting my attention too before i use the ski.

was planning on draining the oil and fuel, cleaning the carbys out, maybe run a rich mix to start with, change fuel filters, lube up all the linkages and cables,replace spark plugs and leads, and generally just check everything over and replace wheel bearings and springs.

Thanks in advance guys

Craig

sbklf

I am fairly new to jet skis but happen to have just worked on a 96 STX 1100. It had major issues and I wound up taking it all apart so am pretty familiar. I would guess that the part you are talking about is what I would call the carrier bearing that is just behind the driveshaft coupling (on the pump side). Sounds like it is locked up and froze to the driveshaft and spun out of the rubber it is mounted in. If this is the part you will have to pull the driveshaft and to do that you have to either pull or raise the motor high enough for it to clear. Dont think you will be able to raise it high enough with out removing the exhaust. I will say that I had a Seadoo and the engine in the Kaw is easy to remove in comparison to it. If you still have oil injection I would run double oil till you are confident it is working properly. I hear they are very dependable but mine was removed from the ski when I got it so I have to mix oil in the tank. My ski had serious oxidation which led to its overheating. If it was a salt water ski I would check the cooling passages (the stator cooling jacket is probably the easiest check). I have issues with mine running on a hose, the head seems to lack water flow and I think it is an air lock issue. If you run it on the hose keep an eye on your head temps (non contact thermometer works good but it should not get too hot to touch). I would not worry about the plug wires, I think you would have to change the coils to do so. If you suspect they are bad, run it in the dark and watch for sparking. One thing I did to mine was epoxy a 90 degree barbed fitting in the battery box drain hole (drill and tap it for 1/4" pipe thread) and then ran a hose to the low part of the hull. The battery acid had leaked right on to the electrical box and ate it up. This diverts battery leakage to the sump instead. You might open your electrical box and check for corrosion. I have seen two boxes and both had issues, mainly with the solenoid (seems that might be a leak spot).

CrAiGzEE

cheers mate, thats the exact info I was after. Mine is pretty much orginal everything all hooked up as per factory.

will check out everything as you said.

how do the skis go? I have always ridden waverunners around the 750 mark, So Im Hoping for something abit quicker

sbklf

My other ski is a 1994 Waverunner III and I think I will like the Kaw better. I just now got the Kawasaki running and only rode it once to test it (did not ride long, it was 38 degrees outside). It ran real good and seemed stable and responsive. I poorboyed it together just to see if it was worth spending money on and wont know till I have a chance to ride it some more but it looks promising. I had some pump issues and the compression is way below what the book calls acceptable but it made 55 mph (close to design). I purchased a manual on CD off ebay for about $10.

CrAiGzEE

yeah i seen those manuals on ebay, however he charges $7 for postage and the postage is an email with an attachment

is it worth buying ??

sbklf

Had a chance to ride mine this weekend and decided that it will definitly be worth spending money on.

CrAiGzEE

Sweet, what is your max rpm? Mine wont go over 5500rpm, think im going to rip the carbys off and rebuild them,

I took mine for its maiden voyage after replacing that bearing and bush.

Im also getting a slight ting from what sounds like the impellor (only when im flushing it), Might have to rip it off and check everything there

sbklf

What year is your ski? Mine does not have a tach. 5500 is typically the target RPM on an outboard boat motor, are you sure it is supposed to rev higher? Did you watch your head temps while flushing? I am still having a problem with hte head getting too hot on the hose.

CrAiGzEE

Mine is 1999, yeah from factory they had a max rpm of 7500rpm, and 5500 is only aprox 35-40mph so id be a little dissapointed if this was as quick as it got,

going to flow test the carbys on the weekend.


also need to pull the reverse cable off at its jammed


ill post some pics of my ski up soon

as for your head problem ill sleep on it and get back to you, I am thinking some sort of calcium or salt blockage in the head somewhere

CrAiGzEE

Carbs rebuilt , 2 of the plastic needles were broken,

ski runs alot smoother and starts easier

found my 5500 problem, seems im loosing cylinder number 3, I disconnected the lead and it pretty much runs the same

also a couple of the plugs are broken of the electrical box so i have silicons them in the hope to stop water getting in.

stay tuned for updates