KickNdaJunk

Hi All,

Got a doozy of a problem here. I'll outline with the problem, then with things I've tried.

Problem:
When riding my 1998 Kawasaki SXI-Pro, it begins to lose power after about 5 - 10 minutes(or less) of riding. The first thing to go is the top end. When this happens it I'll get about 60-75% of max speed & RPM's with a quickly deminishing powerband. After another 5 minutes or so, the ski will do one of two things. Power will either return to about 80-90%, or the ski will go down to about 25% power, where standing becomes almost imposible. RPM's are clearly limited at this point, and I only get the 25% power, no matter how much throttle you give it. If you continue riding, the ski will periodically regain full power, with noticeable changes in the engine sound. When the ski is struggling, the engine seems to have a lot deeper note, but the timing still appears to be OK.

After this occurs the jet-ski idles somewhat rough, and has almost no thrust on idle, but still holds an even idle (you can easily hold the ski in place with one hand). However, it will sometimes kick back into full power, which then requires you to grab the handle bars, or tray, or something so it doesn't go anywhere.

When riding on the water, I get a steady stream of water from the pisser at mid-high throttle (when it's working), and an intermittent spirts when it's idling.

When connected to the hose, the ski seems to preform much better, and does not have an issue with idling, or full power, and revs very high as it normally would do. Also, water from the pisser comes out very steady at all RPM's with less flow on idle (normal, right?).

My friend has jokingly said my jet-ski has a "hairball" which honestly is about the most accurate way I can descibe it.

What's Been Done to Fix So Far:
I've taken the bike into the shop two times now, to the tune of $700+. The shop diagnosed the problem as a carb issue, so both carbs were cleaned, rebuilt, jetted, and tested in there tank. Fuel tank and lines also had all old fuel removed. New Battery installed, and new spark plugs (twice). Ski ran fine in there, but when I went to the river and put it under load 10 minutes later problem came back. So I brought it back. Tech re-opened the carbs and found one carb was very dirty. Cleaned that out, and tested again in the tank, worked well. Took it out this weekend, jet-ski worked good for the first 10mins or so as stated, then problem came back. I took it out of the water, attached it to the hose, and ski seemed to be reving properly with full powerband.

What I'm Thinking Might Be the Problem:
-So at this point, I think there might be something in the fuel lines, causing the carbs to not get enough fuel.
-Possibly overheating (Based on the limited RPM's), maybe one of the cooling lines is partially clogged/jammed/pinched.
-Carbs are dirty...again.
-The Devil has Possessed my ski

One last note:
All of these problems started occuring when I broke a steering cable and had to get that replaced. Jet-ski sat in the Arizona summer sun for like a month and half. When I went to test after that I had issues with bike bogging out and ended up killing the battery trying to start it so much. I then brought it home (end of the season) and it sat for 8-9 months, until a few months ago when I finally caved and took it to the shop.


Please PWC Forum, help my Jet-Ski, you're it's only hope.

jamesaustin

sounds to me like it is running hot.

p10sdad

The water pisser, should have a steady flow at idle, and pressure at rpm's. I would start with cleaning the carbs seeming how it was the culprit before. How does the fuel filter look?

KickNdaJunk

So the ski's been in the shop for what seems like a month now... Actually it's about 3 weeks and counting, so I'm not far off. And they THINK, it has something to do with the stator box.

They said one of the cyclinder's is getting little to no spark, and the other cylinder is getting a very weak spark. Also, that one of the plugs is showing a rust'ish colorization which they seem to think I may have gotten water in the engine at some point.

However, there not entirely sure, and they want to continue looking into it, which I've very reluctantly authorized(told them no work though).

My question was if anyone here is familiar with this type of problem, especially in relation to what I had previously stated. Second, was to see if this was plausible, since I was able to ride for the first 5-10min when putting my ski in the water.

Also, if anyone has an idea of what it takes to replace/fix one if it does end up being that it's broke.

Thanks as always, will update again soon.

p10sdad

Stator's are like 200, and not hard to put in. I don't know if they can test those, but I'd check to see if they can, or if anyone on this site knows if it can be tested