Josh.O

New to the forums, but i have recently came across a 1994 montego tigershark and i need to know what all i need to check before i try and crank it because it has been sitting in a yard partially covered for about 6 years. should i clean out the gas tank and oil? im just looking for some tips from some of you guys who have done something similar to this before.


here is a picture of it before i cleaned it.



thanks guys.

Watershark

fresh fuel and oil definately. check all fuel and oil lines. make sure all your wires are in good shape ( no chew marks from mice) on the left side just behind the registration numbers is a large hole with threads. This is where you hook up a water hose to run it in the driveway, however, when you run it in the lake water should be coming out of that hole. I know that might sound strange but it's true. buy several sets of plugs. these things love plugs.

Josh.O

What do you mean buy plugs? like spark plugs?

Watershark

yeah sorry

pwc hacker

six years, wow.
hope they fogged the motor?
your going to have to drain the gas tank good. smell the gas its going to smell horrible. there will be varnish on the bottom of the tank.
so really need to drain it well. i wouldnt even try to start it with out first trying to spin the crank shaft. you dont want to spend 80.00 on a new battery only to find the crank is frozen. check all oil and fuel lines to see if they are brittle and cracking and pull the carb first to see what horror is inside that thing before trying to start. hopefully the who ever had it knew about get ski's and took precaustions for proper storage.

pwc hacker

sorry to sound so negative, just. i have seen guys bring in a jetski with only 20 hours on it that sat for six months and now has a frozen crank. got some real horror stories. try to help you out if i can, all the best.

Watershark

wal-mart carries a battery that is way cheaper than 80 dollars. I put it in last year and it is still working fine. i believe they are 35 - 40 dollars.

Josh.O

Pretty sure it wasn't fogged, but the motor LOOKS to be in pretty good shape. i took some pictures. i know for a fact the bilge pump is messed up so thats going to be one of the first things i fix. what kind of damage am i looking at if it wasn't fogged?

gyazo.com/355d5ae2afcb9241922106eee27f3b61
gyazo.com/770c6c9dd751fd78f2fb69de87d40ba9

now there's a white wire, in the bottom right corner-ish of this picture ^ above, that is loose and goes to something. not really sure what, though

gyazo.com/b4af877025e87fca96fdb868a6a140d6

Josh.O

I have taken apart the carb and its pretty dirty on the inside, im going to buy a kit and re do the whole thing. what else should i check? i was thinking i should check the actual cylinders and whatnot because there was a dead spider and roach in the carb. and who know what could have gotten up in that thing, right?

EDIT: i also need a good way to get all of the old smelly gas and oil out of their tanks, i was thinking about siphoning it but im worried about those last few drops that will still be in the bottom of the tanks.

Watershark

fogging keeps an engine from rusting inside. I would pull the intake off and check the reed valves for rust and pull the reed valves and have a look at the crankshaft while the reeds are out. it wouldn't hurt to pre-mix you're first tank of fuel as well as filling the oil tank. That way you can run the engine without worry while the oil pump bleeds the air from itself. this is what arctic cat calls for when breaking in an engine. 50:1 pre mix plus oil injection.