[ceballos]

I'm new to the jetski scene, and would like to do my own maintenance... however I don't know where to start and am not familiar with ski engines? What do I need, and how do I go about doing it? Any information would be greatly appreciated... Thanks

 

[JayDawg]

I'm new to the jetski scene, and would like to do my own maintenance... however I don't know where to start and am not familiar with ski engines? What do I need, and how do I go about doing it? Any information would be greatly appreciated... Thanks

Where do you ride at, fresh water or salt water? If you ride in salt water, then make sure you flush the jet ski with fresh water for at least 15 minutes. Change the spark plugs every 20 hours or so or less if you really want too, tighten all bolts and nuts or at least check them before and after every ride, WD-40 down the engine and components after every ride, check for body damage, check your hoses for cracks or damage. Other than that, you should be good.

 

[ceballos]

what about oils and filters?

 

[JayDawg]

I could be wrong on this but I do not believe jet ski's have oil filters. I have to be honest that I am not all that familiar with the new 4 stroke motors but all of the 2 strokes, you either had to premix your oil and gas or you had oil injection so all you ever did was just add oil. Again, I could be wrong but I believe the 4 strokes are still the same in that they are injected so you just need to add oil.

 

[rdrast]

The VX Cruiser has a 4.5 Qt oil capacity, usually 10W30, and I believe an KN303 series oil filter on the lower right hand side of the engine as you are facing the oil tank.

Basic advice, as this is a dry-sump engine, is get an oil extracter (miti-vac, pela, etc), warm up the engine, suck out as much as you can from the reservoir, and ONLY PUT THAT MUCH BACK IN.

Cold, you really don't want the oil level much higher then the LOW mark on the dipstick. Too much, it will splash out the breather hole in the airbox, and destroy the air filter. It does expand a lot when heated.

From the factory, the oil filter is on WAY TOO TIGHT, so if this is the first change, be prepared for a lot of cursing and bruises. You don't have to put it back on more then 'firmly hand tight'.

 

[JayDawg]

rdrast, thanks for the reply! That will also help me out should I ever decide to buy a 4 stroke jet ski.

 

[marcm]

All, I have a 2008 VX Cruiser and extracted 2.5 qt of oil out of the reservoir using a siphon. Any ideas of how to get the remaining 2 qt? I don't want to pull the oil filter with the threat of 2 qt of Yamalube standing by to dump into the hull...

 

[JayDawg]

Do you have the owners manual? If so, what does it say?

 

[marcm]

It says "refer to the service manual." It also says

Oil quantity with oil filter replacement - 2.2L
Total amount 4.3L

So does Yamaha concede that you can't get that extra 2.1L out of the block? That you can only do a change on 50% of the oil at a time?

 

[JayDawg]

Because I am not familiar with your ski, I would call the dealership and ask them. I am thinking though there has to be a way to remove all of the oil from the ski.

 

[dirtymike]

does the oil you use in the engine have to be marine oil? if that even exists. i picked up a 5qt jug of synthetic penzoil 10w30.

 

[Ernest T]

The VX like all Yamaha 4 strokes is a dry sump system. The oil does not reside in an oil pan, but is continually pumped througout the system. Therefore there is really no collection point like on your car to drain all the oil from. You suction it from the oil tank which holds most of it (2.5 quarts if you do it right). There is no way and really no need to remove all the oil from this engine without removing the engine from the PWC that I know of.

Yamaha recommends marine certified oil for all their marine engines including their PWCs and outboards. Can you run other oil in them..........yes, but it will void your warranty if the oil is not NMMA FC-W (water) certified. FC-W oil has additional additives to fight corrosion from water, salt, etc.. Yamaha makes marine certified Yamalube oil and it is pretty easy to find at just about any place that sells or services outboards. Amsoil also makes a very good marine grade 4 stroke oil, as well as others. Look for the FC-W certification. If you run your PWC in fresh water, its probably not a big issue, but I would not run any engine in salt water without marine certified oil.