[Faron V]

Hello , new user and fairly new to Ski's as far as working on them. I have just purchased a 2001 XLT for a reasonable price. it has 150 hours on it. i knew it had an issue when purchasing and it is why I got it for a decent price, and I like a challenge. The previous owner had the Pistons, and sleeves replaced last summer. since then he had put about 4 hours on the ski. He started having issues of the ski only getting to about 7 to maybe 10 MPH. He had the D plate and chip mod done, thinking that it was his Cat that was bad and causing the issue. The issue still persists. This is day one i have had the ski, bought it and drove to lake and took for test drive to see for myself. I have just ordered the waveeater clips and coupler kit. I hope I can figure out the install ( pics on waveeater site are pretty small, if i click on them to enlarge it kicks me out of the instruction page). I am just wondering if there is something that i can check and try to get things working. I will put a new fuel filter when i get back to the lake. Also, the owner said his mechanic did a compression test after the new pistons, however he did not know the pressures. I will check next time I get out there. Could the exhaust be plugged somewhere and the mechanic not notice or look? it seems to have the same problem as before the D plate and chip. Any help, in plain english would be greatly appreciated(avoid using accronyms please) or links to threads would be awesome. thanks

 

[rodsatheart]

Do a compression test, make sure the oil injection lines are good, rebuild the carbs with true Mikuni kits making sure every little nook and cranny is clean and clear and verify pop off, make sure plugs are good and getting spark on them. Make sure the cooling system is clear.
I'm assuming your just not getting any rpm out of it ?

 

[Dave in DE]

Plus 1 for what Rods just stated. First and foremost check your compression!

Going into the other side though. If your motor is reving up but your not getting past 8/10 mph. Like a slipping clutch in a car. That's cavitation. This is a jet pump issue. For this check your impeller to wear ring clearance. It should be around .014/.018" max. also check the impeller for damage. To do this you'll have to remove the intake grate and check from below. If this checks out. Another possibility is that the mid shaft coupling splines have stripped.
For parts and exploded views of assemblys use Babbittsonline or partszilla. Go to OEM parts, water craft, Yamaha, yr, then pick model and assembly.

 

[Faron V]

okay, will do my best. on trailer it revs fine, of course, no load. I can hit 6500 or 7000 on the tach. in water it doesn't seem to rev very well, and then wants to stall. restart it will idle fine but have no power, you can hold WOT and it goes 7 mph. so to remove intake grate, i need to heat the screws and use an impact? thought I read that somewhere. and i will get carb kits, not sure how to test pop off though. I will see what I can find. thanks Gentleman

 

[Faron V]

also, will I be forced into a aftermarket airbox? and when talking about jetting, that is the the hi and lo setting on the carbs? thanks trying to learn here. i guess i cant include a link to the place i want its is a sticky at greenhulk and a post by Osidebill

 

[Dave in DE]

also, will I be forced into a aftermarket airbox? and when talking about jetting, that is the the hi and lo setting on the carbs? thanks trying to learn here. i guess i cant include a link to the place i want its is a sticky at greenhulk and a post by Osidebill

For clarity, this an xlt/xl 1200?

Yes, if following Osidebill's recipes you either have to go after market flame aresters (fa). Or drill your original airbox cover full of holes.
Also do Osidebill's fuel return mod. It's in that same how to list. And listed in the how to's here.
Try removing intake without heating first going easy on it. Then use heat if it won't come loose.
The jets are small brass inserts inside the carb with measured orifices in them that control fuel flow. The high/low screws on the outside fine tune these. basically.

 

[Dave in DE]

okay, will do my best. on trailer it revs fine, of course, no load. I can hit 6500 or 7000 on the tach. in water it doesn't seem to rev very well, and then wants to stall. restart it will idle fine but have no power, you can hold WOT and it goes 7 mph. so to remove intake grate, i need to heat the screws and use an impact? thought I read that somewhere. and i will get carb kits, not sure how to test pop off though. I will see what I can find. thanks Gentleman

When you say you can hold it wot is it making full rpm's and only 7 mph?

 

[Faron V]

okay, so at WOT the engine wasn't revving high, but barely running . i didnt make note of the rpm cause i am an idiot. lol and yes its a 2001 1200 xlt. So i ordered the parts to follow Osidebill's recipes, both for the carb setting and the fuel return mod.including the Riva flame arrestors. I have the rebuild thread read and bookmarked and will be heading to the store to make a Pop off tester in a bit. I also ordered 3 mikuni rebuild kits and new fuel filter as well. I have decided to bring ski back from the lake and do the work at home. much easier then trying to bring every tool with me and then forgetting something every time. once I get parts I will see if i can figure it all out. There is lots of great info here so I am fairly confident I can pull it off. ;-)

 

[Faron V]

I will also remove the cam from the accelator pump as per Osidebill's recipe. and I plan to do the compression tests when i get it back to town.

 

[Dave in DE]

I will also remove the cam from the accelator pump as per Osidebill's recipe. and I plan to do the compression tests when i get it back to town.

Instead of removing the cam just bend the arm up out of the way a bit. Just enough to be out of the way of the cam. This gives you a fall back if need be. As the cam once removed it's gone.

 

[Faron V]

so just got home with the ski, did a compression test on it, cold, with just the one spark plug out at a time. and WOT- Front was 112, middle 115, rear was at 112. not bad for cold?

 

[Faron V]

do these clips look to small to fit my power valve? trying to put the second one on it snapped the one side off. they are supposed to be for a 1200 xlt, yet seem really narrow.

 

[Faron V]

Hey all, just an update. Finally got all my parts, and rebuilt the carbs, did the fuel rail mod, Followed OsideBills recipe for the carbs.including FA's, I also removed the cam from the accelerator pump, but i added a steel cable to the arm of the accelerator pump and ran it up and through the vent under the back corner of the seat, so i can grab that cable and give it a couple of pulls to prime. worked well, then I Managed to swear a lot and get it all back together last weekend and took it out for a test. Prime cable worker great. Ski ran like it should, or better!! the water was quite choppy but had it up to 44 Mph quite easily with lots of throttle still. I am hoping to get it back on water this weekend and see what she can do! The season up here in Western Canada wont last much longer, So gotta have fun while we can! Thanks for the help and lets hope all will keep running well.

 

[rodsatheart]

Good deal.

 

[Dave in DE]

Glad to here good out come. Ride safe and have fun.

 

[Faron V]

ok, so another update. I had awesome weather this weekend, had the ski in several times. It worked well hitting a max of 53 on the speedo, as fast as I need to go anyway. however the last while this afternoon, when cruising it would seem to bog down a bit, even cruising at WOT, it would change sound, and drop to about 29 MPH, and the revs would go no higher then maybe 5000. it did it a bit, then seemed to be getting worse, doing it more and more. if i stopped the ski and then hit the throttle ,no problem for a bit, or if it was doing it a lot, I could stop, shut it off. then restart and it it would take off like it should. Fuel was getting a bit low, and on the way back in it stalled, i switched to the reserve , started and it seemed okay. i didnt ride more then 2 minutes after that and was heading to the launch. Just thought I would ask if any ideas, or was i just getting that low on fuel that it would cause that bog. any thoughts or insight would be much appreciated!

 

[rodsatheart]

Prob just low on fuel, which is actually dangerous on a 2 stroke because your running it lean.

 

[Dave in DE]

Prob just low on fuel, which is actually dangerous on a 2 stroke because your running it lean.

I concur with Rods, sounds like you were starving for fuel.

 

[Faron V]

okay will keep a better eye on it, it went through the tank pretty fast! live and learn. Thank you.

 

[Dave in DE]

okay will keep a better eye on it, it went through the tank pretty fast! live and learn. Thank you.

Ya, they consume several "gallons" per hr. A tank is only good for a couple hours of high speed run time.