[2strokelover]

I have owned my 1st jet ski for about a month. It is a 1993 Kawasaki SS XI. I chose a 2 stroke jet ski because I'm familiar with the engines and this one is in great shape. When I first bought it, it ran great except it would not idle. After 3 rides it now will only run when I spray premix in the carbs. I checked compression 150 and 155. Inspected the reeds, new fuel lines (yes they are routed correctly), check valve above tank is functioning properly, removed pickup tube assembly from tank and it looks brand new and filters are fine, rebuilt the carbs with SBT carb kits, bypassed fuel petcock, and spark plugs are not fouled.

I did remove the oil injection system and installed a SBT blockoff plate. I use premium fuel with Castor 927 at a 40:1 mixture ratio. In an attempt to narrow down the list of possible issues, I decided to use a separate small gas tank. I filled it with premix fuel and temporarily mounted it above the carbs. I felt that this would allow gravity to feed the carbs and narrow the troubleshooting of the fuel system. I had to spray my premix bottle into the carbs to get it started, but it died once that fuel ran out. So for some reason, there is no gas running through the carbs. If I continue to spray gas into the carbs, it will idle and rev fine.

I removed the carbs again, checked the hose going from the crank to the fuel pump and it had no holes. I'm out of ideas. Can anyone offer some advice?

 

[2strokelover]

I figured it out. I took the carbs apart again and found that the low air/fuel mixture screw broke. The tip had broken off into the carb. I found a donor ss xi for $100, and the guy told me to take the super chicken also. I scored big time because I soon realized the donor ski had a Coffman exhaust system. I rebuilt the donor carbs and installed the Coffman exhaust. The ski runs, idles, and fires up quickly.