First time jet ski owner needs help please

Rcurry2069

Cadet
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
8
Ok people, first i'm new to the forum so i'd like to say hey, and it seems like this is a great source of information.

This past saturday, I bought a 2000 Kawasaki ZXI 1100. It seems to be in pretty good shape, and i figured it would be a great play toy. I took it out Sunday, with some friends on a pontoon just to see how it would run. It cranked up great at the ramp and i took off. Everything worked awesome - the gauges, the auto trim system, it all worked out great. I rode it for probably 30 minutes, and then it was just like a switch kicked off, and it would barely run. It never shut off on me, but the rpm climbed real slow, and barely got to 30 mph. I just seemed like it shut down into limp mode or something. Is there any explanation to this?? I tied it to the pontoon boat to let it sit for a little while and then was going to try it again, but then the rain came in so we had to leave.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!
Roger
 

mancho

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 14, 2011
Messages
121
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

Did you check fluids? Specifically the gas resevoir? And the oil. Sometimes they shut down to prevent damage. Was the engine hot or overheating?

You need to do some checking on stuff, so we can assist in narrowing down the problem. I had jet skis for 15 years but not this brand, however, they kinda operate similar.
 

Rcurry2069

Cadet
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
8
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

Fluids looked fine - the oil reservoir has been bypassed so i just have to mix my gas when i put it in. The light on the dash blinks showing there isn't any oil, but like i said, for the first 20 - 30 minutes it ran real good. It doesnt have a temp gauge, so im not sure what temp it was running.

Where does it pull water in from??
 

mancho

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 14, 2011
Messages
121
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

You should do some googling. I found several sights offering specific advice on your ski. Even discussing causes of loss of power. Try specific terms, such as "2000 Kawasaki ZXI 1100" with "overhead" or "power loss" or "low rpm"

I don't think that "bypassing" the oil and mixing your own is that fantastic of an idea. The machine was set up to run a specific way, and when you start, uhh, "rigging" them, your pretty much on your own from a "manufacturers" recommended guidelines.

Why isn't the mixing happening correctly? Why was it bypassed? That would be my first question. Does the oil reservoir also feed the engine elsewhere? Sounds fishy, pardon the expression.

Where does it pick up water? you mean for the jet or the engine cooling?
 

Rcurry2069

Cadet
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
8
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

You should do some googling. I found several sights offering specific advice on your ski. Even discussing causes of loss of power. Try specific terms, such as "2000 Kawasaki ZXI 1100" with "overhead" or "power loss" or "low rpm"

I don't think that "bypassing" the oil and mixing your own is that fantastic of an idea. The machine was set up to run a specific way, and when you start, uhh, "rigging" them, your pretty much on your own from a "manufacturers" recommended guidelines.

Why isn't the mixing happening correctly? Why was it bypassed? That would be my first question. Does the oil reservoir also feed the engine elsewhere? Sounds fishy, pardon the expression.

Where does it pick up water? you mean for the jet or the engine cooling?

I mean for the engine cooling

I bought it from a guy at work, and it was bypassed the entire time he had it. The people he bought it from told him they bypassed it bc if the oil injector got stopped up, the engine would burn up. We have had that happen to two different golf carts here at work, so it seemed logical. Im not sure if this is the problem or not, bc the guy i bought it from had it for two years (the whole time the oil injection was bypassed) and it ran great for him but idk
 

ryanr623

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
489
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

You should do some googling. I found several sights offering specific advice on your ski. Even discussing causes of loss of power. Try specific terms, such as "2000 Kawasaki ZXI 1100" with "overhead" or "power loss" or "low rpm"

I don't think that "bypassing" the oil and mixing your own is that fantastic of an idea. The machine was set up to run a specific way, and when you start, uhh, "rigging" them, your pretty much on your own from a "manufacturers" recommended guidelines.

Why isn't the mixing happening correctly? Why was it bypassed? That would be my first question. Does the oil reservoir also feed the engine elsewhere? Sounds fishy, pardon the expression.

Where does it pick up water? you mean for the jet or the engine cooling?

I would never run WITHOUT the oil pump bypass kit on any 2 stroke jet ski i own. The only thing the oil pump does is mix the fuel and gas at a 50-1 ratio. 2 Strokes were designed to run on oil/gas mix, and it doesnt matter how the oil gets mixed.

To the original poster: Check all the free things first. First of all compression, this is the biggest thing for two strokes. Once you verify you have good compression you have a solid engine to work with. Then check all the fuel filters and carb filters for junk. Lastly pull the carb and soak her in some carb cleaner or rebuild it.
 

Rcurry2069

Cadet
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
8
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

How can i tell if its a overheating problem??
 

Rcurry2069

Cadet
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
8
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

What # should the compression read?? I know they should all be consistent but not sure how high each cylinder should be
 

Rcurry2069

Cadet
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
8
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

Also, where would i put a water hose to run it in the yard??
 

ryanr623

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
489
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

What # should the compression read?? I know they should all be consistent but not sure how high each cylinder should be

140 or above would be ideal, but the important thing is to have each cylinder within 10% of each other.

Also, where would i put a water hose to run it in the yard??

I've never owned a kawasaki, but on all my sea-doo's it was near the back. Older models may require a flush kit to do this..... but if you are just checking compression there's no need to even have a hose to it, as it won't start. As a matter of fact you would get water in the engine.

Which brings me to another point. Always...ALWAYS, start the jet ski BEFORE turning the water on to the ski.....and turn the water off BEFORE turning the ski off.
 

Rcurry2069

Cadet
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
8
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

I know i don't need it for the compression check - but i would like to run it in my yard to actually see if anything is wrong
 

ShadowB

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Messages
111
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

I have a Yamaha and mine did similar to me at the beginning of the season. It ran great at the ramp and on a restart it would barely run. I checked over the engine etc. but in the end it was trash (weeds) I sucked into the water intake grate/impeller. I have no idea how I picked it up, maybe at the ramp. Wasn't a whole lot either. Cleaned it out and it ran fine. Not saying that's your problem but may be worth a check.
 

Rcurry2069

Cadet
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
8
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

Thats why i wanted to know where the water intake was. Sorry if i sound dumb, but i have no knowledge of these things.

Ive got a couple of friends that told me that could be it...
 

dannyual767

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 15, 2010
Messages
273
Re: First time jet ski owner needs help please

I know i don't need it for the compression check - but i would like to run it in my yard to actually see if anything is wrong

Even if it runs good on the trailer, this doesn't tell you much because the engine isn't under load like it is when the ski is in the water.

Do like Shadow suggested and make sure that you don't have anything in your pump system. You'll find the intake grate under the ski just behind the engine. Look up in there and make sure nothing is clogging it up.

If you don't find anything, do that compression check. Even if you get readings of 110-120 psi, I wouldn't be worried as long as all cylinders are within about 10% of each other.

Premix is a great idea. It pretty much eliminates the possibility of your engine not getting oil......as long as you don't forget to mix the oil and gas! I think that there may be a few skis that people say should remain oil injected, i.e. Kawasaki Ultra 150, I think. Most other skis work well and live a long time on premix.
 
Top