looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

[haddles]

Just looking on ebay for a 2nd hand waverunner or similar and they all seem to have had full rebuilds including cranks at the 150-200 hour mark. I thought at first that they must have left off a couple of zero's but it must be correct. how can these motors be so unreliable? why isn't there an international uproar? Seriously, why the short life and is this what I can expect? I'd imagine a service around that time but surely not a full rebuild? Tell me it's not so...

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

200 hours??? how did they get them to last that long??? skies get manhandled rolled and sunk,, fortunately 2 strokes are not really difficult to rebuild or expensive like 4 stroke engines are, it's the nature of the beast I guess I have done in the area of 2 dozen engines it's not a big deal really.read a post I did on www.pwcweekley.com called help for novice jetski owners,, it covers a lot of mistakes that new owners make that can destroy the engine, or the pump and maybe it can save you from making the same mistakes.

 

[haddles]

Re: looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

Well I said that figure because I thought noone would believe me if I put less. 120 hours seems to be the rebuild mark. Ski's with less than this seem to be untouched. I'm only looking at standard ski's. I realise that people aren't kind to them but I see alot out on the water and you can't use full throttle the whole time. Maybe a new set of rings might freshen them up at this time but these people have done some pretty serious work on their standard ski's. I'm pretty much set on a 1200 Waverunner with EFI as the thought of constantly rebuilding a 4 stroke horrifies me. I've had dozens and dozens of bikes, cars and boats and have never rebuilt even one of them. This scares me a bit. Read your post Jeff thanks. Any advice is useful

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

when I buy one I look for a one owner who is over 40, and took care of it,, no guarantee but the probability is better,, and I do compression checks etc, plus I usually buy sea doo and know what normally goes wrong with them so I know what to look for. if you are not a mechanic you may want a good one to inspect the ski first and ask for all records of service from the seller

 

[AaronG]

Re: looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

I think the 4 stroke engines go much longer than 2 strokes between rebuilds. I'd expect the 4 stroke engine to last the life of the ski if taken care of properly.<br /><br />If it makes you feel any better, I used to own a 1990 Yamaha Waverunner 500. It was slow and dumpy, but it never needed a rebuild. I sold it last summer. I bet it had 1000 hours on it. <br /><br />It did however need a new manifold, and everything behind the motor(pump, coupler ect.) I found all that stuff used for pennies on the dollar.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

they scare me to death in a jet ski, all it needs to do is roll over and have water from the exhaust system hit a hot exhaust valve and you have trouble.

 

[AaronG]

Re: looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

Have you ever heard of that happening? I never have. Yamaha and Honda have been building these for a while without any trouble. <br /><br />I think the days of the two stroke are probably numbered. Not just with PWC's but with everything. I saw a 4 stroke weedwacker at Home Depot last year. It was only $125 or so. Seems like they are getting pretty cheap to build. I don't own anything 2 stroke anymore, and I don't miss it one bit.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

yes I do know of it happening and I know one dealer who keeps a bad valve on his desk to remind him to check trade in compression.

 

[AaronG]

Re: looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

Is that a Sea Doo dealer? I've never heard of that happening a jap brand. <br /><br />Many of the rental fleets near me are moving to the 4 strokes. That would tell me something about reliability.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

actually it was a sea doo LOL

 

[MrBill]

Re: looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

Some times it's the luck of the draw...I have a 1999 Seadoo GTX RFI, bought new. I also have three children, now 19, 22 & 26, the two oldest are rowdy, 6'3" boys. I'm not sure how this machine has stood up to the challenge over the years, it's been over turned countless times, ridden to the max, has 250 hours and (hopefully) still has a long way to go. Despite the hard driving though...it is meticulously maintained. I guess I've been lucky, but fully expect that a new machine should go 250 hours and a lot more. 150 to 200 hours then need a re-build...unacceptable! Honda would not put up with that kind of quality.

 

[Rob454]

Re: looking to buy a 2nd hand ski why are they all rebuilt?

Most people tend to hold them wide open when riding. combine that with people not doing correct maintenance then you get a short life span. I had over 450 hours on one of my yamahas before I ended up throwing a new set of rings on there and it still runs fine. My 1100 raider which was raced and modified like crazy still had 150 reliable hours on it and it still ran liek a bat out of hell.<br />Most motors let go because people use cheap or wrong oil, let everyone and their mother ride them, misadjsut carbs and lean skis out, or simply rode hard and put away wet<br />Rob