New to Jetski's, Questions

[rp23g7]

Hi Everyone,

I am a previous boat owner that had a 88 Bayliner die a sad dry rot death.

Decieded to buy a jetski to pass the time untill i can get another boat.

I live in Seattle, there is a jetski rental outfit on Lake Tapps that was selling the used skis.

I bought a 1997 Kawasaki 1100 STX, 191 hrs on it. It seems to run ok, hard to start, but everyone says Kawasaki's are hard to start.

Runs good after it starts.

Knowing 191 hrs may be a lot of hrs on a little 2 stroke, i wasnt expecting it to be top notch, plus the price was right, and i can always fix it or modify it fi i want.

I didnt take it for a ride before i bought it, the guy said it was the mechanics boat, and it looked really well taken car of.

Questions now.

I looked at the specs 613 lbs, 120 hp. now being a mechanic for a while, that equates right there to pretty good perforance.

I am 200 lbs, so 800lbs with 120 hp, should be at least 50mph, even the specs say 53mph.

It sure doesnt feel like that, even if the speedo is a little wrong it probably isnt going 30 mph at full throttle.

It doesnt bog at all, and seems to get up and go pretty good when you hit the throttle, gets on a plane fine.

Is this just a symptom of the wrong impeller? How easy is it to change a impeller? I looked at all the mechanical goodies, everything seems pretty easy to work on, just need to get a manual.

How easy are the carbs to adjust? they seem to be ok, could it possibly be a timing issue? Can you adjust the timing at all?

I assume these have a magneto, as i cant see a alternator anywhere. I can take pictures if anyone needs any other information.

Thanks everyone.

 

[MikDee]

Re: New to Jetski's, Questions

Yes, It should go 50-55mph especially from your description, First thing, check your carbs to make sure they are opening fully with your hand on the throttle, and are each opening at the same time (sychronized),,, if this is ok, check your compression, & get back to us.

 

[rp23g7]

Re: New to Jetski's, Questions

One thing it does do, when your starting out, it plows through the water, like a boat does before planing, but it seems there is no transition. It seems to plow, then leap up and get on plane and go, there is no real transition from trolling speed to planing speed to cruising speed.

When it does get to plane on the water it does seem like there is more power there but is being resticted. Any one have any idea where a limiter would be, possible on the throttle body itself?

 

[pinbodean]

Re: New to Jetski's, Questions

What RPMs are you turning at WOT? Should be around 6700, if it's a lot lower, (4500 or so) it's dropping a cylinder, or it's in limp mode. If the RPMs are right, then it's a pump problem.

Bodean

 

[Winner Escape]

Re: New to Jetski's, Questions

Not trying to hijack your post here but I am having very simalar problems. I have a 1996 kawasaki 900zxi. Bought it recently with a brand new motor in it. First time out the thing ran awesome 50-55mph no prob. Next time out only 30-35mph max. Pulled the plugs and the center cylinder had water droplets on the plug and could tell it wasn't fireing. Brought it back to the shop had them fix it and took it out again. Ran fine 45-50mph road it for about 2 hours no problems. Took it out again today, ran fine for an hour or so then seemed to slowly loose power until 30mph max. What is this "limp mode" someone typed about?

I pulled the plugs again and all look to be burning fine, all have spark...but if I remove the center cylinder plug wire there is no difference in rpm (does not drop in rpm when removed or pick up rpm when put back on) If I do this to the outside cylinders there is a noticable gain or loss. Any ideas what could be wrong with the middle cylinder?

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: New to Jetski's, Questions

do a compression check on the questionable cylinder bet the rings stuck from water getting in there,, then bring it to the people who did the job and raise heck.

 

[jonw9]

Re: New to Jetski's, Questions

They way it sounds, slow then jumps up and goes leads me to think that you may have a damaged impeller and/or worn wear rings (the seal around the impeller.

Have a look and see if the edges of the impeller are dinged. I am guessing that 200 hours on a rental, it would be in pretty rough shape. I don't recall for sure, but I think the wear ring clearance should be about 0.030 or something. If it is much more than that it should be replaced. If you are fixing/replacing the impeller, then the wear ring should be done at the same time.

 

[Winner Escape]

Re: New to Jetski's, Questions

I checked compression in mine and..you guessed it no compression in the middle cylinder and 110 on the other 2. Brand new motor too. Mechanic doesn't know what happened exactly...good news is, I don't have to pay for it. I thought it was odd that it ran so good for 2 days then decided to lose a cylinder....think it was because that one had water droplets in it?

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: New to Jetski's, Questions

I have a crystal ball and the spitits told me that was the problem//lol///

 

[SeaKaye12]

Re: New to Jetski's, Questions

No Compression??? None???? Zero????

Sheesh.....what would cause that? Stuck rings shouldn't cause compression to drop to zero; should it?

A hole in the piston maybe? I remember reading here that water in the cylinder leans things out enough to raise the temperature to the point where that can happen.

Please keep us posted Winner...

Thanks for reading, Chuck