Re: PWC Tips
Thanks for the tips. I actually took the ski out to the lake this weekend to try her out. She busted right off and I puttered around close to the ramp for a few minutes just to be safe. After I felt comfortable that she was going to run, I took off out to the big water. The plan was for me to meet the rest of my family at a little beach about a mile away, so I headed there. Well....I got right out in the middle of the big water and a pretty good sized boat crossed in front of me. There were two pretty big wakes coming so I slowed down and then gunned it on the first wake so maybe I would clear the second wake. I landed pretty hard, but not so hard it hurt, and the ski just bogged down and died, then it wouldn't even turn over, just a click when I hit the starter button.
I brought my phone in a plastic bag for just such an occasion, called dad and he towed me to the beach with his boat. I figured out what caused the bogging. The little rod that connects the two carb linkages fell off. No big deal, but the engine wont even turn over. Took the plugs out and tried to roll the engine by hand. Stuck, oh crap! Thought the engine was seized so I stuck a dowell rod down the spark plug hole and tapped on a piston to try to free it up. Gave it a few taps and sure enough, it all freed up and the engine turned easily and smoothly by hand. I hit the starter again and something got in a bind again. Hmm. I decided to check out the starter, so I took it off and the engine turned freely again. Guess that was the culprit. I hooked the starter up to jumper cables and the bendix would jump out and stay out, it would not retract on it's own unless I tapped on it. Guess I'll need a new starter. Anywho, that's how the maiden voyage went. Seems wierd to have two unrelated problems pop up at the same time. Maybe I'll have it fixed in a couple days and give it another try. Pardon the long windedness.
P.S. It ran like a scalded dog before it crapped out.
