I've been boating since 2011 and most of that has been bass boats and off shore boats. I just purchased my first wave runner last week. It is a 1996 Waverunner 760. It says 203 hours on the dash. The guy I got it from owned it for the last two years and said it ran perfectly aside from some sputtering on the low-end. He credited this to possibly a rich fuel mixture because he still added oil to the gas tank in case the oil pump ever failed. I test drove it and I did notice some sputtering on the bottom end RPM but once I got to the upper power band it ran perfectly over 50 miles an hour. I bought the ski and trailer for $800 and it looks in immaculate shape. I was curious about the compression and I know I should've done that first. I went to AutoZone and did their loaner tool program and got a compression tester.
Front "0"
Rear "59"
I knew something couldn't be right. I went back to AutoZone and said the gauge could not be reading properly. I gave it back and headed to the local marina. The guy there said he doesn't really work on ket skis but he would do a free compression test anyway.
Front "39"
Rear "135"
He said that the ski needed a new engine or a rebuild both of them quoted about $1500. Also told me that there is no way the ski could even possibly run let alone start up. He further said that a rebuild would need to be done ASAP.
Here's the strange part. The ski fires right up hot or cold. I did the sea foam spray fog to clear the carbs and replaced the plugs. Ran it at the lake to clear out the white smoke.
Sputtering is almost all gone and the top end I picked up 3mph.
Could the guy at the marina just want money?
Can those numbers be right?
I'm confused.
Thanks!!
Joe
Front "0"
Rear "59"
I knew something couldn't be right. I went back to AutoZone and said the gauge could not be reading properly. I gave it back and headed to the local marina. The guy there said he doesn't really work on ket skis but he would do a free compression test anyway.
Front "39"
Rear "135"
He said that the ski needed a new engine or a rebuild both of them quoted about $1500. Also told me that there is no way the ski could even possibly run let alone start up. He further said that a rebuild would need to be done ASAP.
Here's the strange part. The ski fires right up hot or cold. I did the sea foam spray fog to clear the carbs and replaced the plugs. Ran it at the lake to clear out the white smoke.
Sputtering is almost all gone and the top end I picked up 3mph.
Could the guy at the marina just want money?
Can those numbers be right?
I'm confused.
Thanks!!
Joe