Just bought a JetSki off Ebay


The story goes that the previous owner was riding it and something got wet and some wires started to smoke and it hasnt run since. All I know is the current owner says it will turn over, so it cant be that bad of a fix (assuming that nothing is cracked or broken)

Also apparently its a 750SS with a 650 motor in it. Dunno what that means other than the motor is 100cc smaller than the original. I cant seem to find a whole lot of information on much of anything about these. Its a 92 Kawasaki 750SS (with 650 motor). But I figure its carbureted, and I'm somewhat of a reverse engineering genius, so I can probably figure out whats going on. Thats not to say any information anyone can offer would not be appreciated.

Anyone with advice, experience, stories that might be relevant?

Oh, one more slight snag, I dont have a vehicle with a trailer hitch... minor detail

First of all, I'm jealous! One of my life long goals is to own a PWC.

It's been said the two happiest days of a boat owner's life is the day he buys - and the day he sells - his boat.

Hopefully you'll have many happy ones in between.

I can't help you with the problems, so all I can do is this:

*bump*

- Flamberge

quote Originally posted by 86GT3.4DOHC: The story goes that the previous owner was riding it and something got wet and some wires started to smoke and it hasnt run since. All I know is the current owner says it will turn over, so it cant be that bad of a fix (assuming that nothing is cracked or broken) Also apparently its a 750SS with a 650 motor in it. Dunno what that means other than the motor is 100cc smaller than the original. I cant seem to find a whole lot of information on much of anything about these. Its a 92 Kawasaki 750SS (with 650 motor). But I figure its carbureted, and I'm somewhat of a reverse engineering genius, so I can probably figure out whats going on. Thats not to say any information anyone can offer would not be appreciated.

Somewhere a 'Previous Owner' did an engine swap? Some Fiero swaps. like Archie, and others are done to a T. Some aren't?
The smoking wire should be a hint. If it floats is another consideration?
Find a shop manuel?
It might be a good deal, but hard to justify when you are trying to dogpaddle back to shore?

------------------
Ol' Paint, 88 Base coupe auto.
Turning white on top, like owner.
Leaks a little, like owner.
Doesn't smoke....... OK, we're trying to quit.

Ehh, I figure there is a heck of a diffrence between swapping engines in a car and a PWC, especially since i'm guessing the 650 is a direct swap. Lets hope anyway. There isnt much to getting a 2 stroke running, just carb and spark.

Here's hoping it floats!

BTW, what the crap is the deal with PWC? 10-12000$ new? Who in thier right mind would spend that much on a jetski?

[This message has been edited by 86GT3.4DOHC (edited 07-21-2008).]

Heading to pick it up tomorrow, we'll see what Ive gotten myself into!

PWC's are expensive toys. I paid $325 for a starter on my Wave Raider. Only two places in the country sold mail order parts for them.

The swaps aren't that bad...well shouldn't be..Just mounting brackets are different.

Some common problems: bad plugs, bad carbs, the intake gate under the ski may be damaged, the impellar itself may have chips in the blade (from rocks,sand, etc). Also if the ski has been used in salt water it will have a lot of rust in the engine compartment.

Use some stabil when you park it in the winter. Make sure the drain plugs are out and try to keep it tilted back so no water runs inside. Like any boat, try to park it inside or at least with a cover over it so clean up isn't bad in the spring.

Don't know what all you drive but I had a draw-tight hitch put on my explorer for a couple hundred bucks. The ski and trailer only weigh maybe 1500 lbs max.

edit: couple of other things..go buy a GOOD life jacket, think I paid $50 for a new body glove vest. Also make sure you have a good landyard. Connects from the vest to the kill switch on the ski. Its a little clip deal like a horseshoe that slids under the kill switch on the ski. Trust me, it WILL happen, you hit the right wave and the ski goes shooting off 15 feet ahead of you, as you float in the air for a few seconds and take a water ennema...

Also, make sure you have a good fire extinguisher, put all your ins paper work in a zip lock bag.

[This message has been edited by sostock (edited 07-22-2008).]

Quick Google and I found this, may help.

Steve

http://www.pwcforum.com/forums.php

I had a 93 Seadoo XP. Got it for $300, after another $500 in parts and a bunch of rather intense study and testing (mostly by my brother) --it ran. It was A LOT of fun! Older PWC are inherently unstable (unlike more modern boats.) And the hulls are a lot faster than the newer boats.

The motors on these things are more than a simple 2 stroke motorcycle engine. Mine had an electronic CDI with rpm limiter--the brain on the Bombardier was expensive and had to be working right for the boat to run. And the brains don't react well to electrical overloading.

I suspect (but hope not) that you are getting into an expensive can of worms with this. If you look hard, you may be able to find all the stuff you need used online, but it probably isn't gonna be a matter of replacing a few burned out wiring--if there was an overload that burned up the wiring, well, you get my drift.

My brother has a 3 pax, supercharged newer Seadoo. It's fast, it's fun (it's 4 stroke and certified clean,) but with only a rider, it wasn't quite as much wild fun as the smaller, older XP. 2 strokes aren't allowed on Lake Tahoe, so the cleaner boat is used exclusively on that lake.

quote Originally posted by DtheC: Somewhere a 'Previous Owner' did an engine swap? Some Fiero swaps. like Archie, and others are done to a T. Some aren't?

Ahh touche' DtheC, touche. Whoever changed this motor was a complete HACK and should be banned from even so much as a screwdriver. All the systems have been disabled, the fuel gauge, temp and oil lights, on off switch, saftey switch, everything.

Additionally, his idea of wiring is lightly twisting two wires together and putting a little duct tape over it. Hmm, wonder why it burnt up? Dumbass. That would be iffy in a car, but stuipid in a watercraft. Also Im assuming the original 750 was a 4 stroke, this 650 is a two. Now I have to figure out the oil ratio. The gas I siphoned out was greenish brown, god knows what was in it, or how much.

I took the motor out, rewired it, cleaned the inside of the hull and desludged the exhaust. The burnt wire was a ground from the motor to the chasis. The main negative cable runs from the battery to the motor, then there is one 16 ga ground from the motor to the small metal chiasis with 12V converter and coil etc. Im really hoping it was something on there that overloaded, because this ground runs with the rest of the wires to the magneto, if thats fried, I'll have to find one.

Other than that, the real reason it wouldnt run was because the moron put the wrong start\stop switch cover on, and the stop switch was permenantly depressed, cutting ignition. The throttle plate was also corroded at WOT. I took the carb apart, at least it looks good, cleaned the throttle rod and put it back together. I siphoned all the gas out and filled it with a gallon of premix I had for the chainsaw, just for testing. It doesnt seem to be pulling gas from the tank, I might just not have enough in there, I have one gallon in a 9 gallon tank. It will run on starting fluid though.

The hull has some minor damage at the top of the motor bay, Id about guarentee from the moron trying to rip the motor through the fiberglass to avoid taking 2 minutes to pop the exhaust off. Nothing near the waterline though. Someone slapped some glass on the inside of the cracks and sloppily applied resin to the outside.

All in all, not bad for $350 and a days work, assuming the magneto works, it just needs some cosmetic touchups.

I'll see about getting it gas tomorrow, and some new plugs, see how it runs. Oh, and get the fuel gauge working again. I cant even find where the saftey laynard is supposed to connect.

One thing I havent figured out, there is a port on the right side of the boat, and a hose on the inside that runs to a solenoid of some sort, then that runs to the exhaust, near where the colling fittings are. The solenoid has of course been disabled, what is this for? Apparently it lets water out of the cooling system for some reason?

Also, titling the boat may be interesting. The last known owner (who I hope had title, but might not have) was in KY, he sold it to someone in WV, who sold it to someone in OH, who I bought it off of.

I'm going to try to just claim it as abandoned on my property and file for title, they will contact the last title owner and if he does not respond saying he wants it within 15 days, I can get title for it. I think anyway, the other option would be to "buy" it from someone in a state that does not require titles for PWC's. I dont think PA does, any input?

Well Ive got it running now. When I picked it up there was a carb diaphram in the storage compartment, I thought that was an odd place for it. Turns out there was one in the carb, but I put this one in, it looked newer. I couldnt get it to pass fuel, took the carb apart and figured out there was something missing, there was no reason the diaphram would push on the lever to open the pintle. I dont know anything about carbs other than what I've managed to reverse engineer in the past, and in this case.

I got very lucky, I was cleaning the inside of the hull, which turned out to be a giant waste of time, but while doing so I found this slimy lid looking thing under the exhaust. I glaced at it yesterday and realized it was the right shape to sit behind the diaphram, and that did it.

I started it up and unhooked the battery, it kept running, so the magneto must still be working.

I peeled all the fiberglass off the hull where he "repaired" it. He obviously didnt know the first thing about glassing either, or it wouldnt have peeled off like tape. Not to mention, it didnt take me 2 seconds to realize the hull isnt cracked, just the gelcoat. Did I mention he was a F'in moron? So I just need to pickup some bondo and a gelcoat repair kit. That and a new port side decal.

I want one.

Wish I could be of more help.

Perfect weekend would be pulling 2 of em behind my fiero

Oh, one other thing I need answered. There is a port on the right side of the ski, looks like a windshield washer sprayer. It is connected to a solenoid and then to the exhaust water jacket. When I run water through the engine, it sprays out here.

Im assuming the solenoid is supposed to stop flow under some conditions. What are those conditions and what is the actual purpose of this?

that is part of your exhaust. water does flow out of there. the water is cooling the engine. no water coming out is bad.

Maybe I should have said the front of the right side, foward of the handlebars. This looks like a vent or relief of some kind, it doesnt allow much water out, mainly I want to know why it has a shutoff solenoid.

Well the ski is allmost finished. I primered the bondo and the primer was the perfect color and sheen, so I just left it. I should have sanded and bondo'd some more, it doesnt look great, but it doesnt look too bad either, thats all that matters. If I really cared, I could just get a new decal and cover up %90 of the bodywork. All I have left to do is get an air filter and wire up a switch for the gauge cluster. I still have no idea why there would be an oil light on a 2 stroke... Any ideas?

Part 2:

[This message has been edited by 86GT3.4DOHC (edited 07-27-2008).]

Is the oil injected? If so, run out of oil, no more go-go...

As far as I know, its just regular premix, but then again, they have messed this thing up so much, I dont know what it might have been originally. Right now there is no indication of any way to oil the gas other than premix.

I don't know with the engine swap what has been done. Some ski's have two tanks, one gas, one oil. Each tank pumps into the carb where it is mixed.

There is some weird tank in the rear, all the way to the back, it looks like a windshield washer tank, lol. It has a smaller rubber line that runs about halfway up the hull before its cut off. It doesnt have a lid on it though, just a 3" hole in the top with a rubber neck that is capped by the ski's seat.

quote Originally posted by 86GT3.4DOHC: There is some weird tank in the rear, all the way to the back, it looks like a windshield washer tank, lol. It has a smaller rubber line that runs about halfway up the hull before its cut off. It doesnt have a lid on it though, just a 3" hole in the top with a rubber neck that is capped by the ski's seat.

Heh, yeah if there is any fluid in it it will be a real dark blueish-black. I don't know if you can just mix the oil and fuel and run it like that? Wouldn't see why not but I wonder what the ratio should be?

The fuel I took out of it was greenish brown, the TW3 2 stroke oil is light blue, so who knows. The tank looks clean though. I dont see any place for a sensor in this rear tank either.

I can tell you one thing for sure, its not for washer fluid!

LMAO. Well reading some more PWC forums, they talk about oil pumps on the front of the engine, there is a blocking plate right over the flywheel where there is a keying in the end of the bolt, I would imagine there used to be a pump there that was, you guessed it, removed by the hack. At anyrate, from what I hear there is no issues at all with running premix. There is a mount to the left of the engine that I couldnt figure out what it was for, must have been the oil tank.

I have no idea what the rear tank could be for, I would imagie if it was a reseve tank it would have an actual cap.

quote Originally posted by 86GT3.4DOHC: Oh, also, I think the engine knocks. When cranking with the plugs out, it sounds fine, but if you put in the rear plug, it makes a noticable knock, but not if you put in the front alone. But it sounds fine when its running so oh well.

You can rule out Valve Problems pretty much, LOL
Remember that 2 strokes are mist lubed from the Fuel/Oil mix. No oil sump like on a 4 banger, The connecting rod bushings, might have a lot more clearence than you'd see on a 4 stroke? No forced oil through the crank, and nothing getting oil sloshed on it either? Just whatever wetting that comes from the Fuel / Oil mist, and capillary action?

It's been 30 years since I've played much with 2 strokes.

[This message has been edited by DtheC (edited 07-28-2008).]

AH DOY!!!!

Okay, I have to give back one of the stupids I called the last guy. I havent been able to figure out where the saftey laynard would have attatched, and I said the stop button was on wrong, holding the stop down, looking at random 750 parts, something clicked, the stop button housing is spring loaded to pull it back into the switch, the laynard clips onto the front of the housing, under the button, to hold it away from the switch, so when its pulled, the button jamns back. Odd time for such a revolation, but what the heck. So he didnt screw up the stop button or remove the saftey laynard, so he's 1 for 19 on stupids...

As for that knock, im pretty sure its something bad, seeing as it only makes it on one cyl and not the other, but it doesnt sound bad when running so Im not going to worry about it.

pwctoday.com is the best place ever

besides here of course lol


I know 650s are cheaper but man, what a waste of a motor. You should take it out and put it in a 300sx

yea I just found that site last night. You could see back months in one page on the first forum mentioned here, PWC has like 3 pages of posts from today. Much better forum.

quote Originally posted by sostock: Heh, yeah if there is any fluid in it it will be a real dark blueish-black. I don't know if you can just mix the oil and fuel and run it like that? Wouldn't see why not but I wonder what the ratio should be?

40:1 mix should do the job. Use a good 2-stroke oil. I use Blendzall or AMSoil in my 2-strokes

40:1 is what I found, im using TW-3 oil from the parts store, dont know what brand. Its smoking a lot though. I dont know if there was just a ton of sludgy oil left in the tank after I drained it, or if the 1 gallon of chainsaw premix was a high ratio, or what. I mixed up 2.25 gallons at 40:1 and added it to the 1 gallon of unknown mix. Now it seems to smoke a lot, but its out of the water, is that maybe normal?

I would be careful about burning up impellers and such running it out of the water. Although this might be completely asinine when talking about PWC's.

I have messed with a bunch of outboards, and if you run them for 30-60 seconds without water, the plastic water pumps will burn up.

There is a garden hose adapter on the engine, it provides cooling for the engine and exhaust, and some shoots out the jet opening as well, so I dont really know where all it goes, I guess its for flushing not testing, but it seems to do the job well enough.

I got a lot done on the hitch today. I basically just bolted a piece of 3/8th steel to the impact beam, I've got some pics to post.

Now I have to figure out the wiring. The car has seperate rear turn signals, so that is an issue. I think this should take care of it with 4 diodes

[This message has been edited by 86GT3.4DOHC (edited 07-29-2008).]

Well I got the wiring worked out.

A problem though.. Im getting a heck of a lot of noise in the car. Scared me at first, thought there was something dragging on one of my wheels, but after unhooking the trailer I determined it was something in there. The bearings feel tight enough, but they have a little rumble to them. I guess its really carrying the noise through the frame. Does anyone have any suggestions about isloating the trailer somehow so the road noise doesnt travel up into the car? Its a really small car, lol.

Short story, first day out, horrible, spent 4 hours with DMV morons, one person telling me one thing, another someihng else, then when I go to talk to the first person, oh thats wrong, it just gets worse. Bottom line, its going to be WAY easier just to do the illegal thing, rather than try to go through the legitamate channels for this.

Any ideas why this thing wont run in the water, but fires right up in my driveway? It seems like its not getting gas, if I drop a little in the carb, it fires and runs great. Without it, it wont start 95% of the time. Once its started, it wont idle %99 of the time, but I took it out and it planed right up and seemed to be running fine. After a while it started running worse and worse, then it was surging when I was trying to get back to dock, then once we had it on the dock it wouldnt fire hardly at all without pouring gas into the carb. Got it up on the trailer like 40 minutes later, it fired right up. Drove it home, in the drive way, it fired right up.

Im going to pull the intake grate off and make sure there is nothing jamned in there, but the impeller seems to spin fine, and it was going for a while. Also, when we had it on the dock after riding, the exhaust was pretty hot, normally with the water hose, its ice cold. It could have been heat soak, but I dont know, there was some water coming out of the pisser.

Anyway, im in the market for a junk hull with clean title if anyone has one.

[This message has been edited by 86GT3.4DOHC (edited 08-01-2008).]