Bottomless pit?

[drvred]

Someone is giving my wife a 1999 Seafood GSX Limited,assuming he gets it running.
I have read all sorts of bad things about the 951 motor, and am almost hoping he isn't successful.
It's been sitting for a couple of years, and he is having the carbs cleaned, and whatever it takes to get it running.
Is this free ski gonna cost me more than a new one?

 

[Coastiejoe]

Not really,,,

Reason why is, if you were to buy the same ski used there is a good chance you would have to do the same things.

If it has Grey Tempo Fuel lines, then need changed, the carbs cleaned/rebuilt (due to the lines), replace the fuel selector.

None of this is expensive by any means, just a bit of a pain to do as it gets tight within the hull.

Him cleaning the carbs will NOT solve the on-going Grey Tempo Line issue. So if it does have the lines, anything he does really means very little..

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I wouldn't mind some seafood

 

[Coastiejoe]

I wouldn't mind some seafood

I didn't notice that,,, I could fix it, but I won't....

 

[garrettb]

What is the issue with the gray fuel lines? I've got them, but they're in great shape and haven't clogged anything up. Is it a matter of how long the ski sat in between being used that causes them to rot?

 

[Coastiejoe]

What is the issue with the gray fuel lines? I've got them, but they're in great shape and haven't clogged anything up. Is it a matter of how long the ski sat in between being used that causes them to rot?

Ethanol is the main issue, but other chemicals also create the "Green Goo" issue. The inside of the line basically gets eaten up and all the little parts and chunks plug filters, carb jets and the fuel selector. Also at every fuel junction such as a barb.

Here are two pics to show it..

 

[drvred]

How aboutt he bottom end ?

 

[Coastiejoe]

How aboutt he bottom end ?

You mean the Crank I assume?

The very first thing I do would be a compression test and see if they know how many hours are on it. Much of your plan will be based on that data. In most cases, cranks can easily into the 300 and 400 hour range on their own. That said, if you do a top-end at say 300, the crank is often right behind due to the increase in power from the new top end.

 

[drvred]

Thank you, I guess I will have to wait and see if he gets it running and go from there.
It's at a shop now, hopefully they will tell him if it's worth messing with.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

If free isn't good enough for you, post it up here, the line will be 20 people deep to pick it up. Just sayin...

 

[drvred]

The reason I am asking these reliability questions is the fact that my wife will be the primary user. And is one of these people who think nothing can ever go wrong.
We have a place on a very big lake, which is, while quite busy on weekends, is empty during the week.
I am worried that she will get off one beautiful weekday afternoon, and get stranded in the middle of this huge lake, and be stranded with no one around.
While free is nice, having to file a missing person report is not.

Just saying.

 

[mikidymac]

The reason I am asking these reliability questions is the fact that my wife will be the primary user. And is one of these people who think nothing can ever go wrong.
We have a place on a very big lake, which is, while quite busy on weekends, is empty during the week.
I am worried that she will get off one beautiful weekday afternoon, and get stranded in the middle of this huge lake, and be stranded with no one around.
While free is nice, having to file a missing person report is not.

Just saying.

If that is the primary concern for reliability it doesn't matter what watercraft you are talking about be it any PWC you should never go out by yourself especially on a big lake. That would be a personnel issue not the watercraft. Always have a buddy and always tell people when and where you are going.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

Yip, my ski is in top shape and I never ride alone except in heavy boat traffic areas and honestly, that's maybe twice a year when my ride buddy craps out on me.

 

[Coastiejoe]

I agree. Never ride alone. More fun and safer with others. I was tossed off my ski two weeks ago at 66 MPH. I ended up about 200 feet from my ski. My buddy came and got me and dragged me to my ski.

 

[1of500]

I agree. Never ride alone. More fun and safer with others. I was tossed off my ski two weeks ago at 66 MPH. I ended up about 200 feet from my ski. My buddy came and got me and dragged me to my ski.

Damn man easy to get hurt above 60

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I'm fine alone, but prefer at least 2. Good thing I have a wife and double trailer

 

[drvred]

The guy that has the PWC has gotten it running, but the battery dies overnight. The shop told him that he had a battery, and sold him a new one that also dies overnight.
The shop rode it for an hour, and said it has a strong motor, but I noticed the inside of the hull is covered with oil, it still has gray fuel lines, so I am assuming that the oil lines need replacing too.
Is there a fuse I can pull to stop the battery drain?

 

[drvred]

Oh, and boat hasn't been licensed since 2009, so I am guessing that it has never seen ethanol.

 

[soccerdad]

I would love a 99 limited. That motor is developing a lot of HP and therefore is a little harder on components. But if you feed it the right fuel (clean carbs, lines, selector, etc.) and keep water out of the intake, it would be a crazy fun ski to have. These are close to 20 year old skis, but they are mechanically simple and not the tough to work on. (once you get used to them) A new ski of any kind will cost you many thousands more than that ski, even if you have to put an entire new motor in it. Some GSX skis keep some electronics powered all the time causing battery drain. But being an older ski, you may just have some bad electrical connections (Ground wires and main hot wire) that make it act like the battery is dead. It may be that you think the battery is dead, but it just takes a totally full charge to crank it. Test it with a volt meter before cranking and while cranking. Also, some new batteries just come weak from the start.

I'm in NC so if you need a place to drop it off if you don't take it, I got lots of space.

 

[drvred]

Any ideao f which things are powered all the time?
Thinking of adding battery disconnect.

 

[benjilafouine]

Does super unleaded has ethanol in it? When I go to the pump, it says that it doesn't (well there is no sticker that says it does).

I always use super unleaded octane 91 (wish I had access to 94 octane close to my place because I would go for it).

Even my lawnmower has premium gas in it!!! Costs a bit more but peace of mind.

Benji.

 

[soccerdad]

Any ideao f which things are powered all the time?
Thinking of adding battery disconnect.

I am not sure exactly why but at least the 96 gsx drains the battery more easily. You can see it when you attach the battery cable. It actually sparks. The 96 GTX does not. It has something to do with a holder relay and timer. I am not sure if a 99 has this issue or not. I know the electronics are quite a bit different. I would google around some on gsx battery drain. A disconnect would not hurt.

 

[soccerdad]

Does super unleaded has ethanol in it? When I go to the pump, it says that it doesn't (well there is no sticker that says it does).

I always use super unleaded octane 91 (wish I had access to 94 octane close to my place because I would go for it).

Even my lawnmower has premium gas in it!!! Costs a bit more but peace of mind.

Benji.

It depends where you live. Most premium in the States has ethanol in it. I am not trying to start a big discussion in this thread, but I don't think high octane gas is what you think it is. So octane has nothing to do with the "power" available in gasoline. It only is an indicator of gasolines reluctance to explode when compressed. The higher the octane, the more you can compress it before it will ignite on its own. (before the spark plug sparks creating pinging/detonation)http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car-technology/news/a18008/premium-fuel-futures/ is a great article on it. In fact, too high of an octane can even hurt performance. So basically, if the octane is high enough to keep the motor from pre-ignition, then any higher octane will not do anything for you. (unless your vehicle will automatically adjust the timing for maximum performance based on a ping sensor. Which our skis obviously do not have)

 

[drvred]

Around here we have 90 octane ethanol free