1996 XP VTS issue and overall refurbish

[carydm]

Good Morning,

I bought a 1996 XP back in high school in 2007 from my dad who was the 1st owner. He was going to donate it to recoup on the trailer because he couldnt get it to run and I gave him what he would have gottten in scrap for the trailer.

I got it running and if I remember correctly it didnt take much but new sparkplugs and filters all around. Had a great time in HS riding around on it. Then after gradutaion I went into the Navy and it set around in my parents barn unused for the better part of 5-6 years. Then my stepdad decided to revitalize it and get it running well for my younger brother. He cleaned the carbs, but didn't replace the fuel lines and got it running at low speed (roughly 2-3 yrs ago). Everytime you go WOT it would bog and then rev high and so on...

I picked it up from him last month and finally had time to start working on it. In the mean time I have been reading all over the internet about probably causes and came to the conclusion it was the original fuel lines clogging the fuel system and making it run lean.

I just replaced all of the fuel lines and took apart the fuel selector valve and gave it the best cleaning I could.I plan on ordering a new fuel selector valve, but I wanted the ski to be lakeworthy for thr 4th and couldn't find timely enough shipping so I am holding off on that. I still have the carbs off and the Mikuni carb kits will be in on Monday. The internal fuel filters were moderately clogged, but all of the brass fuel line nipples had a ton of gunk in them.

While the carbs are off I went ahead and ran a compression test. I assumed that since the throttle should be wide open it wouldn't matter too much since they were off. Please correct me if I am wrong! Also the engine was cold which is different from every thing I have ever been taught...

Front Cylinder: 170 psi
Rear: 165-167 psi
Everything I have read online says it should be 155 brand new. Maybe somebody could shed some light on these high readings. To my knowledge it has not been rebuilt, but I am waiting on my dad to respond.

My stepdad also told me that when my brother was taking it out he had problems with the VTS blowing the 7.5A fuse when it reached upper and lower limits. I figured since I am waiting on the carb kits I will focus on the VTS in the mean time.

When you press the VTS buttons the motor seems to be turning and when I have my wife hit it and watch the arm that comes out of the back it seems to want to move and I can feel vibrations, but it doesnt actually move the arm through any range of motion. I took the motor off and verifid that the motor spins when the button is pressed. It spins in different directions depending on which arrow is pressed which I assume to be correct. I havent been able to blow the fuse yet.

Any ideas as to why the arm isn't moving? I was planning on taking the boot off and seeing if there was some sort of visible obstruction but figured I would check here first.

I also found a link at Jetskiplus to test the VTS system, but to me it seems like my issue might not be controls/electrical but more like something is corroded together and not freely moving. (Totally guessing here)

I went ahead and attempted the tests found on the website and have a few questions:
1. For the Power supply test where are the wires? Is the Red-purple the wire coming out of the electrical box in front of the battery? This one has a Red w/ purle and white stripes which confuses me for the entire first test because I can't find a strictly purple white anywhere coming out of the VTS.
2. For the trim button up and down input wires I am reading OC for all of the prescribed readings.
3. The VTS trim gauge ooutput read 170 ohms which makes sense because the gauge is reading full nose up.
4. The trim motor wires test good which was expected since the motor seems to be running fine.

Also, the nozzle itself seems to be pointed down somewhat (roughly 30 degrees).

I would like to fix the VTS, but if I can't do that in the next couple of days (want to ride if possible by next weekend) is it possible to put the nozzle in a more nuetral position?

I apologize for the lengthy post, but I am just trying to get as much information out there so I can get the best advice.

Thank you!

 

[shattered00]

I am but an amateur in the world of 2 stroke skis and can't adequately answer your question, but I will offer some information on something that might be related to why the jet pump will not move back up. Make sure that the magnet that is in the VTS rod has not corroded or the VTS, once you get it working, will go past its mechanical limitations and get stuck (which may have already happened). I have attached a picture of what I am talking about.

The fix is to go to Claires or wherever cheap jewelry is sold and buy a pair of magnetized earrings. Only use one magnet as two is too strong. In the meantime, you can have someone press the button up and then simultaneously and gently "assist" the jet pump upwards with your hands and see if it gets back within its normal range. You will know if this works fairly quickly. It doesn't take a lot of force so don't use HEMAN strength but mine did take some effort when it got stuck in the down position.

You should check this out even if it isn't your problem because it will definitely become a problem if the magnet is missing/in pieces. Hope this helps you in some way. Good luck!

 

[mikidymac]

Just pull the VTS motor inside the box and set the nozzle to the middle and then reinstall the motor. You have to unplug all the wires to the VTS. Once they start blowing the fuse they are bad and can’t be repaired typically and will blow the engine computer.

To run it rebuild the carbs and just bypass the fuel selector directly from the RES fitting on the tank to the fuel filter then directly to the carbs

Cleaned selectors almost always leak air and can seize the engine.

 

[carydm]

Thanks for the replies! I re-centered the VTS and unhooked all of the wires. The part the plastic screw screws into jumped out of it's aligning groove. Do you recommend just leaving out the VTS permanently or looking into replacements? I would rather not have the VTS if there is a potential to blow the computer, but if there are decent and somewhat cheap replacement options im open to suggestions too.

 

[carydm]

Just pull the VTS motor inside the box and set the nozzle to the middle and then reinstall the motor. You have to unplug all the wires to the VTS. Once they start blowing the fuse they are bad and can’t be repaired typically and will blow the engine computer.

To run it rebuild the carbs and just bypass the fuel selector directly from the RES fitting on the tank to the fuel filter then directly to the carbs

Cleaned selectors almost always leak air and can seize the engine.

Okay, I rebuilt the carbs using your carb rebuild walkthrough. When doing the pop off test with the original springs as rx'd i was only getting about 18 psi in it before popping off when it is supposed to be 23-43. I started plug and playing with the springs in the kit and got both carbs to pop off at 35 psi.

I know it goes against your advice, but I saved the original springs if you think I should replace the new ones....

I put the carbs back on the motor. After cleaning out the gas tank and putting res line stright to the filter I gave it a go with about 2 gal of gas in tank. Was able to get it to fire and run for about 20-30 sec on full choke but then it kinda reved up and died. Was able to get it to fire off a few more times, but can't get it to idle for more than a few seconds.

Should I take the carbs off and replace the springs? I am under the impression the popoff doesnt come into play until you give it throttle... (Definitely don't really know what I'm doing)

Also when setting the High and Low speed screws in the carbs do I put them back at the settings they were before or back to 0 and 1 respectively?

Is 0 literally all the way with the O-ring making contact? It was originally like 1/8-1/4 turn out...

 

[mikidymac]

Do not use the springs in the kit. They are wrong. I would set the screws to what they were and see how it runs, if anything seems off try the book settings.

Did you get new genuine mikuni needles and seats and kits?

 

[carydm]

Do not use the springs in the kit. They are wrong. I would set the screws to what they were and see how it runs, if anything seems off try the book settings.

Did you get new genuine mikuni needles and seats and kits?

Unfortunately I did not pay enough attention to the fine print and bought one off ebay that claimed to be mikuni but then said it is an aftermarket kit. I plan on buying a kit with everything from OSD and rebuilfding. I was just hoping these would work well enough to run it this weekend.

If not then oh well.

I was able to run it for about a minute and a half on half choke and it idles fine but a little high on the hose. It is supposed to idle high on the hose correct?

Should I take the carbs off and put the old springs back in even though I don't have genuine mikuni needle and seats or just postpone it all until the new kit comes in?

 

[mikidymac]

I would suggest not running it with those kits. You risk destroying the engine.