1997 Speedster engine problems.

[ravens9273]

I bought a 1997 Sea Doo Speedster back in February. The boat looked rough. It was a one owner boat and original owner passed. At the time the boat was at a Mechanics shop and had work done to it. This was the only Mechanic to work on the boat its entire life, so they know the boat well. Original Owners wife gave title of boat to shop to cover repairs. Boat was then sold to me.

Now I am good at cosmetic things. I do body work, paint cars etc... I knew I could redo the look of the boat and I did redo the whole boat over. I also gave the boat a more modern look.
Mechanic told me the engines were good. He had just looked over them. This boat has not been run since early 2013. It was at the shop all of 2013 season since owner died. Mechanic did say however the carbs desperately needed to be rebuilt. Told me $800 to do so.

Now I am the type of person who will do for myself before I pay someone that kind of money. I watched video's on youtube and saw it takes all of 10 minutes to rebuild the carbs. I removed the carbs. Took them apart and cleaned them with carb cleaner. I purchased two carb rebuilt kits (boat only has single carb per engine) and rebuilt them myself.

Carbs are back in the boat. I will admit I know nothing about adjusting them. I have read about the low jet, high jet etc...

Here is where it stands. #2 engine starts with no problems. I used starter fluid for first start and since then it will start with first push of start button. However this engine sounds to be running rough. Just does not sound right to me. I will only run it for about 1 to 2 seconds before turning it off because it sounds that bad to me.

#1 engine will not start at all. It cranks and the cranking sounds normal. This is also reason the other engine scares me. However I cannot get #1 engine to fire. I have tried starter fluid. I poured gas into carb etc.. A few times it spit out of the carb and smoke comes out of the carb. When opening the throttle a little it seems like it really wants to fire but just wont. The boat has a new battery and rebuilt carbs. I am lost on what to do. I spent a lot of time redoing this boat. I was all ready to go out on the water and now I worry if I have serious problems with the engines. I am including and image of what I have done to this boat and its new look. While I am good at the cosmetics I am clueless as to the mechanical issues. Could these issues be related to the carbs and not being set right or is there a more serious problem? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[burleson]

I would check rv for timing as the brass gear can get stripped

 

[USAF_Pride]

Did the engine run before you redid the carbs? If so, it probably isn't the RV. Have you tried new spark plugs? Start with the simple things first.

 

[ravens9273]

Thanks for the replies. I was reading last night other threads and tried some of the suggestions today on the boat.

First we realized this boat has some very old gas in it. Possibly up to 2 years old. I know I need to drain it all out. I bought a siphon from Harbor freight and what do you know, it does not work.

I opened the carb on the engine that will start but runs rough and saw already orange deposits in the carb. this has not even been run yet other then maybe 5 times for about a second that deposit is already in carb.

As to the engine that will not start at all. I saw some people have issues and stated they removed the spark plugs and cranked the engine to let excess oil etc to spit out the top. I did this then dropped some fresh gas into the carb. I got the engine to start for a second doing this. After other attempts at trying to get the engine to start it was only after removing the spark plugs and getting excess out the engine at least was very close to starting. at times it seemed it did but once I released start button it shut. While I do not think it was fully started smoke etc... was coming out the back of the exhaust. After a while I started getting a grey thick liquid spitting out of the exhaust. there was even a little puddle on the ground. So I did get it to fire once today for a second (fuel line disconnected) and very close to starting other times with smoke etc.. coming out the exhaust.

With current symptoms does anyone have .Could this be a simple matter of very bad gas? Or maybe something else? Thanks for the help.

 

[USAF_Pride]

Sorry to hear about your HF syphon. Mine works, so maybe you just got hit by the HF bad luck. If you have the receipt take it back and get a new one.

You need to get all that old gas out (you can use the old rubber tube trick also). You will also need to take the carbs apart and re-clean them (the orange is probably varnish). It sounds like you may want to put new gas lines on as well as a preventative measure. Once you have good gas, good lines, and clean carbs, put in new plugs and give it a try.

As far as the settings on the carbs, the default settings will get you running just fine.

The motors are fairly simple to operate, but you need good gas and good spark before anything is going to happen.

 

[Upallnight]

Have you tried removing all the plugs from the engines and try spinning the engine to expel any thing that might have accumulated in the engine during storage? I know that my engine has the habit of filling itself with 2 cycle oil from the oil tank if it sits over the winter. I place a heavy piece of cardboard over the engine so that any oil that get thrown out won't be thrown all over the place.

 

[Mike99]

Yup, clean the fuel system out, top to bottom. Also, when you rebuilt the carbs, did you reuse your needle springs? The ones that come in the kit can change the pop off pressures, and cause new issues. You are better off reusing the old ones! Make sure the carbs have clean filters.

Good luck!

Mike

 

[Mike99]

Oh, and about the HF Siphon. I picked up one of their "jiggler" siphons, and the thin wall tubing made it worthless, as it was too flexible, and restrictive. I replaced it with thick wall vinyl tubing from Ace hardware, and it siphons fuel very fast!

Mike