2002 GTX - 4-TEC Buying Advice

[Witty1]

Beginning the shopping process for some PWCs and I will be a first time buyer. Long-time boater, but have never owned any PWCs.

Looking to get some info on the 2002 GTX 4-TECs. Looking at 2 of them with approximately 135 hours, once recently serviced and told is running very well, second has a pump going out with an estimate from the dealer of $1500 to repair. I have not taken the time to inspect these yet (about 2 hours away from me), but they are reported to be extremely clean (picts verify this) and meant to run very well. Current owner is the 2nd owner and had them about 4 years.

Questions: How reliable are the 2002s? If the pump is going/gone on one, is it likely the second will need the same? Any other problems areas I should look out for on this mode?

 

[lamajama]

I have an 02 and have been quite happy with it with the exception of a leaky instrument gauge, which apparently is not uncommon with this year (and further years). This just seems
to be the luck of the draw though so I would check the gauge for fogging for sure but I wouldn't not buy it out of any concern about that potential. I've replaced the front and rear oil sensor
but that is easy and relatively cheap as well as a common issue with any 4tec. That pump price is pretty high. I would check elsewhere on here for a replacement pump first.

 

[Witty1]

Thanks for the feedback. I will definitely check out the gauges and will check pricing on the pump.

 

[3ftDeep]

It's pretty simple to remove the pump yourself. I bought an entire (third party) complete assembly for $400US when my 2003 GTX died. You could probably do it very cheaply for a lot less than $1,500. The following video will show you how to pull the pump: https://youtu.be/PgUhvw4Dpgo. Good luck.

 

[Witty1]

Thanks for the feedback and video, looks fairly easy to replace the pump assembly and will also look into rebuilding. Any advice on pricing? I see KBB and NADA have some pricing around $2,225 (will obviously adjust for work needed such as the pump).

 

[Sea Dood]

The 2002's were the 1st year for the 4TEC and had a bunch of issues, a lot of which were fixed over the years. There are two specific unique problems to the 2002 models the first was the 'transition ECU", which was rushed into production before they could get DESS working properly, so they added what was called a "DESS amplifier" inline between DESS post and ECU. This ECU also had issue with TPS setting. This ECU was replaced under a "soft campaign' which was never documented, but anytime a ski came in, they just went ahead and replaced it. It is part number 664130 on the sticker. They replaced it in early 2003 with part number 664131, still had some DESS issues, and they used what was called a DESS emulator inline, which wasn't really needed. They finally fixed it in 2003 with ECU part number 664132.

The second issue was they didn't forge the crankshafts properly. By now, most that were going to break have already broken.

 

[Witty1]

Good info, thanks Sea Dood. I will make sure I check for the updated part. Would you have any other hesitations in buy 2 2002 4-tecs? Will probably pull the trigger on these within the next day or two.

 

[lamajama]

The 2002's were the 1st year for the 4TEC and had a bunch of issues, a lot of which were fixed over the years. There are two specific unique problems to the 2002 models the first was the 'transition ECU", which was rushed into production before they could get DESS working properly, so they added what was called a "DESS amplifier" inline between DESS post and ECU. This ECU also had issue with TPS setting. This ECU was replaced under a "soft campaign' which was never documented, but anytime a ski came in, they just went ahead and replaced it. It is part number 664130 on the sticker. They replaced it in early 2003 with part number 664131, still had some DESS issues, and they used what was called a DESS emulator inline, which wasn't really needed. They finally fixed it in 2003 with ECU part number 664132.

The second issue was they didn't forge the crankshafts properly. By now, most that were going to break have already broken.

Sea Dood, I still have the original ECU part # and I did have an issue with it trying to get my Candoo to correctly write info back to the ECU. Are you telling me that this ECU may still be replaced by BRP even at this date?