2008 Wake 215 - Project Ski

[Jobondur]

New to the forum and there is a ton of great info here.

I bought a project ski for what seemed like a great price. The owner said it took on water but he got it back to the dock before it got into the engine. He said he thought it was the thru-hull fitting and everything else was fine. So I got it back to my house and the thru-hull was fine but needed a new carbon seal, so I replaced that. Also rebuilt the jet pump while I had it off and replaced the wear ring. Pulled the plugs before cranking and there was water in the cylinders. I turned it over and blew as much water out of the cylinders as I could and then heavily dosed with fogging oil. Pulled the intake manifold off and dumped out a good amount of brackish water. Pulled the supercharger and that was full of water too. Then without re-installing the supercharger or intake manifold or reconnecting any of the electrical connections except for the ECU, I did a compression test. Cylinders 1 and 3 are at 60 psi and cylinder 2 is at 20 psi. Obviously none of the cylinders are where they need to be. My question is does the intake manifold or supercharger or other connections/sensors need to be reinstalled to do the compression test properly?

Right now I'm getting myself ready to pull the engine out of the ski and pull it apart. I'm thinking corrosion in the cylinders and rings. I can tell the tops of the valves look pretty bad and am pretty sure the ski sat for at least a month before the water was removed. Is there anything else I should do before I pull the engine? Attached is a pic of the top of the valves taken after the intake manifold was pulled off. I don't have a borescope to look down inside the cylinders.

Any help is greatly appreciated....

 

[ski-d00]

You could try to get it running. The compression numbers will improve once it's run. Maybe not enough but you don't have much to lose as a complete rebuild might be in your future. Nothing needs to be hooked up to do a compression test, just crank the engine over at a good speed and hope the valves and rings start sealing up better once all the rust and crap gets cleared up.

 

[Jobondur]

Well I was thinking pull it apart and clean it up as much inside as possible - basically get the crap out and do an inspection. That way maybe I would minimize the amount of stuff I'd have to replace in a rebuild. That just a waste of time?

 

[Jobondur]

Also, I'm concerned when I rebuilt the jet pump that I may have pressed the bearings in too tightly. Before I replaced them the propeller would spin easily. Now I can turn the propeller by hand but it definitely offers a fair bit of resistance. How do I know if I pressed them in too tightly?

 

[Scriz]

Did you put the collar back on the pump shaft when rebuilding? I forgot this vital step when I was rebuilding the pump on my wife's 04 GTX. It caused the bearing to bind and made the impeller hard to turn. It is part #8 on the image.

 

[Jobondur]

Ok, so I've completely rebuilt the engine now and am getting ready to put it back in the ski, but first have to replace the ride plate because I had a cracked fitting in it that couldn't be repaired (I tried). The engine has new pistons and rings, was bored out 0.5 mm over, got a valve job, and everything has been inspected pretty thoroughly. I have a couple of questions before reinstalling it.

1. Can the supercharger be installed before putting it back in the ski or do I have to install the engine first and then the supercharger. The SC was a tight fit when I removed it while it was in the ski and it will be an easy install on the engine stand. But most YT videos show engines being put back in the ski without the SC on them.
2. I found a motor mount (port rear side) where the top metal bracket has come off of the rubber piece. Can this simply be re-epoxied on or do I need to buy a new one? If re-epoxied, just use JB Weld or something else? If replace with new, should I just replace them all while the engine is removed? Was really hoping to avoid having to align the engine and getting new mounts will require that.
3. What does this orange and grey connector go to? I've searched all over and can't find where this goes. It's located by the starter solenoid and fuse box.

 

[skiasylum]

I got 3. its the diagnostic connector for BUDS or CandooPro, it just hangs out their on its holder on the battery case.

 

[Jobondur]

Ok, so it only gets used when you take it into the shop and they plug in their diagnostic tool. Thanks.

Can anyone help with #s 1 & 2?

 

[ski-d00]

1. Way easier to install the driveshaft, collar, and c-clip with the sc off so best to install sc after those are in place.
2. Replace the motor mount. No need to replace them all unless they are bad. Engine should always be aligned but you normally can get away without aligning if the motor mounts aren't disturbed.
3. It needs to be plugged into the diagnostic cap which has a resistor in it and completes one of the circuits. The cap should be snapped onto the fuse panel just below the connector itself in your picture but it is missing in your picture.

 

[Jobondur]

Thanks for the insight ski-d00.

Regarding #2 - any way to easily check alignment without buying the alignment tool? Looked around on here and found some people using round stock that I might try. Anything else that can easily/cheaply be done to just do a quick check?

Regarding #3 - can someone send a pic of the diagnostic cap being referenced? or a part #? I can't find anything but may not be looking in the right place

 

[Jobondur]

I'm on to rebuilding the supercharger and don't have any isoflex grease. can i use standard marine grease or triple guard grease or should I just order some isoflex? can't find it locally and wanted to get this buttoned up soon but will wait for the order if needed.

Is there anywhere else this stuff gets used?

 

[skiasylum]

Looks like it's missing, might have fallen down below. Isoflex is just a high heat moisture resistant grease, also used for crank bearings.

 

[Jobondur]

I just used assembly lube on the crank bearings, that's what all the videos I watched on YT showed. Will that be an issue?

So is there a readily available substitute for Isoflex in the supercharger build? Or just order it?

 

[Jobondur]

And what's going to happen if I don't have that diagnostic cap? Will I get an error code or will something not work correctly?

 

[skiasylum]

I just used assembly lube on the crank bearings, that's what all the videos I watched on YT showed. Will that be an issue?

So is there a readily available substitute for Isoflex in the supercharger build? Or just order it?

no issue on the assembly lube, not a grease expert but have read people substitute "green grease" available at Advance or Autozone for isoflex, no idea on the diagnostic cap.

 

[skiasylum]

And what's going to happen if I don't have that diagnostic cap? Will I get an error code or will something not work correctly?

Thats the part number, the resistor tells the ECM you're done talking to it and the cap also keeps the water out of the connector. Probably should have one.

 

[Jobondur]

Ok, so I've installed the rebuilt engine and am getting ready to start it up. I've added 3.5 quarts of XPS 5W40 oil and will be adding and bleeding the coolant system with a mixture of antifreeze and demineralized water. The gas tank has been drained and will have fresh fuel in it. What is the process for starting this thing for the first time? Below is what I was thinking, but tell me what else I should do.

1. Remove the spark plugs and add a couple drops of oil into each cylinder
2. Turn the starter over in flood mode (throttle fully depressed) for like 15 seconds to bring the oil pressure up
3. Give it a go and pray it runs smoothly for like 15 seconds
4. If it runs smoothly, hook it to the hose and let it run for like 5 minutes
5. If it still runs smoothly, take it out on the water

Each time I run it I will check the oil and coolant levels and top off accordingly. Other than that, what should I do to increase my chances of success? Thanks.