96 XP poor performance

[rotaxrule1]

Hello,

My 96 XP that I recently purchased has not run too well since I have had it. Here is whats going on:

Starts up ok usually, idles just fine in and out of water.

coming out of "no wake" zone sometimes bogs to the point of wanting to die until I ease into the throttle and let it climb. (intermittent issue) Other times it runs right up to 6500 RPM (guessing by engine tone) and climbs right out of the water.

The other issue that is always consistant, is the top end speed and RPM while on plane at full throttle seems to be lower than usual. (my 97 GSX smokes it and they have the same 787, both 110 HP, I think) This seems to always be triggered by hitting little waves that cause the jet to momentarily jump out of water.

It just seems sluggish, it runs "ok" but I would guess it should be much faster. It does have the original grey fuel lines (plan on changing them soon), and basically everything else is original it looks like. It makes no difference whether the fuel selector is on reserve or on position. Compression was between 140 and 150 on both jugs when i checked it.

Anyone have any ideas or pointers by chance? I wonder if the raves might be plugged or adjusted incorrectly. Sorry I am new to tuning these things, I have less exposure to rotax engines than my other atv engines and such, so I would love to learn from you guys as you have been great help already. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[voodoo]

Unless you have done it recently, begin any 2stroke diagnosis with compression, fuel system leak test, mark the oil tank to be sure it is drinking, clean out the water/fuel filter and a dab of grease on the seal so it does not skid to the side, clean out the fuel control - replace any of the gray lines but hard to beleive a 96/98 would still have them.

 

[voodoo]

I forgot to mention about oil, sometimes what happens in a boat transfer is so much exictement the type of oil is overlooked entirely and mixing 2stroke oil is a big gamble - many times it forms a gel that the pump can no longer spray inside the motor either blocked nozzles or the small oil lines get plugged with the gel product - it is like when you smear jelly on the outside of the jar, flush it all with kerosene to restore the pumping action and then choose and stay with oil from a reputable supplier, when you run your first bottle empty cut off the front and leave it in the glove box so you can always get the same type.

 

[rotaxrule1]

Thanks for the reply, I have checked the compression -- seems to be good. The oil is being consumed, I see the tank gradually getting lower as I ride it. And it smokes normally (as far as I can tell) during operation. The guy gave me some injecion oil he was using but just to be safe, I am running the tanks low and purging them through before I add any additional oil. I will check the filters and see what I can find. Is there just the canister one and the screens in the carbs?

 

[seadooya]

replace grey fuel lines, go thru the carbs and fuel selector switch, and pull the pump and install a new wear ring, also while impellors out, inspect it for chips/bends in blades.

 

[rotaxrule1]

well guys, I have started to finally work on this thing. Getting ready to replace fuel lines and clean carbs, etc. I began with taking out the starter since I am replacing that as well. I decided to read up on some posts about cleaning the rave valves.

In cleaning the valves out, I noticed that the mag cylinder rave valve slider was put in backwards (at least I think it is based on the posts) the "top" label was facing down and the PTO cylinder was facing correctly up. My guess is that right there contributes largely to my performance problem, the raves looked mostly good other than that.

The O ring seems a bit stiff, would you guys recommend replacing that? If so, looks like I can just use a standard temp tolerance or does it need a special one?

If anyone has any additional input or corrections to what I found, it would be greatly appreciated. (still learning) Thanks much!