97 SPX - hesitates beyond half throttle

[robertvo]

97 SPX seems to run fine up to half throttle. Any more and it hestitates mementarily then kicks back in. Kick in and out when running more than half throttle. Idle does seem a little rough.

New spark plugs
New fuel filter

Front cylindar spark plug looks fine.
Back cylinder spark plug is oily.

Any suggestions where to look next?

Thanks!

 

[SPX-Smitty]

Not that I am expert yet or anything, but I have a 96 SPX and this is what I have learned so far.

You might want to first start with getting the carbs cleaned. I had someone do it, but if you think you can do it yourself, they have threads on here where people have talked about doing it, plus they have the carb rebuild kits available.

Beyond that answer, if the problem isn't resolved (like mine was not) you might want to make sure your fuel valve is not gumed up (like mine was). Best way to do that, is when it blogs down on you in the water, flip the valve into res and then try again. It may blog down at first (due to the switch) but if it seems to run better after that change you may want to changed your valve. Not that hard to do, and it was only 30 bucks.

Also... if you have grey fuel lines you may want to change those out. (I just did) They may be what is causing the problem, as I have learned through this site, sea-doo made a bad batch of those lines, and they fall apart as gas flows through them.

Mine as of right now is not running, as can be seen in a thread below yours, but I feel everything I have done have all been good things to do. And hopefully I will get it running perfectly soon.

 

[JPX]

Added some photos for Smitty.

Not that I am expert yet or anything, but I have a 96 SPX and this is what I have learned so far.

You might want to first start with getting the carbs cleaned. I had someone do it, but if you think you can do it yourself, they have threads on here where people have talked about doing it, plus they have the carb rebuild kits available.

Beyond that answer, if the problem isn't resolved (like mine was not) you might want to make sure your fuel valve is not gumed up (like mine was). Best way to do that, is when it blogs down on you in the water, flip the valve into res and then try again. It may blog down at first (due to the switch) but if it seems to run better after that change you may want to changed your valve. Not that hard to do, and it was only 30 bucks.

Also... if you have grey fuel lines you may want to change those out. (I just did) They may be what is causing the problem, as I have learned through this site, sea-doo made a bad batch of those lines, and they fall apart as gas flows through them.

Mine as of right now is not running, as can be seen in a thread below yours, but I feel everything I have done have all been good things to do. And hopefully I will get it running perfectly soon.[/QUOTE]

 

[robertvo]

Thanks for the replies and pictures. I'm pretty sure the fuel lines are brown but I will double check. Any suggestions for getting carb work done in Dallas area?

 

[kustomkarl]

It's not that big a deal to do it youself.Do you have a seadoo shop manual? If not here’s an idea for you. You could join as a "premium member". As a premium member you can down load a authentic seadoo manual from the seadoo manual library. In the library is a variety of manuals for almost all years and models. You can view as many as you like on line as a PDF file, or download it and print it for your personal and private use. There are operator manuals and repair manuals for you to do your own repairs on your seadoo. The repair manuals have everything from troubleshooting, repair procedures to winterizing. It contains wire diagrams torque specs and pictures for disassemble and assemble instructions. In the spec sheets it tells everything needed to maintain oil changes, spark plug gaps, carburetor rebuilds and impeller wear ring tolerances. Click on the "Seadoo Manuals" link at the top of the page for more details. If you need any help or get in a jam, we are always here to answer your questions too. Premium members get priority when it comes to getting quick detailed answers.


Karl

 

[moi530]

if u have rebuild the carbs and your still fouling one plug only, do a quick compression test. also, it may be a little more involved but you might want to pressure test the rotary valve oil galley. there are 3 seals, usually i have found that if one plug is fouling continously, one seal in the rotary valve system goes bad, allowing oil from the rotary valve oil bath to weep into the cylinder.

 

[robertvo]

The compression was fine in both cylinders. My son (car mechanic) is visiting and we dug the filters out of the carbs. Sure enough they were full of gunk. Cleaned them up and now SPX is running great. Looks like we will need to replace the grey fuel lines and do a proper rebuild once we can get parts, but we are temporaily back in business. Thanks for all the assistance and suggestions!

 

[SPX-Smitty]

May I offer a suggestion before you do the swap out. Once the new lines are in and before trying to restart the ski, make sure the new fuel lines are filled with fuel. You can do this "purging' by adding air pressure to the tank. Basically blow through the vent hose, or your fuel tank inlet hose until you see fuel come out the fuel return hose coming out of your carb.

This will hopfully assure that you won't go through what I am going through, which is the lose of the vacum that forces gas into the carbs.

Learn from my mistakes. If anything read my thread below for some tips on how to get the ski going again after the fuel line swap.