Early Sea-Doo's are a nightmare to work on.

[SabotageR1]

I've come to the realization that early year sea-doo can be a nightmare to work on when purchased used. So many things that can go wrong that all illustrate similar symptoms. Examples:

If you put the stator position off, it appears to be a carb issue. Why in the world would seadoo make it that you can put it wrong. Most other mfg's there's only one way a stator can go on.

If your rotary valve cover is not within spec and doesn't start. Appear to be a fuel or carb issue as well, when the fuel is ruled out. appears to be an electric issue.

If your vent valves are bad, seems to be a fuel or carb issue.

If your engine seals are bad and 2 stock oil gets in the engine, won't start, seems to be a fuel or carb issue.

I see why shops say they don't want to work on these old ski's. I've been reading post after post of people with seadoo issues and I find it ridiculous that these people have to go through a whole list of checks and repairs to find out why their ski won't start.

 

[burtshaver2021]

I hear you, my old wet jet with Yamaha engine never had one single issue for the 8 years I owned it, Tigershark with Suzuki engine, same thing, never an issue.

 

[SabotageR1]

I hear you, my old wet jet with Yamaha engine never had one single issue for the 8 years I owned it, Tigershark with Suzuki engine, same thing, never an issue.

I bought a used none working seadoo and it's been a nightmare to get this thing running right. Everything seems to be out of spec.

My friend just purchased a non working XL700 Yamaha and two hours later we have it running on water.

I've been working on vehicles the last 15 years and this Sea-doo is the first one that just has me stumped. Wifey looking at me like, "how you still didn't get this thing running after three months." I can't even explain it.

I want to give up and give it away, but my ego keep pulling me back in determined to get it running.

 

[DaddyLoafin]

I bought a used none working seadoo and it's been a nightmare to get this thing running right. Everything seems to be out of spec.

My friend just purchased a non working XL700 Yamaha and two hours later we have it running on water.

I've been working on vehicles the last 15 years and this Sea-doo is the first one that just has me stumped. Wifey looking at me like, "how you still didn't get this thing running after three months." I can't even explain it.

I want to give up and give it away, but my ego keep pulling me back in determined to get it running.

Yup. When I bought mine I spent the whole first summer I had it finding and fixing all these weird issues it had. It broke down on me half a dozen times that year. Still breaks down on me now but much less frequently and at this point when it does its usually something dumb.

 

[Wolverine]

Hilarious and so true "seems to be a fuel or carb issue".

 

[POPPS]

Pull the motor
Reseal the engine
Retime the stator
Replace the brushes on the starter while you have it out
Replace top end parts as/if needed
Retime the rotary valve
Measure the rotary valve disc clearance
Service the carbs

That should put you on the right track.

 

[SabotageR1]

Pull the motor
Reseal the engine
Retime the stator
Replace the brushes on the starter while you have it out
Replace top end parts as/if needed
Retime the rotary valve
Measure the rotary valve disc clearance
Service the carbs

That should put you on the right track.

And this was the point of my whole thread. You buy an old Seadoo that doesn't run, it's best to do everything because you'll be chasing your tail if something goes wrong and you do not know the history of the vehicle.

 

[Grim]

IMO.....It is because of bad maintenance. Most people don't understand you got to do regular maintenance on the older skis to prevent issues from building up. Most people just ride them to death and then don't know why they stop working. Most are simple to fix once you have a good grasp of where the ski is at on maintenance. This forum helps a lot too, many people have gotten their skis back up and going on here...me included.

Let us know what your problem is and we will help as much as we can. She will be back on the water before you know it...

 

[SabotageR1]

IMO.....It is because of bad maintenance. Most people don't understand you got to do regular maintenance on the older skis to prevent issues from building up. Most people just ride them to death and then don't know why they stop working. Most are simple to fix once you have a good grasp of where the ski is at on maintenance. This forum helps a lot too, many people have gotten their skis back up and going on here...me included.

Let us know what your problem is and we will help as much as we can. She will be back on the water before you know it...

What you stated is 100% factual. I bought a GTI that was so neglected that I've finally opt to reframe from bringing it back to life. The previous owner did absolutely no maintenance on this thing. My mechanical experience brought me so far and this forum tried to get me to the finish line but unfortunately the cost would outweigh my cost plans to finish restoring her. As POPPS stated these old ski's should be gone through like he wrote.

When I first got the ski, I got the service manual and went through the whole ski. I changed the plugs, whole fuel system, check valves, filters, rebuilt the pump cleaned the tank, 130 compression left me with a smile. She presented an issue of bugging down after 30 minutes of riding like she had fueling issue. The forum directed me to the rotary valve cover. When I checked it, it was out of spec by a lot. should be .300mm and .350mm gap to be out of spec. mine was at .587. Had the cover serviced to spec and she still did the same thing. Forum directed me that my symptoms can happen if my stator was bad. I checked it and it was out of spec. bought a new one and she still did the same thing. I had water coming out of my cylinder and when I took it apart to change seals and gaskets, come to find out my jugs were extremely warped and cracked, another member stated they had warp jugs and gave them running issues like I had... There's no way I'm rebuilding this engine. The other stuff was fine, since the parts were cheap. The cheapest for top end kit with jugs I could find is $800. Calculating other possible expenses, I see $1200 potential expense. lol, I refuse to potentially spend $4000 for the GTI when they selling all day running for $1500. I bought mine for $850 and thought I'd spend another $1000 to make her reliable but the previous owner just neglected her too much which surpassed my initial expense prediction.

The point was, IDK how my ski ran at all with everything being out of spec and all. And with that, all the things that were out of spec, the symptoms are all like it's a fuel issue. Without this forum, normal mechanical people would never be able to fix these ski's passed the regular stuff.

 

[Grim]

Yeah, it looks like you got a monster of a problem ski, its a shame they aren't taken care of better. 2 strokes make the world better!
This forum helps keep the dreams alive.

 

[SabotageR1]

Yeah, it looks like you got a monster of a problem ski, its a shame they aren't taken care of better. 2 strokes make the world better!
This forum helps keep the dreams alive.

lol, but after reading my title for the thread, I guess stating they're a nightmare to work on is an exaggeration. They're very easy to work on, it's just that most vehicles, if you have compression, spark, fuel, it's going to start. With this vehicle so many little stuff will make it not start and without experience people to guide you, you're stuck not understanding why the dang thing won't start.

I wished POPPS would have chimed into my initial thread to get it started because he listed in one post what took me weeks to gather, trying to figure out what had be done to my ski to get it running right.

 

[burtshaver2021]

Yeah, it looks like you got a monster of a problem ski, its a shame they aren't taken care of better. 2 strokes make the world better!
This forum helps keep the dreams alive.

Couldn’t agree more, prior to joining this forum about 3 years ago I hadn’t done to much mechanically , except a head on an old 1985 Tempo I had when I was 18, and easy stuff like ball joints, tie rod ends, starter, alternators etc. etc. But without this forum and guys like @mikidymac @Grim @etemplet @artr @POPPS i would have zero chance of enjoying these machines. Facebook can help to, but it’s not the same. On there your thread is relevant for 3 hours and then it’s basically history.

 

[DaddyLoafin]

Couldn’t agree more, prior to joining this forum about 3 years ago I hadn’t done to much mechanically , except a head on an old 1985 Tempo I had when I was 18, and easy stuff like ball joints, tie rod ends, starter, alternators etc. etc. But without this forum and guys like @mikidymac @Grim @etemplet @artr @POPPS i would have zero chance of enjoying these machines. Facebook can help to, but it’s not the same. On there your thread is relevant for 3 hours and then it’s basically history.

Same here. if it wasnt for this place, my basket case SPX would have just been junked more than likely

 

[DougtheSlug]

I sure can relate! I've been a powersport mechanic for many years, most of the jobs in recent years have been atv's and sleds. Working on my own Sea-Doo's has really been challenging, and I'm only wrenching on the older 587's usually. The frustrating part is that you can have them working great in the shop but then once under load, in the lake they can run crappy. Dragging them back and forth is what sets you back so much & our season up north here is so short!

 

[Venturian1]

I had a 93 XP, 587, dual carbs fastened onto studs way down low, pulled the engine to get them off and rebuild. the previous owner said it runs good -until you get it on the water, then it craps out at around 4k rpm, and after the carb job, did the same thing. New Ig module didn't help, but what did was when I pulled the flywheel and replaced the 5 wire mag with a 4-wire, and matching flywheel, and put the engine in a newer ski that had a 4-wire system. I also changed the rotary valve cover / intake manifold and carbs to the kind with the long bolts on top. she screams now!

 

[SabotageR1]

the previous owner said it runs good -until you get it on the water, then it craps out at around 4k rpm, and after the carb job, did the same thing.

I've learned my lesson with that, I'll never buy another ski without trying it out on water.