Help: 2001 Seadoo GTX

[TrevorM]

You did the right thing as 99.9% of them need the carbs and fuel system rebuilt. Think of it this way, you spent $150 on parts not needed instead of a $1,000 engine if it did need it.

For the runaway, it is very common on the 951 engine since they are so lean due to EPA regulations. I make it a point not to rev mine out of the water because of this. Even a perfect 951 can runaway in the trailer. If it does it again just pull the choke and it will flood it out. It’s the safest way to kill a runaway.

Thanks for the feedback. I have to admit I've been very caution around my seadoo because the beginning of this summer a girl I went to high school with blew up on a 2001 Polaris Virage. She blew over 30ft in the air and fraction her spine in three places. She's still recovering I'm sure you can find her story by googling "pwc blows up in Lake Ozark Missouri.

So I have to admit when I saw the RPMS I sorta freaked and pulled the lanyard. I will say the seadoo starts at a touch of a button no choke needed. I'm just scared that I did something wrong. Also it does smoke a little (I added some oil to the gas to give is some extra lube and before starting I did fog the spark plug ports/cyclinders because it's been sitting and didn't want to be dry starting the seadoo.

 

[GGuillot]

Update
first off let me start off by saying I'm a little disappointed. I have all fuels lines replaced, brand new fuel selector, brand new spark plugs, and carbs rebuilt.

The reason I'm a little disappointing is because taking off the gray tempo fuel lines I found no "green goo" I also rebuilt both carbs and found zero "green goo" inside. In fact the filters look new! I even tested the pop off of the old needle and seat and they were good. Previous owner said nothing was ever rebuilt. He always had it serviced at a seadoo dealer and that's it.

I feel stupid as my father once said "don't fix something that's not broken." Anyways once everything was put back together it took awhile to start the seadoo. I started getting super worried. Eventually the seadoo fired up. We started it up a few times to ensure everything was running smoothly. We even hooked up a hose and flushed it.

We do have one concern and that is with the RPM. This thing runs like crazy on the trailer with a high RPM! The RPMS continued to climb and hit over 3000 and I pulled the lanyard as I was afraid it was going too high. We also did throttle it and I saw the RPMS hit in the 9000. We didn't mess with any settings on the carbs such as the low and high speed screws. The pop off for both carbs were around ~23psi. I will say after the initial tough time starting up the seadoo fires up at a touch of a button.

Honestly guys I am worried that I have done more harm than good and I wish I could go back and not touch the carbs. I will be taking the seadoo out tomorrow to see how things go on the water so wish me luck!

I can't understand the 'disappointment' 'feeling stupid' and 'doing more harm'? You did preventive maintenance replacing gray lines and going through the carbs, and should feel better now going out on the water doing WOT runs.

No one on here would steer you wrong to do something you didn't need to do. I've only been on here about a year and I've read about many engines getting fried from ignoring what you just did.

Your case is a success, you spent little money and time to prevent big money and lots of time.

 

[TrevorM]

I can't understand the 'disappointment' 'feeling stupid' and 'doing more harm'? You did preventive maintenance replacing gray lines and going through the carbs, and should feel better now going out on the water doing WOT runs.

No one on here would steer you wrong to do something you didn't need to do. I've only been on here about a year and I've seen many engines get fried from ignoring what you just did.

Your case is a success, you spent little money and time to prevent big money and lots of time.

Oh no sir I don't think anyone has steered me wrong everyone has been a great help!

I just feel stupid because I'm not very mechanically inclined and I have like no knowledge on PWCs as I just bought this one like a month or so ago. I just feel stupid and disappointed because I went through all this trouble and I'm scared that I might have messed something up! You know as Murphy's law states : "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong".

I'm keeping positive and the plan is to take the pwc out on the water tomorrow to test drive it! Again the seadoo starts at the touch of a button. Only concern is the RPM and also there seems to be a rattle noise at the rear of the pwc. Not sure if this is normal honestly I never heard this thing run out of the water until now. Before I bought this I test drove it in water.

 

[mikidymac]

Just ride it and stop worrying. The rattle is perfectly normal for a seadoo. They use a splined driveshaft instead of threaded like other brands. So they rattle on the splines. Everything you are describing for your ski is perfectly normal.

 

[GGuillot]

Oh no sir I don't think anyone has steered me wrong everyone has been a great help!

I just feel stupid because I'm not very mechanically inclined and I have like no knowledges on PWCs as I just bought this one like a month or so ago. I just feel stupid and disappointed because I went through all this troubled and I'm scared that I might have messed something up! You know as Murphy's law states : "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong".

I'm keeping positive and plan is to take the pwc out on the water tomorrow to test drive it!

You'll build confidence over time and take on more complex tasks as you age. Don't shy away, it's about learning, gaining knowledge and applying it. When I was younger, I started gradual doing my own work on things, now I rarely pay anybody to do anything when it comes work around the house, cars and now jet skis.

I try to keep my confidence level in check because overconfidence can produce mistakes, but it's normal to be a little nervous, because there's always something to learn and you always cast doubt if you forgot something. But never tell yourself you 'can't' do it... Now go have fun on the water tomorrow!!

 

[TrevorM]

Thanks guys! Also I do have to admit I made two mistakes. So when rebuilding the fuel pump side of the carb I accidentally stuck my pop off gauge onto the pulse nipple and pressurized to 30psi I realized something was wrong after there was no pop after around 25psi. It held the pressure perfectly but I got scared so I actually took apart the carb again and everything seemed unharmed please tell me I'm ok with this mistake. Also when flushing the seadoo I forgot to unscrew the drain plugs. The water was flowing good out of the back and the pee hole so not sure if I messed up anything here. I also tipped up the seadoo to drain any remaining water out (also yes I did start the engine first then water then turn off water then turn off engine. I also fired the engine up after the garden hose was disconnected started fine!

Sorry I worry too much.

 

[mikidymac]

The drain plugs have nothing to do with the engine or running it on the hose. As long as the engine wasn’t off with the hose on your fine.

 

[TrevorM]

The drain plugs have nothing to do with the engine or running it on the hose. As long as the engine wasn’t off with the hose on your fine.

Engine was always on while water was on! Also am I okay about the pulse pressurizing? It was a boneheaded mistake.

 

[mikidymac]

It’s hard to say but as long as everything looks good in the fuel pump it should be ok. The only thing you could have damaged is the clear Mylar fuel pump diaphragm.

 

[TrevorM]

It’s hard to say but as long as everything looks good in the fuel pump it should be ok. The only thing you could have damaged is the clear Mylar fuel pump diaphragm.

I took it back part after I realized my mistake and everything looked unharmed. I started the ski up this morning idle around 3k on trailer. About to head to the lake wish me luck!

 

[jimmyluke]

You did the right thing as 99.9% of them need the carbs and fuel system rebuilt. Think of it this way, you spent $150 on parts not needed instead of a $1,000 engine if it did need it.

For the runaway, it is very common on the 951 engine since they are so lean due to EPA regulations. I make it a point not to rev mine out of the water because of this. Even a perfect 951 can runaway in the trailer. If it does it again just pull the choke and it will flood it out. It’s the safest way to kill a runaway.

Have you ever seen or heard of a 951 DI runaway?

 

[mikidymac]

No, the DI shouldn’t unless it has an air leak as the injectors will cut fuel unlike a carb.

 

[TrevorM]

Just got out of the water! First off I got it in the water and it started. Got half way through the wake zone and it died. Got back to the dock and found out I never switched my fuel over from off I'm such a newb! After I got the fuel switched over to on the seadoo ran like a beast, but I did notice the idle speed in water is around 1200-1300ish. I read this one is suppose to idle at 1500.

 

[mikidymac]

You can turn the idle up but then there’s a better chance of a runaway on the trailer.

If it starts and idles well don’t worry about the number or what the book says.

 

[TrevorM]

You can turn the idle up but then there’s a better chance of a runaway on the trailer.

If it starts and idles well don’t worry about the number or what the book says.

I'm taking the seadoo out today again. Trying to get a good feel for it. Also yesterday the seadoo was under full load as I had three people on it. Ran good for the most part. I think I can hear cavitation and the seadoo dealer did tell me the wear ring is bad so I will be replacing the wear ring this up-coming week.

UPDATE: So just got back from the lake with the seadoo. It starts up good. When giving it throttle it seems like it's trying to go but seems to have a bit of a struggle to get up to speed. I think this may due to the bad wear ring mentioned earlier.

But there is one big concerning problem. Yesterday the seadoo ran fine until my sister drove and she hit a wave and the seadoo shut down. We thought maybe the lanyard got pulled a little so we didn't worry about it. Now we take it out today and I'm driving and the seadoo shuts off on me 3 times. It loses all power like the MPEM. 2 of them times I just disconnected the lanyard and reconnected it and fired up right away. The 3rd time was scary it shut off and I disconnected the lanyard and reconnected and the MPEM wasn't working. I waited in the middle of the lake for a minute and finally got the MPEM to come on and the engine fired up and I went back to the dock and loaded up. Any ideas what's going on?

 

[mikidymac]

Check all electric connections everywhere. This can also be caused when the DESS post is going out.

 

[TrevorM]

Check all electric connections everywhere. This can also be caused when the DESS post is going out.

A little back story the guy I bought this seadoo from mentioned that the gas gauge and speedometer doesn't work. While replacing the gas lines we found the gas gauge sensor was completely unplugged. We plugged it back in and the gas gauge now functions. We have not looked at the speedometer sensor (the paddle wheel is still there and everything). So this electrical issue never happened while test driving the seadoo before buying. So I have a theory that someone unplugged the gas gauge maybe due to a short? Maybe the speedometer isn't plugged in and getting shorted with water?

I plan to test the battery and all electrical connectors. I am going to buy that WD40 Specialist Electric Contact Cleaner and clean every electric component with that stuff. I'll keep you updated thanks sir!

Update
I unplugged and cleaned most of the electrical connections including the main MPEM along with the rear electrical box (disconnected battery of course). I found some weird goo stuff in some connectors and tried clean them out the best I could. I plugged everything back together and everything works as usual. I cleaned dess key and dess post. I also decided to perform my own compression test. Dealer told me the compression was 130/130 and was good. I found a random compression gauge at my father's shop that's been laying around in a tool box for god knows how long. Gauge seemed sorta cheap anyways I got 120-125psi on both cyclinders. Could this gauge be off by 5-10psi? I'm sure the dealer had a better gauge than the random one I used...

I haven't gotten to take the seadoo out yet to fully test to see if I still get random shut offs, but I want to keep this thread updated and alive so I will update shortly.

 

[TrevorM]

So just got done replacing wear ring and cone oil. Where do I start? First off the process was pretty simple and went smoothly! But I was shocked what I found. The old wear ring was not whatsoever the correct wear ring for this pump. The old wear ring was so small it couldn't even reach the bottom or top of the housing to create a seal. The old wear ring was centered in the middle leaving a massive gap between the bottom and top portion of the housing section. The clearance between impeller blades and wear ring was ridiculously massive! I didn't even have to cut the wear ring out I just unscrewed retaining screws and pulled... Also the o-rings in the bailer were non-existing.

Anyways the seadoo now has the CORRECT wear ring with all new neoprene seal, o'rings, and new pump oil (also the oil was pitch black like my ex's soul and smelled like death)! (Also I followed the manual very closely this includes pressure testing cone and correctly using loctite 243 and loctite 518 as specified. I did use a different pump oil. I used Klotz jet pump synthetic oil instead of seadoo brand.

I will be taking the seadoo out hopefully soon to see if cleaning those electrical connections and dess key/post has solved the random shut downs!

Thanks again I will keep you helpful folks updated!

 

[dieselndoo]

Your ex have a sister named Val....i try and stay away from women named Kim, Val and Brandy..
Good luck with ski

 

[TrevorM]

Took the seadoo out yesterday. When we were on the boat ramp before putting the seadoo in the water I tried to start it to double check everything was good. It was surprisingly hard to start. I used the choke and finally got it started. It's been sitting for 1.5-2 weeks because I was working on it.

Anyways after the initial start up it started up perfectly in the water. It ran very good! Wear ring made a big difference! Also cleaning all the connections and dess seemed to have helped as it never died! In fact the speedometer started working a little lol! Also I gps the speed with two of us on it we got it to 55mph (~350 pound load).

The only thing I'd like to do is change the oil filter which seems to be impossible to change as it's between the gas/oil tank and front of engine. I'd also like to adjust carb idle speed a hair. Also someone mentioned turning the carbonseal 180 degrees to help wear the other side?

 

[GGuillot]

Took the seadoo out yesterday. When we were on the boat ramp before putting the seadoo in the water I tried to start it to double check everything was good. It was surprisingly hard to start. I used the choke and finally got it started. It's been sitting for 1.5-2 weeks because I was working on it.

Anyways after the initial start up it started up perfectly in the water. It ran very good! Wear ring made a big difference! Also cleaning all the connections and dess seemed to have helped as it never died! In fact the speedometer started working a little lol! Also I gps the speed with two of us on it we got it to 55mph (~350 pound load).

The only thing I'd like to do is change the oil filter which seems to be impossible to change as it's between the gas/oil tank and front of engine. I'd also like to adjust carb idle speed a hair. Also someone mentioned turning the carbonseal 180 degrees to help wear the other side?

That oil filter should be easy to change, just pinch the line. I use a needle nose vice grip, but if you haven't already may be a good time to change out the old lines. To adjust the idle, reach down for the idle adjustment screw.

 

[TrevorM]

That oil filter should be easy to change, just pinch the line. I use a needle nose vice grip, but if you haven't already may be a good time to change out the old lines. To adjust the idle, reach down for the idle adjustment screw.

I can't seem to figure out how to gain access to the oil filter it's in a tight space. Also to turn the idle speed up do I turn right (clock wise) or left (counter clock wise)?

 

[GGuillot]

I can't seem to figure out how to gain access to the oil filter it's in a tight space. Also to turn the idle speed up do I turn right (clock wise) or left (counter clock wise)?

Just prep a new line with the filter on it and install. Clockwise to increase the idle, counter clockwise to decrease.

 

[CRei]

The pipe is a pain to remove and replace so I avoid removal.

Once you figure out how to maneuver the air box off the carbs come off pretty easy. In fact it’s better to remove the carbs first to access the pipe bolts.

For the oil pump use a small mechanics mirror and the filter will be easier to find with the carbs and air box off.

Here is the link The Seadoo Carb Rebuild Thread

How often do you do a carb rebuild?

 

[TrevorM]

Hey again,

So I just got done winterizing my seadoo (first time ever newb here! I followed manual) I always drain my seadoo aand fog after every outting. The seadoo has been sitting in the garage dormant for a month and it was difficult to start. Once I got it started it ran like normal.

Concern
I do have one major concern. The seadoo was a pain to start and after starting and draining any remaining water out of the system I pulled the spark plugs to check them out and to refog the cyclinders. When I took out both spark plugs white smoke was coming out of the cyclinders... I thought this could be due to the engine being warmed up after starting it. I also thought maybe I fogged it too much last time and it was just burning the fogging oil?