Just got my first Jet Ski!

[89SEAPOO]

Purchased a 1989 Sea Doo SP? I think is the correct model name, not sure. I just found and joined this forum today. Ok so here is the story with my new toy. I purchased it for 200.00 with a nice trailer under it. I purchased it from someone who owned it for about 10 years. He said that two years ago it ran fine, but last summer when he put it in the water it started fine but had no power and would not go far past idle, however when out of the water (with no load on it) it would hit WOT no problem. This past summer it never got used at all. And this is where I come in. The only thing I have seen it do so far is turn over (and very slowly at that). Without the spark plugs in it turns over like mad, but with the plugs in it just barely turns over with pauses between cylinder compression strokes. I have been doing some research since last night on these. (Only purchased it yesterday afternoon!!) From what I found to the original described problem I'm going to look at my reserve/fuel selector valve, my fuel lines, and my fuel filter as lack of fuel is my suspect. Correct me if I'm wrong on this diagnosis based on what I am told. Now the real problem, why does it turn over so slow. My battery is fine, I had a known good lawn mower battery with jumper cables connected to a known good car battery, and my connections were good. Also I am not sure if any damage was done and do not know if this ski was stored indoors over our wisconsin winter for the last two years, could this have damaged it? When I cranked it over the first time it turned over a little faster and alot of water shot out of the back of the ski. This is all I know other than there is alot of hoses that do not go to anything inside and I need to purchase a manual for this machine. I really want to do whatever it takes to make this machine nice again. Any help appreciated. Thanks alot.

-Jeremy

 

[89SEAPOO]

One more question, how fast should one of these be able to go when running properly?

 

[Nate Surveyor]

Turns over slow, with plugs in it.

Could be related to a lack of lubrication, in the cylinders. Stuck and gummy rings. Dump a tablespoon of gas, and a teaspoon of regular motor oil into each piston, and crank it over. Then replace the plugs and try it. '89 huh? I have a 1998 gs. Mine has the 717 cc 85 hp engine. Don't know what yours has.

Welcome to the world of PWC!

Nate

 

[89SEAPOO]

Thanks for the Welcome! I am so excited about finally owning one of these! I think mine has a 580 but I am not sure. The engine is all yellow if that helps. I will try that, I was thinking of dumping some transmission fluid in there to clean and lubricate it or maybe some parvel mystery oil. I think I will try that tomorrow night if I get the time. Since this is a 2 cycle engine there is no oil to change in the crank case from what I understand? Is there any other things that contain oil or other fluids that should be changed. Im thinking this unit did not see alot of regular maintenance.

 

[89SEAPOO]

Actually I think its 587 or something. Not sure how many HP.

 

[Nate Surveyor]

I'm gonna give you some free advice:

Pre mix that puppy!

Leave the regular oil pump hooked up, at the same time. The extra oil won't hurt it. (May foul spark plugs though)

As old as that ski is, you could have a glunked up oil feed line, on the oil injection system.

You are right, it does not have crankcase oil, like a car. The crankcase is lubed from the oil injection system, and it has a motor like a chain saw.

I like the idea of the transmission fluid.

Get the rings all freed up, and well lubed. (you do have lots of mosquitos this time of yr, don't ya?)

After getting her running good, with the pre mix, you could manually turn the oil injection system, while on the trailer, but in the water, with the seat off. This would 'test' the injector, if she started smoking real good. That is, you manually turn the injector to "full throttle position" while sitting on the trailer, and tied up, so she won't take off. Make sure you are deep enough to NOT suck anything up.

But, I say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

No harm in keeping some oil in the gas for a good while.

Don't fergit to clean out, and repack the wheel bearings on the trailer with grease.

N

 

[89SEAPOO]

I just realized that there is a troubleshooting section and will move this to there.

 

[seadoosnipe]

Thread......

Rather than start a new thread, I moved your thread to the trouble shooting section. You can edit your first post to include your attachment of the ski. You need to select the "advanced" tab on edit.

I think you and Nate are doing well and I dont' see much I can say here except his idea of the motor oil is better than transmission fluid. Tranny fluid is hydraulic oil and doesn't carry the same lubrication properties as motor oil. Hydraulic oil is meant to be compressed to create work, normally in a cylinder, such as your rack and pinion steering or the lift cylinders of a dump truck.

Your slow starter is the sound of one that is on its way out. If it spins over really good without the plugs, then slow with them, that means the starter motor can no longer build up torque...........that is the sound of a starter on it's last few hours of being able to work..........:cheers:

 

[89SEAPOO]

Thanks for moving my thread I will try to get that Pic reattached.

 

[89SEAPOO]

The only reason I was thinking tranny fluid was because of its cleaning capabilitied and ability to free up a siezed engine. I once unseized a v8 in a truck with tranny fluid. What do you think about marvel mystery oil. That was my second choice. Ive seen it work wonders before.

 

[dphife]

Hey i just got a 1990 bombadier gt it looks almost like yours except the air scoop in the front looks different and mines a 3 seater. The yellow engine is a 587 Rotax I have been reading and reading about this thing since I got it. I am having the same trouble as you are and im thinking its the starter on mine. I even paid the same price for it. Im going to go home today and try Nates advice and see if it really is the starter. I will let you know what happens. Also download the shop manual from sea doo. I did and it helped me understand how the engine works alot better. These engines are not of the norm at all. Those hoses running everywhere (black ones) are probably part of your cooling system. On mine, all the oil hoses are clear.

Dave

 

[89SEAPOO]

Hey i just got a 1990 bombadier gt it looks almost like yours except the air scoop in the front looks different and mines a 3 seater. The yellow engine is a 587 Rotax I have been reading and reading about this thing since I got it. I am having the same trouble as you are and im thinking its the starter on mine. I even paid the same price for it. Im going to go home today and try Nates advice and see if it really is the starter. I will let you know what happens. Also download the shop manual from sea doo. I did and it helped me understand how the engine works alot better. These engines are not of the norm at all. Those hoses running everywhere (black ones) are probably part of your cooling system. On mine, all the oil hoses are clear.

Dave

Yeah, I'm a little worried about all the disconnected hoses that are everywhere in the engine compartment.... I purchased a downloadable .pdf manual off of ebay for 5 bucks. Hope I didn't just pay for something I could have gotten for free. Is there any difference performance wise between the SP and the GT? If that is what mine is even? Does anyone know what models were offered in 89? Is the SP the most basic?

Are you planning to just get a new starter or is there a rebuild kit we can purchase from somewhere? If I get a chance I will pull mine out tonight or tomorrow night and take a look at it.

 

[dphife]

Well I downloaded the shop manual for free off of seadoos website. I got off work early today and tried the tricks and im down to definitly the starter. The cheapest one i have priced out is a refurbished one for around 150. I think the difference between yours and mine is the carbs. I have a dual carb on mine. I dont know what you have but i think its a single carb, right? I really dont want to drop too much money into it and I am not experienced enough to rebuild the starter myself. So im trying to figure out what the next step is from here. One of my friends says he has a friend that works on jet ski's as a hobby and has lots of parts lying around so maybe i wil get lucky. Oh by the way. Taking that starter off is not going to be fun. Its really tight down there. (At least on mine.) When you get the shop manual you will be able to figure out where everything goes.

Dave

 

[89SEAPOO]

Yeah, I only have one carb