WilloCO's 03 GTX Project thread

[WilloCO]

I just picked up a 2009 GTX 4-tec for the cost of the trailer it was sitting on. The POs bought it in 2021 and then it 'blew a ring' and was smoking the first day on the water. He started disconnecting things to pull the block but never came back to it. Gelcoat is chalked and the seats/bar pad are all sun damaged, but that's easy enough.
I had a nice conversation with the POs, after a bit of discussion I could tell that they really had no idea what they were talking about.

2 hour tow home went well, no trailer failures - which was a concern on a trailer that had been sitting for so long.

So I charged the battery and pulled the coils and plugs - And found oil on #1 spark plug (not the threads, on the anode)
So today I reconnected the battery and did a cold compression test. I also managed to get to the hour count on the ski: 186 hours.

#3	#2	#1
170psi	170psi	140psi

So right now I'm thinking it's a few possible options: Oil was overfilled, valve stem seal failed, oil ejection via pcv...

I'm leaning towards just putting it back together enough to run it and see if I can recreate the problem. All he really did was disconnect the exhaust, intake and coolant expansion tank. (I'm pretty sure they drained the coolant as well)

 

[ski-d00]

I never believe or trust what sellers say and almost always they are wrong. I've bought skis that people tore completely apart that ended up being a bad spark plug because they told me 4 strokes don't foul plugs. Don't overthink it or over diagnose it. Put it back together and get it running and go from there.

 

[WilloCO]

So I found a nice video explaining the oil system of the 4-tec. Given the decent compression test, low (half full) oil level and the oil I found on a plug after not running for quite a while... I'm suspecting that the oil burning was due to the oil separator failing somehow. This makes me feel pretty good about the plan to re-assemble and run/test this thing.

 

[WilloCO]

Oh, I also need to look into the year situation a bit. The hull has a 2009 sticker in it, but I should probably look more. The Oil separator looks to be the 2005 version. So maybe that one sticker is lying (the PO thought it was a 2007) or the engine was swapped at some point.

 

[ski-d00]

post a pic or describe it very well with colors and I'll tell you the year and model

The oil pressure regulators can fail after a lot of hours but even that is rare. Don't over diagnose. In general, the oil system on the 4tecs are outstanding with very few problems. Get it running first.

 

[WilloCO]

It's a 2003. I found the old registration and snagged a photo of the hin tag on the backity back.
I'm guessing that the sticker that says 2009 on it is actually from some old dealer inventory or work order sticker.

But here ya go. https://imgur.com/gallery/another-project-oh-noes-K9L2k3Y

 

[ski-d00]

The 2009 is probably Sep 20. Yep, that's a 2003 gtx, second year of the 4tec.