1996 gtx help needed

[Lamrith]

Sorry for cryptic post. It would not take my post then soon as I did that one the forum crashed so I could not edit..

This gets a big long, but without the details it will be tough for any of you to offer help/ideas.....

So I unfortunately do not have this ski here near me. It is my Dad's ski on the other side of the country. That side we have had a number of issues lately with it, some I am sure related, some maybe not.. I am pretty mechanically inclined and have done some of the recommended things on this site but want to run the situation by some of you pro's..

This is a one owner ski, dad bought it new at a show when 1st released. The ski has only to my knowledge had the wear ring in the impeller replaced, nothing else. The last few years it only gets used one week a year when we visit with the grandkids. As such he has become unwilling to put much $ into it. Tough to drop $200-300-400-1000 on a ski that sees 4-6 days a year and is not worth a whole lot...

Trying to convince dad to send me the ski, I got lots of time and ability to work on it, and warm local lakes to use it all the time. Probably see 2-3x the use if it was out here where the kids and I could run it. But I need to see if I can help him remotely for now.. :drool5:

Last year the ski started running rough after a few days and barely made thru the week being usable. I ran compression on it a year ago and got 135 front and 120 PTO. It was hauled out, and parked on trailer and sat. This spring dad put seafoam in the tank and fired it up. It started right up, ran rough for a while then cleared out so back in the water it went. Ran good for a long 2-3hr run for him. Next day went to do another run and it ran poorly.....

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Water leaking from exhaust manifold plugs? You're in MD on vacation, right? I guess you have to JB weld again but it's a temporary repair at best and should have aluminum plugs re-welded onto the casting, I think some aluminum brazing rod can be used, same as aluminum pontoon repair method.

 

[Lamrith]

Thanks for resaponse Sportster, Manifold is small part of problem... Sorry for vague OP..

Gotta make it short, been unable to get to forum (timing out error) since I edited my OP...
Ski ran bad, It had Original 19yr old Tempo lines so I replaced fuel supply lines with new 1/4" and bypassed selector valve. Went tank to filter to engine with hoses. Ran great almost full day then puked. Filter had junk so replaced return lines too and then cleaned selector and put it back in circuit. That is when manifold let go.

 

[Lamrith]

Must be severe limit on words/characters, I keep crashing trying to post...

Dad sealed welch with JB & RTV. Ski ran ok, 7k+rpm @ 45mph in light chop. Any jumps or big hits and it coughs/misses. Also no water from teltale at idle. Ski cavitates if spin it out, full engine rpm but does not dig out of hole..

Thinking Carb filters have crap in them, causing the miss on big hits/jumps as the move around?

Thinking Worn out Impeller wear ring causing cavitation and also not enough water pressure at idle to spit out telltale?

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

My boat will cavitate on tight turns too.

Agree your carbs are junked up again as well, some of it does go thru filters unless filter is large they can't trap small stuff without plugging too quickly thus it's a tradeoff. Even those fram clear filters pass a buncha trash, only the marine spin on oil filter canister types can handle awful dirt/water in the tank without passing it through. Might be easiest to swab the tank out with rags on a stick.

I think impeller doesn't have anything to do with tell tale, more than likely sand clogging manifold/heads or some kind of blockage from bee type bugs. tell-tale allows air to escape from water jacket so no tell tale means you could have air bubble trapped and a hot spot.

Keep going, seems you're making progress. Don't overheat it and check compression if you have a gauge to monitor condition. change the 3/32"ID oil lines if they're rotten and clean out the oil injection nozzles with carb cleaner.

Cool ski.

 

[Lamrith]

Sportster, thanks again for follow up! Yes I was in MD on vacation...

I am not to concerned about air or blockage in the cooling sys as on the hose that telltale streams a good 4ft. Blowing thru the lines with mouth they flow freely as well. I am wondering maybe if the restrictor on the hose hookup line is not restrictive enough? I need to open up the venturi and check the screen for blockage too

Compression a year ago was 135front, 120 rear, ski only has a few hours on it since then, <20 I would probably say.

Yeah it is a really fun ski which is why I am wanting to put some time into it and see if can keep it going.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Sounds good. Humor me though and check to make sure the block drain is clear too. you can back flush that line to help clear it out, and compressed air at same time can dislodge a stubborn clog..

 

[Lamrith]

Sounds good. Humor me though and check to make sure the block drain is clear too. you can back flush that line to help clear it out, and compressed air at same time can dislodge a stubborn clog..

Makes sense. Not sure what you mean by Block drain though? You mean the ports in the head? We flushed thru one, but not all of them.

I am home now, no access to ski, but will guide dad on these things to do..

 

[Lamrith]

Saga continues.. got txt from dad ski stopped starting now, sent me this fuel pict. We put fresh clean fuel in it last weekend. Comp is now 127front, 115pto.


Think it is time for her to get torn down and rebuilt, but he wants to keep trying to get it to run... thoughts?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

 

[Coastiejoe]

The fuel looks DARK to me. And if the compression is correct, you are done until you do at least a Top-End rebuild.

 

[Lamrith]

Yeah fuel is orange which I have never seen before. All new fuel lines last week and fresh fuel that is now not so fresh..

My thoughts on top end too, just hoping get it to run a few min to run from dock to boat ramp to get on trailer.

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[Lamrith]

Brief update. Dad has been tinkering away with it, got to point it would not start yesterday, dead battery, so dad put charger on it for a few hours. Also put fuel line from a clean 5gal gas can thru the filter to carbs. Ski fired right up but ran rough. Dad noticed something from rear of ski and removed the charger, ski died.

Closer look he found corroded wire on Neg terminal. Fixed that and ski instantly fired up and rev to 6k on dock. Looks like the poor running and the miss on jumps was electrical. Now he is emptying the bad fuel out of the tank and cleaning tank. We are baffled how/why the fuel is so bad given all new hoses in the ski.

Could the seafoam be causing the issue? We saw some water in teh fuel before changed the lines out, could the seafaom be reacting to water and that why it is orange?

Sounds like she is still kicking, we just need to figure out what contaminated all the new fuel..?