1997 gsx no start

[kingbrad89]

So my 97 GSX quit on me today. It seemed to be running fine, got about 300 yards out into the lake and it bogged down and stalled out of the blue. It did start back up and it ran for about another 50 yards before quitting again. Once again it started back up and ran for a few seconds before quitting again. I started it again and it stayed running for about 10 minutes but had no low end power at all. I got it to shore and pulled the seat off. I checked the batt terminals and a few connections and everything seemed fine there. I pulled the plugs and they seemed fine. I actaully swapped the plugs with my HX's plugs and it still didnt want to run. I chilled on a sand bar for a while and cooled off and tried starting again. Wont fire at all now. One thing i noticed that i have never seen before in that ski was yellow colored oil sitting in the bottom of the hull. Dont know if that means anything to anyone... anyway i pulled a plug and checked spark at the plug since i didnt have a tester. It seems very faint but i couldnt tell if it was just a bad connection to the head as i was holding it there. I towed it back with my buddies yamaha and my girlfriend and i had to ride double on her HX back from his house... Yeah that was a circuis show. I brought it home and tried starting it on the trailer. It did start but ran very rough and stalled again. Initially i thought bad gas but we filled both my gsx and my hx with the same gas and xps full synthetic that day. Hx ran fine. Im not mechanically stupid but when it comes to these ski motors, i have very minimal experience. This ski has never given me problems this was very sudden. Any ideas guys? I hate to see it parked for the summer. Thanks in advance

 

[Dr Honda]

Well... if this was an all the sudden thing... and it was running in the recent past... I'd start with checking the compression.

Also, do you still have gray Tempo fuel lines?

 

[kingbrad89]

Yeah i do have the gray lines. where are the fuel filters on these, ill try cleaning it out just incase they deteriorated. Isnt there one true filter and then screens in the carbs? And i dont have a compression gauge right now but my buddy does, Last time i checked them was about 20 hrs ago and it was 148 and 150.

 

[Dr Honda]

20 hours ago... it was running. So those number don't count. Also, since I think you were running lean before this issue... you could have cooked the top-end.

There is a filter/water seperator in the system. It's probably over the fuel tank. And yes... each carb has a filter. BUT... if they are plugged up with green goo... then it's the fuel linens that have decayed. All the hoses need changed before you cause engine damage. It's a known issue. The older Tempo fuel lines don't like our new fuel.

(See my thread on "Why Tempo fuel lines SUCK")

 

[kingbrad89]

Gotcha. Thanks. Ill check all the above and ill let ya know.

 

[kingbrad89]

Compression checked out to 148 and 150 today. It did run on the trailer but just feels like it has no guts. Peak RPM is 7100 with water connected, but it takes a while to get there. just feels like its bogging down and isnt snappy. It gets worse as it heats up and idle is rough.