1997 GTI second life....

[cocacola]

I bought a nice 1997 GTI that needed a little care and for the most part, it's been a lot of fun now that it's reliable.

this past weekend...
I changed out all upper end gaskets and seals while honing my cylinders (a first for me), decarbon pistons and changing out rings.
Cylinders and pistons looked pretty good with very mild scuffing in same spot on both pistons.

Old compression: 145 & 120
New compression: 145 & 143

Not been on water yet, but it seems to have a different pitch, crisper throttle response and idled much stronger on start up.

I did notice a lot of oil in crankcase on crankshaft weights....maybe some oil was accumulating in crankcase.
Most likely the oil injection system leaks a little as I see oil in bilge after awhile.
Not long ago, I bought one of those oil injection eliminator plates and thinking of going to premix

Comments?

One more...I hear the sending unit in tank is a common failure (I have a new gauge).
Previous owner fixed it once, so it looks like I am going to get the chance myself.

Comments or tips?

 

[mikidymac]

If you have oil leaking into the crankcase it is from worn inner crank seals not the oil injection. To replace the inner seals you have to get a reman crankshaft.

There is no good reason to remove the oil injection on these.

 

[Lee.Harrison]

since you honed and swapped in new rings, you should probably take it easy and add a little premix to the gas to let those new rings set and break in.

 

[Ckrawiec]

I bought a nice 1997 GTI that needed a little care and for the most part, it's been a lot of fun now that it's reliable.

this past weekend...
I changed out all upper end gaskets and seals while honing my cylinders (a first for me), decarbon pistons and changing out rings.
Cylinders and pistons looked pretty good with very mild scuffing in same spot on both pistons.

Old compression: 145 & 120
New compression: 145 & 143

Not been on water yet, but it seems to have a different pitch, crisper throttle response and idled much stronger on start up.

I did notice a lot of oil in crankcase on crankshaft weights....maybe some oil was accumulating in crankcase.
Most likely the oil injection system leaks a little as I see oil in bilge after awhile.
Not long ago, I bought one of those oil injection eliminator plates and thinking of going to premix

Comments?

One more...I hear the sending unit in tank is a common failure (I have a new gauge).
Previous owner fixed it once, so it looks like I am going to get the chance myself.

Comments or tips?

I might be a little confused (OKAY a lot), but the crankshaft does sit in an oil bath in the bottom of the engine so I would expect to see oil on the counterweights (or am I interpretting what you said incorrectly perhaps????).

If you are finding oil in the bilge (bottom of the ski) then there are a couple of leak points: 1) the hose connections (oil bath) to the bottom of the engine (virtually impossible to see or work on without removing the engine)...the clamps may cut into the lines over time/vibrations, etc....2) the oil tank bottom grommet is not as tight as it should be and oil can slowly leak out of the tank, down the hose and drip into the ski (this was the case on my '96 - a new tank grommet fixed that) - assuming no other oil leaks are self evident.

The fuel sender unit is a common failure component (especially in a 23 year old ski), they are repairable (sometimes) or easily replaceable (maybe not so easily but certainly doable) - rebuilt units are available or brand new ones too....but take notice that NEW units MAY have different top nipple sizes (1/4" and 5/16" sizes) which is mildly irritating but can be worked around with a little internal reaming of 1/4" fuel lines to fit.

AS MIKI has stated-> there is no good reason to go pre-mix, the oil injection systems are reliable and pre-mix just burns more oil than necessary ultimately.

 

[mikidymac]

No, you should not have excess oil sitting on the counterweights or in the cylinders.

The "oil bath" is a seperate compartment in the middle of the crank and crankcase. This is only to feed the 90 degree drive for the rotary valve shaft. This cavity is sealed off from the cylinders and main crankcase by inner crank seals. When the seals get worn they will leak oil from this sealed chamber into the cylinders and then combustion chambers causing the oil flooding when sitting.

 

[Ckrawiec]

No, you should not have excess oil sitting on the counterweights or in the cylinders.

The "oil bath" is a separate compartment in the middle of the crank and crankcase. This is only to feed the 90 degree drive for the rotary valve shaft. This cavity is sealed off from the cylinders and main crankcase by inner crank seals. When the seals get worn they will leak oil from this sealed chamber into the cylinders and then combustion chambers causing the oil flooding when sitting.

Always a wealth of knowledge....thank you for that....I have the picture in my head now.....I've not disassembled a seadoo case

 

[cocacola]

I might be a little confused (OKAY a lot), but the crankshaft does sit in an oil bath in the bottom of the engine so I would expect to see oil on the counterweights (or am I interpretting what you said incorrectly perhaps????).

If you are finding oil in the bilge (bottom of the ski) then there are a couple of leak points: 1) the hose connections (oil bath) to the bottom of the engine (virtually impossible to see or work on without removing the engine)...the clamps may cut into the lines over time/vibrations, etc....2) the oil tank bottom grommet is not as tight as it should be and oil can slowly leak out of the tank, down the hose and drip into the ski (this was the case on my '96 - a new tank grommet fixed that) - assuming no other oil leaks are self evident.

The fuel sender unit is a common failure component (especially in a 23 year old ski), they are repairable (sometimes) or easily replaceable (maybe not so easily but certainly doable) - rebuilt units are available or brand new ones too....but take notice that NEW units MAY have different top nipple sizes (1/4" and 5/16" sizes) which is mildly irritating but can be worked around with a little internal reaming of 1/4" fuel lines to fit.

AS MIKI has stated-> there is no good reason to go pre-mix, the oil injection systems are reliable and pre-mix just burns more oil than necessary ultimately.

fixed the sending unit....F1 fuse plus float had fuel in it and chrome plating coming off of magnets.

for some reason....no longer oil in the bilge. going to look at hose connections,

there was some oil on counterweights.

 

[cocacola]

since you honed and swapped in new rings, you should probably take it easy and add a little premix to the gas to let those new rings set and break in.

great idea....I sure will

 

[cocacola]

New question....
I put an accessory electrical outlet in the glove box....a marine version of course

Just want the ability to keep cell phone charged.

Other than direct to battery, is there another place to tie into electrical system?

I had thought of adding a blue tooth speaker system with receiver that goes in the dash hole not being used.

 

[mikidymac]

No, these already have a very minimal electrical system. It is not an alternator like a car. The flying magnet coil on these barely puts out enough power to keep the battery topped off and typically will not bring back a low battery.