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1997 GTX getting started

J

JerryLook

New Member
Hi all
I recently acquired a pair of 1997 GTX. I was told they don’t run because of fuel problems. The registrations show they were last on the water in 2021.
I’m not sure if the previous owner stored them for 4 years and then they wouldn’t run, or if they were parked because they wouldn’t run.

From what I’ve read online, the fuel hoses break down on these and let a bunk of gunk into the fuel system. The fix seems to be to replace the lines and clean the fuel filters on the carbs. I checked mine and they do have the gray fuel lines.

I have no money into these jet skis. If I wanted to just see if they’re worth putting some time into, is the best option to pour a little fuel mix into each carb and see if it will run? Then if they run I can take the time to replace fuel lines, fuel filters, and any other maintenance that might need to be done

Thanks in advance
 
Sounds like a good course of action to me, that’s what I always do. Just don’t keep doing, if it fires off for a second or two you know the electronics are good, take a compression test and if it’s good, then it’s just fuel related. Make sure to use mixed fuel, not straight gas and not starting fluid
 
I have an obvious positive and ground that go to the battery. Where does this third wire go? Is it a ground also? It’s coming from what looks like the ignition module

IMG_8966.jpeg
 
Great. Thanks.

I got the air box taken off one of the jetskis today. It’s a tight space to work in to get to the carbs. I’m ready to try and fire that one up now.
 
I finally got a chance to work on it some more. The motor cranks over great, but it does fire up. I poured a little gas mix in each carb.

So what should be my next step? Check for spark I assume
 
Does or does not fire up? If it does not fire up I would check for spark, then compression. If it runs with fuel in the carbs then you will probably be rebuilding carbs
 
It’s turns over but no spark. I verified with known good spark plugs.

What do we think about the crack on this and goo leaking out? Is this the coil pack, and would this cause my no spark issue?

IMG_9023.jpeg
 
What do you guys think of the generic Seadoo parts? For instance they sell coils they claim will fit my GTX on eBay for 20 bucks.
 
Last edited:
Look, you have 28 year old jetskis. They do not appreciate in value. I have a 2004 GTX and buy parts from SBT, ebay, amazon, china and so on. Most parts are made in china. Even the super popular Solas impeller and Solas wear rings are made in Taiwan.
 
If the Amazon and eBay parts are working for you that’s good but I will say I see all the time in here people buying 1 or even 2 new solenoids from those places and both being bad. If they will take a return, maybe worth a try but a lot of times they just don’t work. A prop in the other hand,
 
You need to see if they are resistor boots or not as you don't want resistor plugs and resistor boots. Factory seadoo boots are non-resistor so they spec resistor plugs.
 
Ok. Hopefully the boots that come with the new coil have a part number on them so I can see if they’re resistor boots or not. Otherwise what should the resistance of resistor boots be, and I can just measure them with my multimeter
 
I got the coil from a company that sells powersports equipment and parts. They listed it as fitting my model SeaDoo as well as some other models and years. I would hope they gave me the correct parts for my machine
 
JerryLook said:
Hi all
I recently acquired a pair of 1997 GTX. I was told they don’t run because of fuel problems. The registrations show they were last on the water in 2021.
I’m not sure if the previous owner stored them for 4 years and then they wouldn’t run, or if they were parked because they wouldn’t run.

From what I’ve read online, the fuel hoses break down on these and let a bunk of gunk into the fuel system. The fix seems to be to replace the lines and clean the fuel filters on the carbs. I checked mine and they do have the gray fuel lines.

I have no money into these jet skis. If I wanted to just see if they’re worth putting some time into, is the best option to pour a little fuel mix into each carb and see if it will run? Then if they run I can take the time to replace fuel lines, fuel filters, and any other maintenance that might need to be done

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Watch the youtube guy to rebuild your carbs and order some fuel line. I did that and mine still runs better today than my newer ski.
 
Let us know how the 20.00 coil from EBay works out, if it works initially and then long term if it fails in a year it would be great if you could let us know. Although EBay and Amazon parts are known to be of very poor quality if something from a certain brand works its good for everyone to know.
 
Hey it was a 40 dollar coil :)

The deal is this. I got this pair of jetskis for free from a family member of a friend. He claims they both have the same problem, it’s a fuel problem, and involves some unobtainium part. But yet he doesn’t know what the actual problem is. So I figure he did some googling and assumed it was random part. He did no troubleshooting that I know of.

So this is where I’m at. I don’t want to put a lot of money into either of these until I’m pretty sure they’re fixable without great expense. I know they aren’t worth that much money, even in running condition.

If I can get this first one to fire up briefly with the new coil, then I’ll replace the fuel lines and go from there.
 
Not coming down on you for the cheap eBay part, genuinely would like to know if it works ok as that is another resource. If you’re looking to see what they need before sinking any money into them then the first step would be to take a compression reading from each machine if you haven’t already? If you verify good compression, then you can check for spark on the one that doesn’t need a coil, or you can put a couple spoons of mixed fuel in each cylinder and if it fires your golden and just have a fuel problem. There’s no unobtainium parts for fuel system that I’m aware of. All fixable
 
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