1st time PWC owner - What to do before I take them out? (lots of questions)

[djcalied]

Bought 2 PWC for cheap, not running as they had been sitting for 12 years. I have since rebuilt the carbs, ran new fuel lines, changed spark plugs, re-covered seats, and cleaned em. That's it. They both run pretty damn good, wish I had seen the carb rebuild sticky here before hand but things turned out well.

One is a 94' Seedoo XP, and the other is a 94 Kawasaki SS 750.

• What else should I check/replace before the maiden voyage?
• Is there engine/gear oil to change?
• Should I change the jet pump oil on em before testing in the lake for a bit?
• What should I check to ensure I won't be taking on water?
• How does the bilge system work on these?
• The seedoo has riveted footpads that are coming up, will those loose rivets cause me to take on too much water to test em this weekend?
• The trailer has stationary mount points for the PWC. The kawasaki is properly mounted with a rubber L bracket thing that a pin slides through into the front anchor hole. The seedoo however has a mounting point not directly on the front nose, but rather a loop underneath the bow. How do I properly mount this to the stationary pole on the trailer? is there some sort of other rubber bracket for it that I don't know about?

Any other advice or tips would be appreciated too! Thanks yall!

 

[JeremyD615]

1. Check to make sure you’ve got thecorrect oil in the tanks. The Sea Doo requires an API-TC oil. Blue or green oil is wrong for that ski. I believe the Kawi is okay to use with the standard TCW3.

2. No, there is no engine or gear oil to change in a two stroke. They get lubricated by the oil in the fuel.

3. Yes, check and change the pump oil before you take them out. After that, they need to be changed before each season.

4. Make sure the plugs are in, and then fire the skis up on the trailer before you push them off. Pull the seat off and make sure there is no water leaking in the hull anywhere.

5. You’re fine with the rivets. I would use some silicone to fill those holes before you replace the mats, but you’ll be fine to ride them like that.

6. The bilge system is vacuum operated. When the engine is running and the ski moving, it uses a pressure differential to suck water out of the bottom of the hull. Just make sure the lines are not plugged up with debris before you take them out.

7. I’m not sure what you mean on the trailer. Mine just hooks to the bow eye and you pull it up to a roller.

 

[djcalied]

Thank you for taking the time to help me out!

I don't really see a spot for a bilge plug just an exhaust hole, guess I'll have to check around the bottom of the hull.

Where/What does the bilge system look like? How would I flush/check that?

Any guides youd recommend for changing the jet pump oil? I've just ordered some klotz jet pump oil.

What I mean is, there is no roller or hand winch. Just the carpeted rails leading up to a pole that uses a manual locking pin type system. I'll try to get a picture of it today, I've never seen it before I bought these actually.

 

[Ckrawiec]

#7: The Kawasaki has a hole in the front of the ski that a pin goes down through and into a retaining bracket on the trailer...sounds like BOTH sides of the trailer have that and that WON'T work for the Seadoo since the bow hook is under the nose.....you may need to do a little trailer re-work to get the Seadoo to attach properly (or get creative).
Also sounds like the trailer really needs to be deep in the water for the skis to hit the front attachment points (as configured), since you indicate that there is no winching systems in place on the trailer (my original Kawasaki ski trailer was like that and had a long extended tongue to get into the water deep enough without sinking the tow vehicle)....

That would not work for me now as the river level is so HIGH that we have to launch and retrieve skis by unhooking from the tow vehicle and pushing the trailer all the way into the water down the ramp.....the tow vehicle would be partially submerged if we tried to back down that far...retrieving the skis is also by hand (loading and pushing the trailer/skis back up the ramp to the tow vehicle - takes 2 people to retrieve safely (not fun).

#6: The bilge system is those 2 little black plastic boxes in the rear deepest part of the hull, unclip those black boxes and clean them out (they accumulate oily residue and "stuff"), clean the plastic tubes too as they gunk up internally from sucking up oily water over time - vacuum suction from the jet pump/impeller spinning).

"they both run pretty damn good"...ON THE TRAILER? They usually do...the real test is the ON WATER test with the engine loaded (water resistance)....the skis will taunt you on the trailer (I KNOW THIS all too well )

 

[djcalied]

It does have a fairly long tongue with a large storage bin towards the front of the trailer, I'll definitely be looking into adding some hand winches and rollers in the future but for now I just want to get these things on the water after putting in 8 or so hours working on everything lol. I'll have a few people to help and it's a proper boat launch at San Vicente reservoir here in CA so it should be alright (hopefully), I'll probably just have to push em off once they are halfway in the water or something. Likely going to be a pita but oh well for now.
Know of a good site to order some rollers+winches?

I'll be checking out the bilge system this week for sure, my biggest fear is sinking them before I can even enjoy em. I do know there's a socket and a Allen somewhere in the engine compartment that I can't see/get too, is that going to be an issue?

Hey I mean, I ran em for awhile with a hose hooked up that counts for something right?! Haha. Speaking of that I'm missing a plug for the garden hose hookup on the seedoo.. im assuming I'll need to get a plug for that... Doh.

 

[djcalied]

 

[djcalied]

Do you guys have a preference for hydroturf vs blacktip for traction mats?

Also there's a few small chips in the white paint in some spots showing bare fibreglass. What should I use to touch that up?

Sorry the questions keep rolling in, I'm new to this

 

[mikidymac]

Hydroturf is way better than blacktip. PWC Muscle offers a forum discount on Hydroturf.

 

[JeremyD615]

Hey I mean, I ran em for awhile with a hose hooked up that counts for something right?! Haha. Speaking of that I'm missing a plug for the garden hose hookup on the seedoo.. im assuming I'll need to get a plug for that... Doh.

This gets people confused all the time! Running on the trailer will tell you absolutely NOTHING about how well the skis will run in the water... The only thing that running on the trailer is good for is telling whether it will fire up or not. Anything diagnostics further than that need to be done with the ski in the water.

 

[JeremyD615]

Oh, and the plug is located on the side of the cavity where the jet pump is. It should be on the left side of it...

 

[djcalied]

This gets people confused all the time! Running on the trailer will tell you absolutely NOTHING about how well the skis will run in the water... The only thing that running on the trailer is good for is telling whether it will fire up or not. Anything diagnostics further than that need to be done with the ski in the water.

Oh man that has me nervous now, I thought I was in the clear once the carbs went back on and they ran well no bogging or stalling. Makes sense though much more stuff going on once in the water. Suppose I better stay near the boat launch with the trailer close by.

Dumb question but, are these things going to move while idling? Or can I fire em up while standing next to em to tinker under the seat

 

[JeremyD615]

The definitely move at idle. If the idle speed is set correctly, it should want to move at 2-3mph while at idle. If you’re going to tinker under the seat, it’s best to have it on the trailer... Of course you can make quick adjustments with it tied to the dock well, but it’s a whole lot easier to pull the ski on the trailer!

 

[JeremyD615]

While the ski is out of the water, you will peg the rev limiter before the carb can even transition into the main fuel circuit, so you have no idea how it’s going to act once it starts wanting to pull fuel from the additional circuits. Remember, everything is additive in the carb. You’ve got your pilot jet, your main jet, and the bypass circuit, and they all come on at different throttle positions in a sort of cascade effect. With no load on the engine, you’ll never see full throttle before it’s bouncing off of the limiter, so it may act completely different once it’s in the water...

If you’ve got the carb clean and set to factory specs, it should be good to go with very little tinkering though...

 

[djcalied]

While the ski is out of the water, you will peg the rev limiter before the carb can even transition into the main fuel circuit, so you have no idea how it’s going to act once it starts wanting to pull fuel from the additional circuits. Remember, everything is additive in the carb. You’ve got your pilot jet, your main jet, and the bypass circuit, and they all come on at different throttle positions in a sort of cascade effect. With no load on the engine, you’ll never see full throttle before it’s bouncing off of the limiter, so it may act completely different once it’s in the water...

If you’ve got the carb clean and set to factory specs, it should be good to go with very little tinkering though...

Ahh I see. I cleaned and rebuilt both carbs with a kit that had all the gaskets etc. Didn't adjust any needles or jets, except the idle screw had to come off but I counted the threads so it should be in the same spot. Guess I really should just plop em in the lake with my fingers crossed and go from there

 

[JeremyD615]

Hmm. We’re they actual Mikuni kits, or were they aftermarket? You also really need to pull the adjustment screws out to get the ports clean...

 

[djcalied]

Hmm. We’re they actual Mikuni kits, or were they aftermarket? You also really need to pull the adjustment screws out to get the ports clean...

Pretty sure they were OEM, I got them off OSDmarine. Seemed to be an exact fit for everything. Carb cleaner was flowing through the ports and the carbs really weren't that gunked up. Main problem was the dried out and cracked diaphragms causing no fuel to get pumped, probably didn't need to touch anything else except those but I swapped everything anyways.

 

[Ckrawiec]

Do you guys have a preference for hydroturf vs blacktip for traction mats?

Also there's a few small chips in the white paint in some spots showing bare fibreglass. What should I use to touch that up?

Sorry the questions keep rolling in, I'm new to this

It is far dumber to NOT ask the question...no matter how ridiculous you THINK it may be....there is no shame in asking for an answer to something you don't know TO AVOID a potentially costly mistake....don't ever be afraid to ask.

You can buy a gelcoat repair kit to do minor touchups....that's an end of season thing though...get out there and ride.

BTW: I think you mentioned earlier about plugging the hose port...DON'T DO THAT [ I assumed you have a rear connection to the ski through the rear of the hull, like my '96 gtx has....otherwise I'm not 100%sure on the hose connection...is it inside the ski? in the water line). The hose port is really an OUTLET port for the ski...when you run on the hose connected to that port, you are running the cooling system backwards (flushing it out, which you would do after every salt water adventure (if so))...the hose port needs to left OPEN so warm water that passed through the exhaust can exit the ski when running on the lake/reservoir/ anywhere else [if it is the rear through hull port].

 

[JeremyD615]

Okay, if you got them from OSD you’re fine. You just don’t want anything but OEM touching the carbs...

 

[djcalied]

It is far dumber to NOT ask the question...no matter how ridiculous you THINK it may be....there is no shame in asking for an answer to something you don't know TO AVOID a potentially costly mistake....don't ever be afraid to ask.

You can buy a gelcoat repair kit to do minor touchups....that's an end of season thing though...get out there and ride.

BTW: I think you mentioned earlier about plugging the hose port...DON'T DO THAT [ I assumed you have a rear connection to the ski through the rear of the hull, like my '96 gtx has....otherwise I'm not 100%sure on the hose connection...is it inside the ski? in the water line). The hose port is really an OUTLET port for the ski...when you run on the hose connected to that port, you are running the cooling system backwards (flushing it out, which you would do after every salt water adventure (if so))...the hose port needs to left OPEN so warm water that passed through the exhaust can exit the ski when running on the lake/reservoir/ anywhere else [if it is the rear through hull port].

I'm sure I'll have many more questions in the future lol.

The hose port is inside the ski, coming off of the head. It's just some flex PVC hose with a garden hose fitting

 

[djcalied]

Hydroturf is way better than blacktip. PWC Muscle offers a forum discount on Hydroturf.

How do I go about getting this discount? I love me some discounts lol

 

[Ckrawiec]

I'm sure I'll have many more questions in the future lol.

The hose port is inside the ski, coming off of the head. It's just some flex PVC hose with a garden hose fitting

OK, got it...that's a flush port and should be capped otherwise when not used with a hose.

 

[AKnarrowback]

I have not read all the posts but had a bit of humor.

My advice. Shove the Kawi off the trailer, without the drain plug, and put all your time into the XP. Where you shove it off at is up to you, going down the highway, at the lake, a river would be best since the evidence will be swept away.


In all seriousness. Welcome to the forum, there is a lot of knowledge here and people eager to help. I'm just biased against Kawi since because our local dealer has caused a lot of trouble in our town and many of us have sworn to never touch one.

As for the 94 XP? That's what I ride and I had to do a ground up rebuild on it when I got it. Shoot me a PM anytime and I'll share what I know.

 

[mikidymac]

How do I go about getting this discount? I love me some discounts lol

@hfgreg

 

[hfgreg]

How do I go about getting this discount? I love me some discounts lol

Purchase from www.pwcmuscle.com and use promo coe HYDRO15 at checkout!

 

[djcalied]

I have not read all the posts but had a bit of humor.

My advice. Shove the Kawi off the trailer, without the drain plug, and put all your time into the XP. Where you shove it off at is up to you, going down the highway, at the lake, a river would be best since the evidence will be swept away.


In all seriousness. Welcome to the forum, there is a lot of knowledge here and people eager to help. I'm just biased against Kawi since because our local dealer has caused a lot of trouble in our town and many of us have sworn to never touch one.

As for the 94 XP? That's what I ride and I had to do a ground up rebuild on it when I got it. Shoot me a PM anytime and I'll share what I know.

Hey now! the kawi hasnt done me wrong yet, and it only had 1 carb for me to rebuild vs 2 on the doo lol

Bad news is, I didnt check the oil tank on the 94 xp until today (was planning on draining and replacing with TC-api) and the PO put 4 stroke engine oil in the damn tank. Luckily I havent run it much less than 20 mins total on the trailer. Hopefully iy didnt mess anything up too bad the plugs arent fouled. Now i Have to drain and replace the oil line though... arg. i'll never get out on the damn water