2000 GTS Jet Ski 717 slow to takeoff or "catch" water

[dmixed]

Hi all, new here and new to "owning" so feel free to correct anything I may have done wrong with this post.
2000 GTS Jet Ski with the 717 engine in fairly good shape recently purchased.
Only has one gauge (gas) that doesn't work so don't know RPMs or Hours, etc.
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Starts fine (bit loud I think), WOT (wide open throttle) revs high and slow to take off. After about 5~10 seconds of slowly accelerating it seems to "catch" the water, RPMs drop and it goes like a rocket. Saying "catch" here for lack of better term.
I let the engine warm up before attempting WOT too.
Almost feels like it is shifting gears, but my understanding this model doesn't do that so I'm confused if this is just normal behavior for this model?
Reading through Op Guide and Shop Manual not finding any clues.

In my opinion it feels like the water intake gets fully primed and the RPMs drop while it digs in and takes off as I think it should.
Happens every single time no exceptions and I've put about 6hrs on it myself so far.
I would think if this is water primed issue, it would be much quicker like 1 second at most.
Now if I stop to idle wake have to go back through initial spin-up, but if I jump a swell I can hear it spin faster while in the air then the RPMs slow when I hit the water and it still has full power. If I slow down above idle somewhere very slow cruising speed seems to retain this power.
Does that sound like operating as intended?
It does accelerate at first so it is not just standing still.
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My experience riding many 199x models all had VTS (probably all were GTX models too) and this does not have VTS so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it.
All other Jet Skis I've ridden just go when you WOT and then fine-tune the VTS as needed.
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Wear ring, impeller, intake grate, and most everything else look nice and doesn't seem to be cavitating or bogging down, etc.

 

[mikidymac]

If the rpm's go up but the ski doesn't go faster like a slipping clutch it is wither the impeller, pump seal or wear ring.
You need to get under and check the pump.

 

[dmixed]

If the rpm's go up but the ski doesn't go faster like a slipping clutch it is wither the impeller, pump seal or wear ring.
You need to get under and check the pump.

Thanks for the reply! Actually it does go faster, but there is just a long delay before it seems to get the water pumping and catching. Did get under and visually impeller and wear ring look good. My understanding is those items you mentioned affect all speeds especially top-end which is not what is happening. I get really good top-end speed after it does that weird thing like priming the water flow.

 

[Grayson]

Thanks for the reply! Actually it does go faster, but there is just a long delay before it seems to get the water pumping and catching. Did get under and visually impeller and wear ring look good. My understanding is those items you mentioned affect all speeds especially top-end which is not what is happening. I get really good top-end speed after it does that weird thing like priming the water flow.

Would it be possible to have stripped splines? If the impeller/wear ring check out and its not cavitating it very well could be the shaft splines are giving out. I would assume it would make a loud grinding noise though..

 

[dmixed]

Would it be possible to have stripped splines? If the impeller/wear ring check out and its not cavitating it very well could be the shaft splines are giving out. I would assume it would make a loud grinding noise though..

Interesting point, thank you! I don't suspect that, but will need to check for sure. There's no grinding noise at all. Also I dont suspect due to when it grabs, it grabs hard with good torque. I would expect splines would slip under different conditions. I'm currently going through tuneup though... some grey fuel lines were left in there and a few were replaced so I'm replacing all currently, carb rebuild, new choke cable, plugs, fuel filter and selector valve, and more. Compression seems good both at 133 using rental tool from autozone (not sure I trust that value tho as endoscope view of heads looks decent) and checked it many times. Just trying to refurb all I can and cover all the bases then we'll see how she runs hopefully (fingers crossed) soon. The fuel filter and some line content was very nasty. Don't think is related to original problem statement, but surprised it ran as well as it did before.

 

[dmixed]

Update... This is resolved. I had many issues over two weeks where my ski just quit (not this original issue I documented here, but ...) Discovered the grey fuel / green gunk history and sure enough had those lines in mine. Replaced filter, shutoff valve, all the lines and cleaned up the carb then found it had no spark. Replaced all the electronics (except MPEM on order) and took it out today with great results. It takes off really quick now. I thought for sure this original problem I mentioned had to be something mechanical by the way it was acting, but it must have been fuel system or electrical system related somehow. Driveshaft, wear ring, impeller all in good shape too just fyi. Glad to have it running.

 

[98SeadooGS]

Update... This is resolved. I had many issues over two weeks where my ski just quit (not this original issue I documented here, but ...) Discovered the grey fuel / green gunk history and sure enough had those lines in mine. Replaced filter, shutoff valve, all the lines and cleaned up the carb then found it had no spark. Replaced all the electronics (except MPEM on order) and took it out today with great results. It takes off really quick now. I thought for sure this original problem I mentioned had to be something mechanical by the way it was acting, but it must have been fuel system or electrical system related somehow. Driveshaft, wear ring, impeller all in good shape too just fyi. Glad to have it running I have had almost the exact same issue with my GS. I replaced all the fuel lines, fuel filter, selector valve, new Mikuni carburetor. Starts and idles great out of the water, but still slow to get on a plane unless I can get the impeller to spin up by jumping a wake.

Update... This is resolved. I had many issues over two weeks where my ski just quit (not this original issue I documented here, but ...) Discovered the grey fuel / green gunk history and sure enough had those lines in mine. Replaced filter, shutoff valve, all the lines and cleaned up the carb then found it had no spark. Replaced all the electronics (except MPEM on order) and took it out today with great results. It takes off really quick now. I thought for sure this original problem I mentioned had to be something mechanical by the way it was acting, but it must have been fuel system or electrical system related somehow. Driveshaft, wear ring, impeller all in good shape too just fyi. Glad to have it running.

I have had a very similar issue in my 98 GS, slow to get going, I jump a wake or get the impeller spinning up it will take off fast. Once I slow down let off the throttle it will revert back to being slower until the impeller free spins again. Replaced fuel lines, new Mikuni carburetor, selector switch, plugs, filter, etc. I haven’t replaced any electronics except ignition coil. What electronics did you replace?

Thanks for any help.

 

[dmixed]

I have had a very similar issue in my 98 GS, slow to get going, I jump a wake or get the impeller spinning up it will take off fast. Once I slow down let off the throttle it will revert back to being slower until the impeller free spins again. Replaced fuel lines, new Mikuni carburetor, selector switch, plugs, filter, etc. I haven’t replaced any electronics except ignition coil. What electronics did you replace?

Thanks for any help.

I replaced all in the box on this model (717 engine) coil, starter relay, rectifier, and mpem. Wasnt too costly so figured i would do all.

 

[ToddK]

I replaced all in the box on this model (717 engine) coil, starter relay, rectifier, and mpem. Wasnt too costly so figured i would do all.

Did you use Amazon or a specific store for your replacement parts? Did you buy aftermarket MPEM?

 

[dmixed]

Did you use Amazon or a specific store for your replacement parts? Did you buy aftermarket MPEM?

I used amazon - this MPEM from titan757 performance seller (which translates to BayArea powersports that has a website outside amazon) - Amazon.com. I have used Titan/BayArea a few times and gotten good results. There was one or two wires I don't think the colors matched up , but after replacing I noticed my two beeps were really loud and strong and I only needed to get the DESS key close to the post. The battery has been the same since purchase and I've used a trickle charger and check it with a multimeter a lot so I am sure the MPEM is what is causing the beeps to now be very strong / responsive. I've only got about 6 hours on new MPEM, but seemed to be working great for this basic 717 engine. I now have lower compression on one cylinder so back to the garage for this ski. I may use BayArea to get top-end rebuild parts (WSM pistons most likely), but thinking of going all the way and will inspect crank and lower-end as well.

 

[98SeadooGS]

Thanks for the help on this. My Seadoo GS now runs amazing. I put a used, but good, ignition coil in it and it fixed the problem! I originally purchased two new ignition coils one from Amazon and one from eBay thinking they were all the same. I ended up testing both with my multimeter and found both were way out of spec. I returned them both and bought a used ignition coil from a ski that was working well before being parted out. The used Ignition coil was in spec (ohms) and now the ski runs awesome. Such a fun day on the lake today with it. After all the parts I replaced to then find out it was a cheap Amazon ignition coils sucks. I wasted so much time, money and gave me so many headaches makes me sick. But so glad is working now with a lot of new parts that would have probably needed to be fixed eventually. Moral of the story, don’t buy cheap parts, but if you do test them before you use them.

 

[dmixed]

Thanks for the help on this. My Seadoo GS now runs amazing. I put a used, but good, ignition coil in it and it fixed the problem! I originally purchased two new ignition coils one from Amazon and one from eBay thinking they were all the same. I ended up testing both with my multimeter and found both were way out of spec. I returned them both and bought a used ignition coil from a ski that was working well before being parted out. The used Ignition coil was in spec (ohms) and now the ski runs awesome. Such a fun day on the lake today with it. After all the parts I replaced to then find out it was a cheap Amazon ignition coils sucks. I wasted so much time, money and gave me so many headaches makes me sick. But so glad is working now with a lot of new parts that would have probably needed to be fixed eventually. Moral of the story, don’t buy cheap parts, but if you do test them before you use them.

I should have mentioned earlier, but didn't seem main point of this thread, but I went through three coils also! Cheap junk! Luckily I returned and was able to get my money back. I did get a good new one from Bay Area Power Sports (yippee!) I had mentioned them a bit earlier and so far my important parts have all come from them. The coil (and nice plug boots!) here - SeaDoo Ignition Coil with Spark Plug Boots 278000202 278000586. My "new" amazon coils failed .5hrs, 1.5hrs, and DOA out of box - yeesh! (yeah I tested OHMs a lot and even bought a new multimeter thinking mine was bad due to the wild readings)
Really happy with BayAre and prob gonna keep using them more now.