2000 RX engine removal help needed

[boatrboy]

Although I have a lot of experience working on boats (pretty decent mechanic) I'm new to the PWC world so take it easy on me .

Short history - I purchased this ski from a friend not running after a horrific knock. So far I have removed the head and found the rear (assuming when I see PTO it means rear) piston badly damaged and actually missing the wrist pin bearing. I want the engine out on the bench so I can evaluate the lower end. I'm not sure what damage it did to the rod and will need to decide to go with a rebuilt motor or just top end. I have the exhaust, rave's and carbs's off with everything labeled and photographed.

1) At this point all I need to do is disconnect the drive shaft and unbolt the lower block and pull it out. I unbolted the six (or so) bolts on the PTO adapter thinking it would pop off the flywheel and slide back on the splines and give me enough room to pull the motor up. I gave it some love taps but to no avail. Do I really need to pull the pump off and leave this assembled to the motor for now????
Should I unbolt the rear motor mount from the hull, or take out the bolts attaching the block to the motor mount?

I read many posts so far and realize there is an alignment to be concerned about, but right now I just want the motor out.

2) Many posts suggest that the root cause of a blown cylinder on these motors is due to lack of oil (bad oil pump), clogged oil lines and grey Tempo gas lines breaking down causing lean carb mixture. Most of these lines are metric sizes. They are close to standard sizes sold in auto parts stores - is that what most of you use?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Mark

p.s. this is NOT a DI version

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Remove the pump.. it's all of 4 bolts. The 6 removed on the PTO adapter would have been more difficult to remove.

I unbolt the 2 bolts holding the rear brace to the hull. You'll remove this brace to split the case 1/2s or send it in for a rebuild.

if you put the head back on, the lift point is a hole on the top of the exhaust manifold. lifts the engine on a tilt.

The fuel lines are 1/4 and 5/16s

and the oil lines are 3/32? (**I THINK) double check this one.

 

[Kwik_uk]

Remove the pump.. it's all of 4 bolts. The 6 removed on the PTO adapter would have been more difficult to remove.

I unbolt the 2 bolts holding the rear brace to the hull. You'll remove this brace to split the case 1/2s or send it in for a rebuild.

if you put the head back on, the lift point is a hole on the top of the exhaust manifold. lifts the engine on a tilt.

The fuel lines are 1/4 and 5/16s

and the oil lines are 3/32? (**I THINK) double check this one.

Correct. 3/32 tygon.

Very hard to get 3/32 tygon in the UK.

Most model shops carry it under different names. Essentially is the fuel line used in nitro powered RC cars. Will probably take a lot more abuse than the tygon...

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[boatrboy]

Thanks for the input on the hoses. I was finally able to get the motor out. I did remove the pump. I am so pissed that I broke the starter stud in a way it is almost impossible to get out without cutting the corner of the starter off. Obviously the starter needs to slide back to come out and the stud is close to flush. Arrrgg Any thoughts?


Also - have not figured out how to get the prop shaft out. I did not pull the rubber off this part of the shaft only off the couple. Is there a c-clip?

Thanks

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I don't think you have to remove the drive shaft, however if you want, it's easiest to do before removing the pump.

with the pump in place, you'll slide the metal ring that's in front of the rubber boot towards the back of the ski. this will expose a small metal C clip that goes around the shaft. remove the clip, and the metal ring will slide towards the front of the ski, allowing you to pull the shaft out the back after removing the jet pump.

As for the starter bolt, you would drill a tiny hole in the center of it, then use an ez-out on it... or that's the theory...

You may try welding a rod to it, so you can spin it out, but I don't know how you'll get the starter out w/out damaging it.

if anything you could cut that nub off the starter, which may expose enough of the bolt to get it out, then replace just that back plate of the starter.

FYI; you don't have to tear the engine down nearly that far to remove it from the hull.

you remove the pipe (you don't have to split it), carb links + fuel, hoses, wiring, starter power, ground, and engine mount bolts at the hull side, and lift from the exhaust manifold

if I get another 951 ski to rebuild I'll finally make that video I've been saying I would for years now.

 

[boatrboy]

Thanks Sabr. I wasn't sure based on the manual how to remove that c-clip. At some point I have to remove the shaft to get the alignment tool in when re-installing the motor. I do realize that I did not have to remove so much, but when I started this (remember I am a new to this pwc stuff ) I was hopeful it was only the upper end that had issues. After seeing the piston, I decided to remove the motor to really evaluate if I should rebuild the lower end as well. There were a lot of piston debris around and I will clean it all out and see if its worth the gamble of re-using the lower (which turns nicely) or biting the bullet and going for a complete motor. Below is scary piston - but the cases and jugs other than scratches are in tact.

Any thoughts as to what happened here? The wrist pin bearing was completely gone...
Mark

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

With the 951, and a 15 year old engine... doing a top end would have lasted you only a season at best.

it's best to remove it and do it all... good luck

 

[boatrboy]

With the 951, and a 15 year old engine... doing a top end would have lasted you only a season at best.

it's best to remove it and do it all... good luck

That is the way I am leaning - any thoughts as to what initially caused this?
Supposedly the carbs were rebuilt last year. I will be changing out the lines as you can see many of them are still the grey tempo ones.

 

[boatrboy]

Update:

I pulled the trigger and went with SES to rebuild my motor. The motor is back and being assembled on my work bench now. So far I :
- changed all the fuel lines
- changed oil lines and bench tested oil pump with drill per manual
- changed pump oil and o-ring
- cleaned bilge
- buffed the hull
- cleaned and repainted everything

This weekend I will rebuild the carbs per the 500 pages of forum posts I have read and yes I'm using Mikuni parts per OSD.

Hopefully I will install the motor Sunday. I will end up bringing it to a seadoo shop and pay them to align the motor since it doesn't make sense to buy the tool.

Wish me luck. I will post pictures when I can.

 

[mikidymac]

Glad to see you made the right decision on that crank.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

There are as many opinions on break-in, as there are people. I follow the owner's manual.

You add an amount of oil to the first tank. Check the manual for said amount and procedure.

I've broken in at least 3 SES engines, and all run very well to this day.

Don't forget the cooling line that attaches under the block on the starboard side. that's easy to miss as it's well hidden.

always triple check your bolts/hoses/etc before running it prime the oil lines, etc etc. I could do this intoxicated at this point. lol. One night I did. Got home like 2 AM, lit, couldn't sleep. installed carbs on a ski. fired right up the next day lol.

 

[boatrboy]

Buffed up nicely

 

[boatrboy]

There are as many opinions on break-in, as there are people. I follow the owner's manual.

You add an amount of oil to the first tank. Check the manual for said amount and procedure.

I've broken in at least 3 SES engines, and all run very well to this day.

Don't forget the cooling line that attaches under the block on the starboard side. that's easy to miss as it's well hidden.

always triple check your bolts/hoses/etc before running it prime the oil lines, etc etc. I could do this intoxicated at this point. lol. One night I did. Got home like 2 AM, lit, couldn't sleep. installed carbs on a ski. fired right up the next day lol.

Spent the weekend working on this and hit some snags.... (I did read your post prior to starting ) I decided put the carbs on after the exhaust as some have mentioned here, but like a dummy, I did not put the lower exhaust in first, and realized this too late. This will not go in around the upper exhaust pipe. Putting the carbs on with the pipe in place was a real PITA in my opinion (maybe I needed a beer or two). Keep in mind I am preparing to bring the ski to a local dealer to do the alignment. I then decided to use the special wrench and remove the exhaust pipe. Then I pick up the airbox and decided since the carbs are on, lets just finish it off and put this box back on....WRONG - you must be a magician on an RX to install that thing. I read several posts on this and really never saw a complete list of what to do. Well, since my motor is not lined up tonight I am going to remove the motor mounting bolts and slide the motor starboard to allow room to put that stupid design air box back in. I hope that works as my back is shot form leaning over this thing

Wish me more luck

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Once you do it 20x you'll be a pro

 

[boatrboy]

Spent the weekend working on this and hit some snags......... Then I pick up the airbox and decided since the carbs are on, lets just finish it off and put this box back on....WRONG - you must be a magician on an RX to install that thing. I read several posts on this and really never saw a complete list of what to do. Well, since my motor is not lined up tonight I am going to remove the motor mounting bolts and slide the motor starboard to allow room to put that stupid design air box back in. I hope that works as my back is shot form leaning over this thing..

Well removing the motor mount bolts and sliding the motor to starboard gave me enough room to slide the air box back in. I think if it ever has to come back off I'll use a sawsall. Off to dealer for alignment.

Is it easier to put the 2 exhaust pieces together first then put in the machine or insert them seperatly and sneak the sealer in the joint while in there?

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I don't see how you could properly position them outside of the ski... I've always put together IN the ski... it's somewhat of an art involving a second person and some angry 'talking'.

 

[boatrboy]

Well the day finally arrived..... I test drove the RX today on a local river for a short while. I was a nervous wreck as it is cold here and my wife came and sat in the truck while I drove around. She would not really be able to help me if I got stuck. I bought an expandable paddle at Walmart just in case and brought a long tow rope as well. The motor ran well on the trailer but I was so worried about my carb rebuild among other things. I ended up calling SES yesterday with some questions and Tom was very helpful and made me feel more confident all was going well.

So it starts up almost without cranking and ran great on the water. I did not push it but did hit 45 mph easily for a short burst. During this short ride I can say I really never felt any hesitation at any speed. She jumps right up on plane almost instantly. I am very pleased today.

I am curious (remember I never had a ski before) how much water do most get in the bilge after a ride?
When I got to the ramp, I let it warm up on the trailer (in the water) and checked for water leaks and it was dry. After the half hour ride I noticed around a cup or two of water when I pulled the drain plugs on the ramp. Is that normal?

Thanks again for all that provided input on my project!

Mark

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

That's normal. If you want, remove the black scuppers and make sure they are clean. They clog with oil and become ineffective.