2002 Sea Doo Sportster LE 951 Project

[mwarren]

I just purchased this 2002 Sportster LE last week for $800. It runs but needs some love! Cosmetically, the rub rail needs some attention. The previous owner put a bunch of sheetrock screws through the rub rail to hold it into place... I'm hoping I can find a similar rubber insert from Taco Marine to replace the rubber part to make it look a bit better... There are a few scuffs here and there but nothing significant! The seats have been redone and the guy I bought it from buffed it out a bit to show the potential of the overall boat with a little bit of elbow grease. You can see the pics of the rear deck lid partially buffed, then fully buffed.

The motor is apparently recently rebuilt. I haven't checked the compression yet but I have a video of it running and driving in the water from just a few days before I bought it. The driveshaft broke but was welded back together for temporary use so it needs a new driveshaft but that's only $180 new so not too bad. Also, the throttle cable broke in the video that he sent me of it running so I need a new cable too...

The last owner of the boat somehow melted part of the exhaust. I think one of the boots was ripped which was causing the water to leak out into the hull and it wasn't cooling the exhaust the way it should have. It melted the plastic flange that exits the hull near the jet pump and the rubber cover on the muffler itself is all melted...I'll need to make sure the cooling system is functioning properly so it doesn't happen again!

I'm debating pulling the motor, opening it up, checking the work of the previous person to verify that the crank is good and everything looks ok inside. The oil pump was removed and I really don't want to pre-mix so I'd like to put the pump back on...I think I have to pull the motor out to do that so while it's out, I'll give the motor a once over for peace of mind. I know that I'll likely have $2000 + into this when I'm all done with it but at least I'll know that it's been completely gone through and good to go for a bit without worrying about it too much.

Anyone have thoughts or suggestions for my project?

 

[mwarren]

Does anyone know what the electrical connector on the throttle cable is for? Is it a throttle safety switch?

 

[mikidymac]

Does anyone know what the electrical connector on the throttle cable is for? Is it a throttle safety switch?

Throttle position switch. It changes the ignition timing for the upper 20% of throttle. There is a test/setting procedure in the manual.

 

[mwarren]

Awesome! Thank you! The other part of the cable broke so I’m just waiting for it to arrive before I try to make any adjustments. The plug is unplugged for some reason. Not sure why the previous owner would have left it off… I wonder if there was an issue with it being plugged in for some reason?

 

[mwarren]

The person who owned the boat before me rebuilt the motor (apparently) but I'm concerned that all of the hoses weren't put back on the correct places. I know the exhaust has some cooling water that flows through it and it is clear that at some point, the exhaust was running really hot as it melted the resonator and the exhaust outlet (which are both plastic). I was told by the person I purchased the boat from that the rubber exhaust hose between the pipe and the muffler had a hole which is what caused the water to leak out and not properly cool the exhaust but I worry that there is also the potential for hoses to be installed incorrectly... I have been able to refer to some of the hose routing and locations by looking at the part microfiche but I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions on how I make sure everything is hooked up correctly. I can't seem to find a shop manual for this boat. Does anyone have suggestions where I can get the actual shop manual, not just the operators manual that I was able to find online?

 

[mwarren]

Well, I worked on the boat a bunch today. It was snowing at my house in Vermont and the garage was not exactly warm, but I spent about 4 hours working on it. I'm trying to get stuff done so I can winterize it before it gets much colder...

I was able to get the exhaust resonator mounted in place, I got the exhaust outlet replaced (the other one was melted), I got the muffler installed as well as a new (used) water pressure regulator valve on top of the muffler because the old one was cracked and broken. I also got a bunch of the lines re-routed so they are much more organized now. I checked all of the hoses to make sure everything was hooked to the right location and I learned that the large hose that comes from the pump housing (where the hose threads onto the back side) and goes to the motor, was on the wrong spot. The other hose that comes from the cylinder head out to the pump housing was swapped with the other hose. I don't fully understand the flow of the water but I have a feeling that those hoses being installed backwards (which would have reversed the flow of the water in the system) could have been the culprit for why the exhaust resonator, and exhaust outlet melted. I bet there was no water getting into system which caused it to overheat.... If that's the case, I'm hoping the motor wasn't damaged from the excessive heat... Well, after spending the day in the engine bay with my laptop looking at diagrams, I have a pretty good idea of what goes where and if I need to pull the motor and rebuild it, I will. At least it will give me peace of mind going forward...

The last owner had other parts on backwards as well. The plate on the carbs where the bracket mounts that holds on the airbox/spark arrestor was on upside down so the bracket wouldn't mount...Which made it impossible for the airbox to stay in place... I also realized that the throttle cable came off from the carb rack... I'm not sure I'll be able to get it back on without pulling the carbs but I'll do a bit of research first to see if there is an easy way to get at it.

Other than that, it's feeling good to get an understanding of what goes where and how everything works together. I think I'll need a new driveshaft and will want to rebuild the jet pump as well. It'll be good to have everything new and reliable! I'll update with a few pics when I get a chance.

 

[mwarren]

I'm having an issue with the carbs on the boat. I'm not sure the spring on the carbs is strong enough. The carbs don't seem to "snap" back when I move the throttle back into the idle position. The carbs slowly return to closed... I have a brand new cable and am trying to get it all adjusted properly but I can't seem to find information online about where to start, how to adjust, baseline settings, etc. There are a few different adjustments on the cable and I can't seem to get the throttle lever to open the carbs unless most of the adjustments are pretty far out...

Again, the previous owner was not really very good at mechanics and I'm wondering if they pulled the carbs and didn't preload the spring on the cam that the cable attaches to which is causing it to barely return to closed. It takes very little effort with my fingers to open the carbs by sliding the rod side to side which makes me think there's something going on here...Anyone have any thoughts? Can someone point me to the part of the manual that explains throttle cable adjustment procedures? Thanks!