2004 GTX 185

[Sammyaxe]

Im sure everyone will be sick of answering these questions, but I have a few regarding the skis we picked up last year. Both are at 200 hours. I found right away that the superchargers are the weakest link on these engine. I pulled both of them and sent them in to GreenHulk and had them both rebuilt. Had them out twice so far this season and both are running well. I will try to keep this short. I recently found the heat exchanger hose fittings on both skis seem to be seeping coolant and I found and ordered aluminum replacements, when researching replacing these fittings I went down a rabbit hole and now I am worried about everything under the sun. Here are my questions.

Can those fittings be replaced with the ride plate / heat exchanger installed - looks tough to reach down in there but I think I can do it if so.
How worried do I need to be about the exhaust valves breaking?
How worried do I need to be about the timing chain breaking?
What major component failures are there, or is it just a few people on the internet making this seem like these engines are all doomed without constantly rebuilding the damn engines lol?
I don't have a ton of free time, but I can make the time available if needed. Didn't want to buy projects (its a watercraft, I know) just want to enjoy these things, not work on them all the time

I bought the skis from the original owner who I feel really did a good job maintaining them and he stated they were not run wide open throttle 24/7 and I tend to believe him, but who knows.
I understand if my wife and I drive them like we stole them all the time they wont last as long. I just want to know, at about 200 hours, what do I really need to worry about, and/or what maintenance I should do to these to keep them going for a few more years at least.

I am an automotive technician with almost every tool, other than seadoo specialty tools, at my disposal. I am not well versed in watercraft, but I am a skilled technician so I am confident I can fix most things.

Thank you in advance to all of you that take the time to read this and/or respond.

Sam

 

[skiasylum]

Change the hose fittings, do the regular maintenance outlined in the operators manual, and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

 

[Sammyaxe]

Thanks for the response, my thoughts exactly. Do you have any idea on replacing those fittings with the ride plate installed?

 

[skiasylum]

Ski doo will know, not sure on a 2004

 

[ski-d00]

Can those fittings be replaced with the ride plate / heat exchanger installed - looks tough to reach down in there but I think I can do it if so.

Yes, can be done fairly easily but still not fun laying on the motor.

How worried do I need to be about the exhaust valves breaking?

Not very. The 185s only seem to break in saltwater environments and very poor winterizing practices.

How worried do I need to be about the timing chain breaking?

Not at all. I still prefer to put 2004 timing chains on versus new ones. They were built better back then.

What major component failures are there, or is it just a few people on the internet making this seem like these engines are all doomed without constantly rebuilding the damn engines lol?

Flywheel bolts are probably next in line but still very reliable. The 215 happens quite a bit but pretty rare on 185s.

I bought the skis from the original owner who I feel really did a good job maintaining them and he stated they were not run wide open throttle 24/7 and I tend to believe him, but who knows.

You can check the RPM history for the life of the ski on BUDS which is nice.

I am an automotive technician with almost every tool, other than seadoo specialty tools, at my disposal. I am not well versed in watercraft, but I am a skilled technician so I am confident I can fix most things.

You'll do fine once you get a feel for the 4tec design and maintenance. They DO foul spark plugs which is one of the biggest arguments I get into with auto techs that own seadoos. They will test and change everything under the sun saying plugs don't fail on 4 strokes at 30 hours.

Download the service manual for free. It's quite good and you'll enjoy reading it.