96 GTX wear ring?

[Chris488994]

I have a 1996 GTX and if I hit it full throttle it takes off kind of slow then for a second it will hit 7000 rpms so I let off and get back on it. Takes off and tops out at 38 mph 5500 rpms with one person on glass.

Question is. If my wear ring was junk then wouldn't the ski stay at 7000 rpms all the time?

Why would it only hit 5500 at a top speed of 38?

I checked the jet clearance while I was checking the oil from the back and I could only get .020 gauge in there. Couldn't really see the wear ring too well.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rxtxfreak88]

The best thing to do which I have never used a gauge to tell if one was bad or not is to look inside. If you can see a lot of light I would replace it. Also, I would check the bearings in your pump housing if the wear ring looks ok.

 

[Chris488994]

Thank you for your reply. I looked today and I can see a little light but not alot. I compared it to my other ski that will rip your arms out and it's not that much more light. The ring is a little scratched but nothing real deep.

What I don't understand is if the ring were that bad then why does it only hit 5500 rpm WOT? Not 7000.

Why won't it just be pegged out all the time from the lack of resistance?

Any ideas?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

 

[rxtxfreak88]

Like I said I would pull the cone off the pump housing and check the bearings. Plus do a compression test. Just to start ruling things out.

 

[Chris488994]

Compression is at 147 psi on both. It hits 7000 Rpms on the trailer no problem. Just not in the water. I checked the oil in the cone and its full and pretty clean not milky. Driveshaft moves back and forth a little so its not stuck.

Why wont it go over 5500 RPM?

I just dont want to rip things apart if thats not the problem.

Anybody out there have any experiance with this problem?

Thanks for your time.

 

[rxtxfreak88]

It could be the rotary valve on it. I think if i am remembering right we had one come in and do the same thing. It's when you put a load on it that it would not run right. Does it idle and eveyrthing fine in the water?

 

[Chris488994]

Yeah it runs great. It starts right up, idles great hit it WOT and she takes off. Moves out pretty good not real fast but it goes alright with 2 bigger people. It just won't top out. It only gets 5500 rpm at 40 mph with one person. I've been through the complete fuel system. Plugs are reading constantly good new plugs run the same. Rave valves have been cleaned.

I just don't know.

Thank you for your replies.

 

[rxtxfreak88]

What type of plugs are you using? Stupid question to some but a lot of people use wrong plugs. Just trying to think of different things.

 

[Chris488994]

Yeah you never know. I'm using BR8ES gapped to .22 I'm leaning towards something else. Maybe my water reg is filling up my pipe. I'm going to disconnect it for a quick ride and see what happens. If that don't help then I'm going to disconnect the red wire to my rectifier and see what happens. If not then I'm going to bypass the fuel selector valve and go straight to the tank.

If none of that works then I'm stumped.

Thanks for your reply, good idea with starting with the basics.

 

[kustomkarl]

If the wear ring was bad the rpm's would shoot high and you would not have any thrust, just high rpm's, and cavitation. Check the carbs and be sure they are in sync. The high speed screw should be at "0". Be sure the carbs open the same amount and get full throttle opening. Visually check it while not running, with the spark arrester off.
Keep the stock NGK Br8es plugs gaped to .022-.024". They are the correct heat range and reach. Let us know how you make out.

Karl

 

[parks777]

I'm having exactly the same problem with exactly the same ski (96 GTX). I just replaced the wear ring and there is still a pretty big gap between the impeller and the new wear ring. Put it in the water today and it's still cavitating, but once I get it on plane it tops off about 5900 and maybe 40 mph. It's got newly rebuilt carbs and new wiseco top end. All grey fuel line was replaced before the carb work.

I am really interested to hear if you find a solution.

 

[Chris488994]

Well buddy I hate to to tell you this but your impeller is worn out. Either that or your new wear ring is the wrong size. You should have hardly no gap between the two. Seadoo manual says 40 thousands is the max. My ski has half of that at 20 thou at the max.

I don't believe your wear ring is the problem with not topping out. Actually if the gap is as bad as you make it seem then you should be hitting your rev limit.

Our problem lies somewhere else. I would start with the things I listed in my last post. Water reg valve, rectifier, and fuel selector valve. Also you should check your rave valves. Also like Karl said check the carbs out.

Give us some background on you ski. Was it working fine one weekend and the next it was doing this?

Does your 12 volt low warning come on?

Did it run good after the top end?

I hope we figure this out soon before the good weather is gone.

Good luck us all.

 

[Chris488994]

Ok Karl thank you once again for all your input and help. I did the carbs a couple on weeks ago. Everything looked great pop off was correct and they held pressure. I synced the carbs, a very tedious procedure. I hope I did it right.

I had the carbs mounted to the motor turned the idle screw all the way out until it didn't touch anymore. Made sure the butterflies were all the way closed. Adjusted my linkage until it would go on both nubs without making them move. Once it was snapped on I could wiggle it a little both ways without moving the butterflies. Adjusted my idle screw till it barely touched and then two full turns after that. Adjusted my throttle cable till I had a little slack at idle. Squeezed the thumb throttle all the way WOT and then tried to open the butterflies with my other hand and they barely moved and stayed there. So it seems good to me.

Does that sound right to you I don't know bud.

Thanks again.