97 Seadoo GTX not starting?

[Rdizz]

OK the skis sat for about 5 years. I decided (after things calmed down) to get them water ready again.

They have always been winterized and garage kept.

My 97 GTX after replacing battery little oil down the cylinders and new plugs and gas fired up took them out ran good, felt great no loss of power ran like they were new. Following day thought hmm lets do this again............

Upon attempting to start it on the trailer nothing, motor spins not catching plugs still look good verified spark and nothing. Things to note

A white milky substance was spitting out of the exhaust in what seems like a backfire or as if it is trying to start oil and water?

I decided to dig a little deeper, i did a compression check and both PTO & Mag side checked in at around 148-149 PSI per cylinder i checked 4 times to make sure.

I just cant figure out why it wont start, i tried to pour a little premix down the cylinders at spark plug hole and still nothing.

any ideas?

It is getting a 12v low warning on the dash i went ahead and ordered a new rectifier why not cheap enough. I also replaced the starter relay. The fuel lines are also the OE grey tempo lines so i decided to order about 20ft of new fuel line to replace.

Any other ideas that could cause this? anywhere else i should check before i start throwing money at it? is it ok to spritz a bit of carb cleaner direct into the carbs see if it fires?

Thanks in advance guys.

(on a side note the 2001 polaris pro 1200 started up like a champ flew to 70 like it was nothing

 

[Tony dee]

If u have spark and u gave it gas and u have compression that thing should start. The grey lines have to go they corrode from inside letting goo into carbs. That could have happened but recheck spark at plug and make sure the small secondary ground wire is attached to the neg terminal on battery. Also try squirting some fuel mixed w oil into carbs not spark plug hole.

 

[Coastiejoe]

What is the quality of the spark?

 

[Rdizz]

Come to think of it, you're both right.. why the hell isn't it catching lol.

The quality of spark not really sure how to gauge it but it is definitely sparking. I'll swing by auto store snag some new plugs just Incase.

Ground wire is connected, probably wouldn't hurt to grab a new connection for the wire.

I'll get a fuel can for 2 gallons about how much oil should I mix?

 

[Coastiejoe]

40:1 mix I believe.

 

[racerxxx]

40:1 is correct. Just mix some up in a can and let a little down the spark plug holes and see if it fires. If it does, you need to service the entire fuel system.

 

[Rdizz]

Ok I will give that a shot while I wait for new fuel lines. Any suggestions on where to get the fuel filter? Or a carb rebuild kit?

Any idea about the milky water coming out of exhaust? Also keep in mind this specific ski ran wonderfully before it wouldn't start one day prior.

 

[digital sol]

Ok I will give that a shot while I wait for new fuel lines. Any suggestions on where to get the fuel filter? Or a carb rebuild kit?

Any idea about the milky water coming out of exhaust? Also keep in mind this specific ski ran wonderfully before it wouldn't start one day prior.

OSD parts is where I bought my rebuild kit & filter. They ship fast as well

 

[Rdizz]

OSD parts is where I bought my rebuild kit & filter. They ship fast as well

Want to get me a referral code? Maybe you will get some sort of kick back?

 

[digital sol]

Want to get me a referral code? Maybe you will get some sort of kick back?

I don't think they have anything like that. I just like their service. During my resto I bought parts from lots of places and they were my favorite. They always shipped fast, replied fast and had the parts I needed.

 

[Rdizz]

Ok ordered, 20ft 1/4" fuel lines to replace grey tempo lInes, new filter/separator and dual rebuilt kit from OSD. Hopefully she will run like new.

 

[digital sol]

Ok ordered, 20ft 1/4" fuel lines to replace grey tempo lInes, new filter/separator and dual rebuilt kit from OSD. Hopefully she will run like new.

Might be worth a few bucks to buy a little inline fuel filter as well. Helps trap anything the other filter let pass by & is extra protection for the carbs. I installed on when I did my resto and although I have no lake time on her yet she started right up. The carb's really make or break these things so keeping them clean really cuts down a lot of common issues from what I have seen.

 

[Rdizz]

Might be worth a few bucks to buy a little inline fuel filter as well. Helps trap anything the other filter let pass by & is extra protection for the carbs. I installed on when I did my resto and although I have no lake time on her yet she started right up. The carb's really make or break these things so keeping them clean really cuts down a lot of common issues from what I have seen.

Good advice any suggestions on which one to get?

 

[digital sol]

Good advice any suggestions on which one to get?

Fram G2 is what was recommended to me. I put mine right before the carb area so I can see it easily to verify its filling with fuel and see if/when it would need to be replaced.

One other thing and maybe I missed it but have you removed & replaced the cone oil yet? I would dump it and make sure its not soupy indicating water was in there. If its just stinky oil you should be fine and can just replace with 75w-90 gear oil. I went with royal purple but its still way cheaper per volume than sea doo oil.

 

[Rdizz]

Thanks for the advice, now hopefully I can figure out how to get the carbs off the motor....

 

[Rdizz]

Fram G2 is what was recommended to me. I put mine right before the carb area so I can see it easily to verify its filling with fuel and see if/when it would need to be replaced.

One other thing and maybe I missed it but have you removed & replaced the cone oil yet? I would dump it and make sure its not soupy indicating water was in there. If its just stinky oil you should be fine and can just replace with 75w-90 gear oil. I went with royal purple but its still way cheaper per volume than sea doo oil.

I did that and rebuilt the rear before storing actually

 

[digital sol]

Thanks for the advice, now hopefully I can figure out how to get the carbs off the motor....

Pull the intake off, then the intake mount "6 bolts", then there are 4 carb bolts. Once you get the intake stuff off you should be able to see them or feel for them. One thing that really helped me out the first time was printing off the manual & using that to reference bolt hole locations etc. Also I took a paint pen and marked the throttle location bolts so when I re-assembled I could just put it back exactly how it was. I still verified the carbs open all the way with the throttle etc while reinstalling but I didnt have to adjust anything so far and it seems like it should be solid.

Also I borrowed a makeup mirror from the girlfriend as seeing bolts around the starter area or anything down in the ski is a pain in the butt sometimes. But a mirror down in there really made life easier.

 

[Rdizz]

Now I'm scared haha.... what tool did you use? Seems like it is going to be close to impossible to turn such tight quarters

 

[digital sol]

I just used a socket wrench and allen key bits. Its really not bad at all once the intake and filter stuff is out of the way. Do you have a pop off tester? You will need to verify pop off pressure after you rebuild the carbs to verify its in spec.

There are tons of restore threads. Here is mine as I tried to document as much as possible. Im towing mine down to the lake this weekend to test her out but I have carb pictures, part numbers and misc in there. We have the same model ski so holler if you have any questions. I am by no means an expert but I got tons of info from the guys on this forum and did tons of reading along the way.

http://www.seadooforum.com/showthread.php?80659-97-GTX-Mini-Restoration-Keeping-The-2-Stroke-Alive!

 

[Rdizz]

I don't have a pop off tester I guess I will have to grab one. should have just bought new carbs at this point lol... I already have the intake and filter off. Just a matter of getting to it after work.

 

[Rdizz]

I just used a socket wrench and allen key bits. Its really not bad at all once the intake and filter stuff is out of the way. Do you have a pop off tester? You will need to verify pop off pressure after you rebuild the carbs to verify its in spec.

There are tons of restore threads. Here is mine as I tried to document as much as possible. Im towing mine down to the lake this weekend to test her out but I have carb pictures, part numbers and misc in there. We have the same model ski so holler if you have any questions. I am by no means an expert but I got tons of info from the guys on this forum and did tons of reading along the way.

http://www.seadooforum.com/showthread.php?80659-97-GTX-Mini-Restoration-Keeping-The-2-Stroke-Alive!

Was reading through your rebuild and it got me worried about the rave valve. Anything you suggest I do while I have the carbs out?

 

[digital sol]

Was reading through your rebuild and it got me worried about the rave valve. Anything you suggest I do while I have the carbs out?

Ha I hear ya. Although I think these carbs would still run closer to what like $300? I was always paying shops to do them but I am glad I took the plunge and did them myself as the pop off pressure was all sorts of out of wack when I checked mine before the rebuild. If you want you can borrow my pop off tester but I am going on vacation tomorrow and will be gone for a week. I think they are $30 from OSD.

What is your concern with the rave valve? I will say removing and cleaning the rave valve although might look hard to start is very easy once you pull them. Mine were really really dirty but a little scrubbing and some chemical degreaser and such really cleaned them up nice. Mine had quite a bit of sludge built up on them.

There is only 2 bolts per rave, one oring, one spring & one rubber bellow. Its fairly easy to pull those and clean them up in no time.

As for other things to check I will think about it. I think it would also be a good idea to pressure test your cone if you didnt do that already. When I rebuilt my pump it took me 3 trys to get the cone from leaking. I just pressure it up to 10psi and make sure it holds. I had to take a razor blade and scrape the surface real good and use some 516 locktight on the oring.

 

[Rdizz]

I'll go and buy one, with hesitation. Awesome of you to offer though. But I am looking for a boat and have another ski so I'm sure I will have a need for one again.

Just added to my order from OSD.

I can tell you guys this. Working on a polaris was such a breeze compared to a seadoo...

 

[Rdizz]

Do you know what size the hex boLts are on the carb and raves? Omw to part store to get some.drives apparently I don't have the right size...

 

[Rdizz]

Do you know what size the hex boLts are on the carb and raves? Omw to part store to get some.drives apparently I don't have the right size... View attachment 36158

Update, Got the carb off easy as hell, you know after my trip to auto zone to find out that 6mm hex drive is non existent lol... used an hex key wrench 6mm broke 10 fingers but got them off.

now on to removing/replacing fuel lines wont be till Friday until they arrive same with the rebuild kit. so far so good.

One last question my fuel cut off knob (shows gas, off and reserve) does not turn and i do not want to force it. So now im thinking gas is going to spew everywhere... any suggestions on this?