97 Seadoo XP torubleshooting

[seadooxp89]

I was wondering if the pop off pressure is low could it make the ski start fine on the trailer but then when you put it in the water (with load) it wont start ?


I have tested compression and have 150 in both cylinders.

 

[JJinSC]

This could be simple the idle set too low. What RPMs is your idle set at? Set 3500 out of water 1500rpm in water.


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[piterbrow]

Does it turn over on the water? If it does, might be the idle rpm too low, carburetor adjustment (or rebuild)
If it doesn't turn over, you might have a bad battery or wiring (most of the time is the ground wire) or starter motor.

 

[seadooxp89]

It cranks over fine. The day before it ran in the water but the rpms were to low because it kept dying when letting off the throttle. So i turned up the rpms and took it out the next day and it started on the trailer backed up to the water and stalled out so I turned up the idle again at the dock and went to start it and wouldnt start up, it just cranks, I pulled the plugs and it was running rich and the plugs were black. I cleaned them and started the ski on the trailer ran good so I put it back in the water and it wouldn't start in the water it just cranked and cranked and smelt like unburnt fuel.

The carbs are rebuilt and its a rebuilt engine. But was is confusing is the day before it ran good for 2 hours as long as a kept a little bit of throttle so it wouldn't stall out but then the next day no mattter what I did. Pull the choke or give it a little throttle it wouldnt start in the water but on the trailer it started right up.

 

[JJinSC]

To do the following on that ski it is easiest to take the black air box off. Remove the flame arrester and the flame arrested bracket from carbs. Then using a mirror turn the low speed adjusters all the way in until you fill it start to tighten. Do not tighten. You want them closed but not tight. Then turn each of them out exactly 1.5 turns. Once they are set to 1.5 turns from closed set the idle to 3500 RPMs on trailer 1500 in water. Make sure oil pump index marks are aligned before you do anything other than idle.


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[piterbrow]

I agree with JJinSC, it seems that all you need is the carburetor adjustment.

 

[seadooxp89]

Okay will do this again. When I redid the Carbs I set all the adjustments. I set the Low to 1 turn out like the book says and the highs are 0. When I rebuilt the carbs though I got the kit and the springs looked dirty and rusted and I believe I changed the springs out for the ones in the kit because there was no instructions saying to do not replace the springs. I know its dumping extra fuel into the cylinders. Two people told me that its probably because of the spring that I replaced but sadly I threw away all the old stuff from when I rebuilt the carbs. So I ordered two new oem springs to install back in the carbs. Does this issue sound like a carb adjustment issue or do you think I actually have the wrong springs in there? I don't remember what springs I put inside the carbs when I rebuilt them sadly.

 

[JJinSC]

I know the shop manual says 1 turn on the Low speed for the 97 XP, but I think that is wrong. Set at 1.5 and try. Since your old springs are gone, you will need to use the spring that gets you as close to the same pop-off as the old ones. If you do not know what that was use the settings from the manual.


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[seadooxp89]

Thanks JJinSC. I ordered the springs from Seadoo for my ski from the parts catalog. So these should be the correct springs right? Once I put the new springs from Seadoo in you saying I should run with the settings of the low 1.5 turns out? Will these make it run more rich? I have oil mixed with the gas along with the oil injector since I'm breaking in the engine. Will these 1.5 on the low still be okay?

 

[JJinSC]

I've been told by the experts here that these carbs should run pretty spot on a factory specs.


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[seadooxp89]

With the low at 1.5 or 1 like the book says?

 

[JJinSC]

Mine is factory with original springs. It did not run well with the LS at 1 turn at all. Search around and the consensus was that engine with those carbs + accelerator pump should be at 1.5. Set mine at 1.5 and it runs perfect.


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[piterbrow]

Since we are in the subject, what is the consensus on the adjustment of the high speed screw for dual carbs?

 

[JJinSC]

For the 97 XP with 787 engine dual carbs it is 0 turns.


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[piterbrow]

Interesting, mine had just about 1 turn in it. I did a test run and the ski is much slower now and on the hose it tends to runaway when I blip the throttle (Lean condition?), it only stops when I flood the engine with the choke, do I need a rebuild? or is it expected?

 

[JJinSC]

If the engine is hot and not under load (out of water) these engines will do that if you blip the throttle. Are you speaking low speed or high speed. To summarize., LS=1.5 HS=0. If your LS is at 1 you could be lean.


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[68ragtop]

IMO I don't think the 97 XP is setup very well from the factory. I had the same ski, & I messed with the carbs so many times trying to resolve hard warm restarts. I tried different springs / pop off pressures. Finally after many failed attempts I decided to go outside the specs. What I found on mine was the low speed circuit was too lean.

When I finally figured it out, I ended up with my low speeds out well over 2 turns, maybe 2.5 or so? I had it running on the trailer at 3K & kept backing them out. When I got the screws out far enough, the idle started to drop as it finally started to get more to the rich side than it ever had before. I then had to turn up the idle speed (throttle plates) to get it back to 3K on the trailer. The ski never ran better after that. Restarts were nearly instant warm. the combination of those two simple things made a huge difference for me.

If I remember correctly the 97 XP jets were a one year only. There's something about those 97's thats not quite right IMO.

I will search for the thread I made at the time. I would suggest you try it. It costs nothing to do, & you don't have to take apart anything to do it. Unless you currently have other things changed too far from spec.

Not saying yours is lean on the LS, but its not uncommon on the 97 XP either.

 

[seadooxp89]

Thanks JJinSC for all your help. I'm still working on my ski trying to figuring it out. I have changed the springs to the stock springs by the part number in the manual and by the oem catalog part number from Seadoo parts online and they both matched so I ordered them springs because that's what it said is suppose to be in there. When they arrived I pulled the carbs and tested popoff with the springs that were in the carbs and the popoff was around 22PSI. I changed the springs to the new OEM (What the manual says is suppose to be in there by the part number) put the new springs in and now the popoff pressure is at 44PSI . That is about right for the my 97 XP Ski correct?
[MENTION=17185]JJinSC[/MENTION]