98 SPX project

[seadoosnipe]

Bottom of threads!....

I'm going to just start going to the bottom of the threads from now on. I was really looking to help out, lots of great advice. But, like you said, this last post kinda puts out the fire.

This is exactly why the owners manuals say to backflush the engine, start the motor first then, turn on the water. When your finished, shut off the water then turn off the motor.

What they did is leave the water on and it filled the exhaust system and over flowed into the cylinders. It's so sad, such a nice ski with probably no hours on it.

You kept asking about the oiling system of these and I saw it was pointed out by PWCdoc that they have no oil sump. I picked it up from you that you were thinking of the 4 stroke motors. But, I believe you wanted to know what and why the oil tank does. First, at the bottom, there are two lines. One for the oil injection pump and the other for (what was not mentioned) the rotary chamber. This chamber sits between the two pistons, sealed from them and filled with oil. The gear is a worm gear assembly that is in time with the crank to allow fuel into the combustion chambers at the correct time. It's your timing, so to speak. At the top of that tank you have another large line, that is the vent coming up from that chamber on the opposite side of the motor.

You can buy a complete upper end rebuild kit for about $475 bucks with a core exchange. Or, a new motor for about $900 bucks.

Sorry to see your bad luck on the motor but for the condition and the cost of a new motor or upper end job, you'll still come out o.k. but for about the price it would be worth if the ski was in great shape, motor and all.

Great job on the thread and thanks for the pix. The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" applies here. Good luck, keep us all up to date on what your next step will be............:cheers:

 

[JDC]

Thanks, I appreciate the help.

The ski has really low hrs, but I planned on doing a top end the moment I bought it. But now is for sure.

I am going to take the motor out and take it all the way down.

Not sure how the sleeves will turn out with the rust, so might have to have it re-sleeved like you mentioned. On the bottom end, it sounds like from chester and pwcdoc that I should expect rust on it as well. There is a guy in town, pretty much the only guy in Oregon who will press on new bearings, and have the crank good as new for about $100 + parts. So for $5-600 I should have the ski up and running.

I am really glad I found all of you. I have learned a ton, and have been gaining confidence in the rebuild from all the great comments.

Thanks to all, will keep posted pics as I tear it down, and put it back.

JD

 

[ski-d00]

Your cylinders won't need resleeved, just bored out .5mm and they will be as good as new.

If I were you, I would buy a complete rebuild kit for $400. Playtime Powersports on ebay has kits that are good, I have used many of them. The cranks are welded which some people don't like but I've never had an issue. Then, I would send the new pistons and your cylinders to a qualified machinist who specializes in 2 stroke boring. Sands Motorsports on ebay does them for $35 a hole and do good work.

You'll end up having less than $600 in it, you will need a few special tools that you can rent that will make it alot easier like the mag puller and engine alignment tool.

 

[timmyboy76]

Your cylinders won't need resleeved, just bored out .5mm and they will be as good as new.

If I were you, I would buy a complete rebuild kit for $400. Playtime Powersports on ebay has kits that are good, I have used many of them. The cranks are welded which some people don't like but I've never had an issue. Then, I would send the new pistons and your cylinders to a qualified machinist who specializes in 2 stroke boring. Sands Motorsports on ebay does them for $35 a hole and do good work.

You'll end up having less than $600 in it, you will need a few special tools that you can rent that will make it alot easier like the mag puller and engine alignment tool.

:agree:...used that company 3x (Playtime Powersports)

 

[robin savell lloyd]

Well........ I pulled the raves out wed. night. I was relived that they looked ok. Looked down, and thought, a little rust, not to bad.

Pulled the head this morning, All the head bolts came out great!

Then, relief went to grief.

Well, I now have my work cut out for me. "Let's tear down"

Check it out, and tell me what you think:


JD

There seems to be one good thing about what I see. I do believe that you have a good rebuildable core. Trust me there could be alot more wrong with it. Send it to sbt and hopefully it is not as bad what I think it could have been.

 

[JDC]

Yeah, I really look forward to tearing it down and figuring it all out. It has been a ton of fun so far.

Putting it back together will also be great. I am having as much fun doing all the work as riding! That must sound warped! We have a month+ before we can ride anyway.

JD

 

[JDC]

It's out.

Snipe, on the money. The Exhaust pipe was full of water. Poured out when I took it out.

Chester, PWCDOC, right as well Crank is beyond rusty.

As it stands: I have one cylinder off, other is still stuck. Letting it soak a bit.

Crank is rusty from the view I have. I am going to pull PTO, flywheel later this week to get at the crank.

Cylinder that I freed looks like it tried to seize at one time. Scaring that you can feel ridges on the cylinder wall and the piston.

Starting to price out the best route to take.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

[JDC]

Well, had to take the block down to have the fly wheel pulled, and the pto taken off. Special tools for seadoo only I guess.

Once I split the case, the crank is very rusty. Funny one of the rod bearings on the crank was like new, no rust, other shot. All other bearing will not turn.

The "other" crank, I assume is a counter balance of some sort, the none sealed bearing is shot, and seals behind it are weak. Off they come as well.

I bought a used crank, and I don't know if this is appropriate or not, but I wanted to put a plug in for Marty at oasis performance. He helped me over the phone to get this apart. Giving me a sweat deal on the top end kit. Plus, he offered to send his tools out to get the fly wheel and pto off! Went way beyond the call of duty.

I will post pics tomorrow.

JD

 

[JDC]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. the ongoing saga of the spx!


Okay, here are the pics of the case split. As you can see the crank is shot.

Pistons are pretty scared

Also, just got word from the machine shop, they were doing a pre-bore to see what size pistons I should order. As the wheel turns, a crack shows up in the liner.

Any ideas on what causes this? Heat from trying to seize?

Also, good idea to buy a used jug, or just bite the bullet and get them re-sleeved?

JD

 

[mustangturbo50]

hey

ice wedging im guessing it froze and cracked it. but i could be wrong.

 

[JDC]

Hey thanks for the insight. Since my post was re-dug up, I thought I might update it.

I went ahead and bought a used jug that had a fresh bore done to it. Got an amazing deal on a WSM moly piston kit.

Looking over the counter balance shaft, one bearing was shot, and the seals are loose. I thought about pulling the gear and redoing it myself, but trying to get it back together just right seemed just too hard. So I went about trying to find a replacement. Ebay, and others wanted a fortune for them. I decided to check out SBT, glad I did. Reman shaft was $60! Another bullet dodged. So I picked up the jug today, shaft came friday, so I hope to sit down and put this ski back together soon.

Problem is, just got a smoking deal on a fishing boat, so time is a split again!

Wife's yard is still not done, that is tops right now.

JD

 

[bond67]

I'm going to just start going to the bottom of the threads from now on. I was really looking to help out, lots of great advice. But, like you said, this last post kinda puts out the fire.

This is exactly why the owners manuals say to backflush the engine, start the motor first then, turn on the water. When your finished, shut off the water then turn off the motor.

What they did is leave the water on and it filled the exhaust system and over flowed into the cylinders. It's so sad, such a nice ski with probably no hours on it.

You kept asking about the oiling system of these and I saw it was pointed out by PWCdoc that they have no oil sump. I picked it up from you that you were thinking of the 4 stroke motors. But, I believe you wanted to know what and why the oil tank does. First, at the bottom, there are two lines. One for the oil injection pump and the other for (what was not mentioned) the rotary chamber. This chamber sits between the two pistons, sealed from them and filled with oil. The gear is a worm gear assembly that is in time with the crank to allow fuel into the combustion chambers at the correct time. It's your timing, so to speak. At the top of that tank you have another large line, that is the vent coming up from that chamber on the opposite side of the motor.

You can buy a complete upper end rebuild kit for about $475 bucks with a core exchange. Or, a new motor for about $900 bucks.

Sorry to see your bad luck on the motor but for the condition and the cost of a new motor or upper end job, you'll still come out o.k. but for about the price it would be worth if the ski was in great shape, motor and all.

Great job on the thread and thanks for the pix. The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" applies here. Good luck, keep us all up to date on what your next step will be............:cheers:

I did not know this yesterday I turned on the water then started the ski. It ended up dying cause i forgot the fuel was off. the water ran a few minutes then i disconnected the water and ran it for 5 secs or so then shut it off. should i be ok? or do i need to flush it out more?

 

[JDC]

Was it pumping water out still when you were flushing? Just do it again to be safe. My ski sat for 3 years or so. Water rusted it hard. (pics)

Run it till there is no water pumping out the back, shut it off, oil it down and go next time.


JD

 

[bmwbirdman]

Sounds like engine locked more than pump to me.

I have a 98 GSX and have been working on the pump because I was learning why not to run in shallow water the hard way. You can try to start without the pump because from what I am seeing if the impeller was put on too tight it would make it look like the engine was locked. If it turns over with no pump you know the engine is locked. I hope all works out for you.

Hey, brand new to site. I have had 2 doos in the past, and now have a project. It is a 1998 spx 800. (787). Anyway, picked it up cheap. Woman had let it set for 4 yrs, her new man tried to get it going, put a new starter, something in the pump (she didn't know what). The engine won't turn according to her. The ski is in prime condition. Engine compartment is very clean, factory paint is sill on all the bolts, so I know that no one has broken into it.


My question is this, I am going to pull the motor, friend is our shop mechanic, (polaris man) and he will help break it down to see what is needed, and then help me put it back together so I can reinstall. What might I be looking for? Is there something that I could check to see what the problem might be?

Are Pro-x pistons worth the money over WSM?

Thanks for the help.

JD

 

[seadoo GTS 1993]

Hey JDC, deffinantly let us kno wen u get 'er put back together and runnin'!

 

[JDC]

Well, finally got around to putting it back together.

I will post some pics latter. I am tired and need to get the pump on, then it is done!

One question. The rave valves. I ended up with 1.00 oversized pistons. So I ground the rave valves down myself. They look good.

I installed them and it sounds smooth when turning the pto (I never thought it would turn, ever).

But, I can here the rave slider coming in contact with the rings. I am not a mechanic about how the rave works exactly, so the theory behind the raves and how they work when the engine is running is a mystery.

So, should the raves slider over the rings? They do, there is no hang ups, but before I turn this thing over, I want to make sure that I don't need to grind more off these things.


Thanks,

JD

 

[JDC]

I have to clarify, the sound is like the top of the rave is clicking against the top of cap.

There is no metal on metal sound. The mag side piston doesn't have the sound, just the pto piston.

Thanks,

JD