'99 gti 717... top end repair... DIY?

[hwoolfolk]

Gotta love kids! Oil light comes on... so keep on riding!



My ski has lost compression in the rear cylinder. Down to 90lbs. Im thinking top end. A few quesitons:



1- Before a top end is ordered, is it best to disassemble to see if that is all that it is?

And/or is that most likely the fix?

2- IS a top end a DIY job for a mechanicly inclined person? A good success rate? (Im certainly not afraid to tackle it)

3- I just want to put the ski back to original.. no modifications. With a top end kit, will I only need to hone the cylinders? And can that be done with a DIY cylinder honeing tool? or should it go to a shop?

4- Reading old posts I guess I will need one special tool... a wrench to remove the muffler.... any other tools?



And finally..



5- Is the manual the only written source for doing this job? Anyone have a better set of instructions?



Appreciate this help!



Oh.. I know that you need to isolate why the oil light was coming on... I chock it up to old oil and not replacing the oil filter... Im guessing it wasnt flowing well enough because it was consuming oil.



Oh, and one final question... how long is a job like this?



Thanks!

 

[voodoo]

The flat top motor is pretty easy to open the exhaust, to answer any of your questions you have to diagnose the inside of the motor, and make sure the oiling system is not jammed with a recent mix of oils that formed gel, when you slide out the piston pin pack the con rod area really well with old shop towels and having a magnet also helps to collect the rollers that fall out and into the motor, should be 34 of them when you put them into a sandwich bag. Now you move the towel over and do it again, only at this point will you know the condition of the lower end and be able to determine what oversize/carb repairs/oiling repairs are needed - you are north - fullbore will be the quicker shipping back reworked cyls, they must be sized to your new pistons.

 

[hwoolfolk]

voodoo...

You talked in another post about 3 places to purchase a rebuilt engine. I saw this on the SBT site...

http://www.shopsbt.com/seadoo-jet-ski-cylinder-exchange/62-105.html

for the money is it more expensive than purchasing the top end kit, paying to have my heads bored... and whatever I need to do?? This complete kit will come ready to rebuild.

Anyone use one of these kits?