For all newbies to pwc

[roberth2013]

HI im posting this to all the newbies to the watercraft world,, when your buying a ski,, and the seller says oh it's only been in saltwater a couple times,, ruuuuunnnnn!! lol,, Also if they have a reason that they cant take it to the water to let you ride it ruuunnn faster,,, with that said,,, and if you read any of my posts ,,i have been dealing with a nitemare because i didnt do the two things i mentioned above,,,lol after hours of trouble shooting and asking a thousand questions to all the great members here,,,it came down to stopped up water cooling passages in the heads on both of my gtx di's i had bought in may this year,,, im uploading some pictures of what i have dealt with,,, two heads,, two tuned pipes,,,two exhaust manifolds and two new air injectors two sets of headbolts two sets of exhaust manifold bolts later along with a ton of cut-off disks gasket sets and countless hours cutting the heads up in little peices and chiseling them off with a hammer,,,, im upoading some pictures of how the heads had to come off,,, the saltwater had worked its way up the headbolts and exhaust manifold bolls all the way up the the top of the head,,,broke hardened sockets off trying to break them loose,,,bought special bits to drill the bolts out and try easy outs ,,broke those to, never seen anything like it, the saltwater corrosion had done the exhaust manifolds the same way, tried days of penetrating fluids of every brand, nothing worked, the saltwater had even gotten between the plates of the metal head gaskets,,, it was like concrete,,, so with all that said,,,i took the first one i have finished out this weekend,,i cant say it was worth all i been through,, but it was a blast riding it after,, and one other thing, if you plan to take them in the salt water 'flush flush and flush some more lol thanks to all you great members,,,, who are probably laffin their butts off right now,,, live and learn lol

 

[Strizzo]

You know when you take the aluminum to the scrapper they shred it themselves, you don't have to do it yourself.

 

[bell99man]

I think I would have just eaten the core charge on that one. You are persistent for sure. Salt wasn't the problem with your skis, the previous owner was.

 

[LouDoo]

I agree completely while a fresh water ski is best a salt water ski if maintained properly, ie flush after use and in extreme cases use Salt-A-Way can also be a great ski. We've got a lot of members in Florida, ask them, they put more hours on their ski's than most.

Are you located near the Ocean? It's hard to tell from a zip code.

Lou

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I wouldn't touch a salt water ski with a 50' pole. Or boat. Or allow any of mine to be ridden in salt.

 

[dannyual767]

Yeah, saltwater is really rough on stuff. I think that salt always wins but you can give it a great fight and slow it down by flushing well and cleaning/rinsing thoroughly. Many of us Florida boaters don't have a choice. We have to fight!

Obviously the previous owner of your ski never did anything to battle the effects of saltwater.

 

[griz400]

if you live in florida, and 40 minute ride to gulf of mexico, and all the nice places, clean, clear water, can go snorkleing, beach after beach, you wouldnt ride in salt water ???? and you would want to ride in some muddy catfish ponds in pa ??? its just that you have never experienced it ...... you would pretty much be on the water most every weekend like i do ....

 

[manolocross]

Let me ask this and I know it's a dumb question but is flushing on hose enough or a complete engine compartment washout is necessary after riding in saltwater. I don't do the complete engine compartment but I wash outside of ski,flush engine on hose then spray lubricant(anti corrosion) on parts that I DON'T want to corrode aka Carbs, spark plugs ,exhaust and all hose connections that the saltwater runs through.

 

[Robj]

I wouldn't touch a salt water ski with a 50' pole. Or boat. Or allow any of mine to be ridden in salt.

X2

Neither my boat or ski have seen salt water. Lots of fresh water around here to go riding and boating.

 

[Dr Honda]

I grew up in SoCal... and my toys saw a lot of salt time. As long as it's maintained... it's not an issue. When I moved to PA... one of my toys was a 1979 JS440 that was highly mod'ed, and saw as much salt water as fresh. (it was my wave jumper) If I didn't tell you it was an ocean rig... you would have never of known.

With salt... you have to bring it home, flush it out... and clean it off. EVERY TIME, WITHOUT FAIL !!!!!



But... as above... it's not the salt water... it was the last owner who was at fault. AND... sorry for the probs.

 

[Brian J]

Wow that looks and sounds like a lot of work. Here in MN saltwater is the kiss of death for boat resale value, many won't touch them. I would if the price was right and maintenance had been done.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

if you live in florida, and 40 minute ride to gulf of mexico, and all the nice places, clean, clear water, can go snorkleing, beach after beach, you wouldnt ride in salt water ???? and you would want to ride in some muddy catfish ponds in pa ??? its just that you have never experienced it ...... you would pretty much be on the water most every weekend like i do ....

exactly !!! and mind you, I also think we have some fantastic rivers to ride as well, (I do about 80% rivers, 20% beach) the Peace, the kissimmee, st john's etc... but there is no substitute for the 4 B's ( beaches, bikini's, bars, blue water.) I've seen little or no dramatic problems with riding in salt, granted I take precautions, and rinse often, but thats just common sense.

it certainly isn't going to make me not want to go to the beach.

Let me ask this and I know it's a dumb question but is flushing on hose enough or a complete engine compartment washout is necessary after riding in saltwater. I don't do the complete engine compartment but I wash outside of ski,flush engine on hose then spray lubricant(anti corrosion) on parts that I DON'T want to corrode aka Carbs, spark plugs ,exhaust and all hose connections that the saltwater runs through.

yip, salt away and fluid film work wonders. i'm quite generous with the lubricant, on all area's you mentioned, along with plastic connectors, clamps, etc, pretty much everywhere !...

From 2009-2012 I probably averaged 200 hours on my ski per year, 2013 off to a slow start, maybe 25 so far but i was w/o ski's for 3 months. none of those ski's showed any visible signs of salt issues. now I do sometimes after heading back from a salt ride, I drop it in the river on the fresh water side and run it 10 miles to really flush it. but otherwise its just salt away, lubricant, and i lightly spray the engine itself with fresh water as well, just with the hose, not a pressure washer or anything.

now I will say this,, if the PO rode salt all time and didn't take precautions, then ya... your dealing with some problems, but if the PO was doing the right things, you'd hardly know it's been in the ocean.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

I think I would have just eaten the core charge on that one. You are persistent for sure. Salt wasn't the problem with your skis, the previous owner was.

absolutely... the first head bolt might have convinced me that its getting cored in, no point in torturing yourself.

 

[bell99man]

yip, salt away and fluid film work wonders. i'm quite generous with the lubricant, on all area's you mentioned, along with plastic connectors, clamps, etc, pretty much everywhere !...

I keep forgetting the Fluid Film. I coated my engine back at the 1st week of June and took 3 rides at the coast, rinsed at home, and probably another 6-8 fresh water rides and that stuff is still on there! The pump and linkages have rinsed clear on the rides but the carbs and head, exhaust bolts are still slick. This is the best protection coating I have ever seen.

Kevin

 

[Crofoot50]

if you live in florida, and 40 minute ride to gulf of mexico, and all the nice places, clean, clear water, can go snorkleing, beach after beach, you wouldnt ride in salt water ???? and you would want to ride in some muddy catfish ponds in pa ??? its just that you have never experienced it ...... you would pretty much be on the water most every weekend like i do ....

Hey Hey now Griz I LOVE my muddy PA catfish ponds LMFAO ! I will be riding in the Gulf off of Marco Island in two weeks so I will let you know what I think of your water. Not liking the 90 degree water temp tho . I stick to my 75 degree river water in PA... Very Refreshing on a Hot Day

 

[roberth2013]

i appreciate all the good comments but one, wont say which one,, a core wasnt an option for me,,,already dropped 6 grand for the ski's,, thank god i have a very patient and understanding girlfriend, that didnt beat me up to bad, lol, in for a penny in for a pound, had no idea on how bad the corrosion was untill i got in to deep,, i have worked on everything from fighter jets and helicopters in the air force,, to dirt bikes and atv's built drag cars and desert racers,, but man oh man i went to school on these toys, lmao they are real nice ski's
well kept up but i obviously never internally maintained , only a little over a 100 hrs on each one,, thats why i wasnt to hesitant about buying them,,,
thanks for the info on the salt away,, i learn something new every time i come here,,, i have a question about a scanner im reading about,,,
CANDOO PRO is it worth the money, i use a Snap-On scanner for my vehicles and its well worth all it cost me, and yes i know it wasnt the saltwater,,, just the owners either disregard or lack of knowlegde that they needed flushed,, all in all im still happy with them,,
taking the second one out this weekend, and see how it goes, as for the comment about the scrap metal i would normally retort with something witty,,, but most times a little philospy will suffice "its better sometimes to keep silent and let everyone think your an a** than to speak and validate it"

 

[roberth2013]

Fluid film,, havnt heard of that one either,,if you guys say it works that great, i will look for that also,

 

[roberth2013]

thanks lou no im from near the charlotte area of NC originally from your neck of the woods,,, but i think the po took them to wilmington nc a lot,, they said they have family there,,, so it stands to reason,,

 

[Seadoobuddy]

exactly !!! and mind you, I also think we have some fantastic rivers to ride as well, (I do about 80% rivers, 20% beach) the Peace, the kissimmee, st john's etc... but there is no substitute for the 4 B's ( beaches, bikini's, bars, blue water.) I've seen little or no dramatic problems with riding in salt, granted I take precautions, and rinse often, but thats just common sense.
it certainly isn't going to make me not want to go to the beach.
yip, salt away and fluid film work wonders. i'm quite generous with the lubricant, on all area's you mentioned, along with plastic connectors, clamps, etc, pretty much everywhere !...
From 2009-2012 I probably averaged 200 hours on my ski per year, 2013 off to a slow start, maybe 25 so far but i was w/o ski's for 3 months. none of those ski's showed any visible signs of salt issues. now I do sometimes after heading back from a salt ride, I drop it in the river on the fresh water side and run it 10 miles to really flush it. but otherwise its just salt away, lubricant, and i lightly spray the engine itself with fresh water as well, just with the hose, not a pressure washer or anything.

now I will say this,, if the PO rode salt all time and didn't take precautions, then ya... your dealing with some problems, but if the PO was doing the right things, you'd hardly know it's been in the ocean.

How you apply Salt away to inside the motor? Through the flushing hose end near the pump????

 

[Spimothy Leary]

I keep forgetting the Fluid Film. I coated my engine back at the 1st week of June and took 3 rides at the coast, rinsed at home, and probably another 6-8 fresh water rides and that stuff is still on there! The pump and linkages have rinsed clear on the rides but the carbs and head, exhaust bolts are still slick. This is the best protection coating I have ever seen.

Kevin

its the BOMB !!!

Fluid film,, havnt heard of that one either,,if you guys say it works that great, i will look for that also,

yes, its like wd40 on superman steroids. i've found it locally at John Deer Dealerships of all places but now I just order it on line, it last forever so 1 can goes a LONG way...seems expensive but 2 years later you still have the can and realize that you made a good purchase.

How you apply Salt away to inside the motor? Through the flushing hose end near the pump????

the salt away dispenser just connects to the hose / flush line, so I just splash the motor with it a couple of times to get some water on it, but I don't do it every time, but i will if i see the little white speckles, unless I ride in heavy surf the engine usually doesn't even get a drop on it. but usually i'm just splashing some fresh water on it to rinse it off.

 

[bell99man]

i appreciate all the good comments but one, wont say which one,, a core wasnt an option for me,,,already dropped 6 grand for the ski's,, thank god i have a very patient and understanding girlfriend, that didnt beat me up to bad, lol, in for a penny in for a pound, had no idea on how bad the corrosion was untill i got in to deep,, i have worked on everything from fighter jets and helicopters in the air force,, to dirt bikes and atv's built drag cars and desert racers,, but man oh man i went to school on these toys, lmao they are real nice ski's
well kept up but i obviously never internally maintained , only a little over a 100 hrs on each one,, thats why i wasnt to hesitant about buying them,,,
thanks for the info on the salt away,, i learn something new every time i come here,,, i have a question about a scanner im reading about,,,
CANDOO PRO is it worth the money, i use a Snap-On scanner for my vehicles and its well worth all it cost me, and yes i know it wasnt the saltwater,,, just the owners either disregard or lack of knowlegde that they needed flushed,, all in all im still happy with them,,
taking the second one out this weekend, and see how it goes, as for the comment about the scrap metal i would normally retort with something witty,,, but most times a little philospy will suffice "its better sometimes to keep silent and let everyone think your an a** than to speak and validate it"

What were you actually able to save by cutting that head up? Was any part of that motor saved? (rhetorical and where my thoughts were coming from) My point was that you could have paid the extra money for the core charge rather than buy a new head and whatever else you found ruined in the process to get maybe a rebuildable crank out. But you know your situation better than I do and I was just saying that I am too lazy to go the route you did. I hope it did not sound like I was picking on you and I only commented on the previous owner because you seemed really down on the salt exposure based on your advice to run from it.

I am glad it worked out and you are enjoying them and you can be proud of how well they run and get maintained because you did an amazing save and will obviously treat them well.(too many 'ands' but I'm not an English major) Ride 'em hard and high

Kevin

 

[roberth2013]

hi kevin nice to meet you, no it wasnt you that i was refering to,,lol, it was the comment on taking the metal to the scrap yard and they would cut it up for me,,, that one i didnt feel was necessary, but theres always one,, im not down on saltwater,,as i plan to take mine to the beach everytime i can,, they are great on the lake,, but i want to try them on some good waves,,,:thumbsup: what i was refering to with newbies,,, is that if they have a suspicion that they have been in salt water,, just dont do like me,, and take the owners word that they are fine,,,it was my own stupidity to buy them without riding them first, which i would have found out they both had overheating problems and would have walked away,,, but i try to beleive in the good in everyone untill i have a reason not to,,,

as far as getting the heads off,,, cutting them up into peices,,well the corrosion had gotten all the way up the bolt shoulders to the base of the head bolts and manifold bolts,, man i tried everything to break them loose,, broke snap-on impact sockets,, tried every penetrant that is avalable,,,even the new loctite freeze spray that is supposed to contract the bolt down to - 40 and create micro cracks so the penetrant can work its way down,, nothing worked,,i even cut the head bolts off just under the shoulder first,, put pb blaster everything to try and break up the corrosion,,,the funny part was,,,after i got the head cut around the bolts and broke away the excess metal,,,i could take a pair of pliars and back the bolts out,, thats the funny part,,they werent frozen in the threads of the cylinder,,, just all the way up the bolt shaft to the top of the head,,the whitish powder was like freaking concrete nothing would break it loose,,,so i resolved to cut the head up into sections around the bolts and just back them out with a pair of vice grips,, the exhaust manifolds were just the same,,,even the pipes were corroded through at the flange where they come together ,,,lol,, as far as saving the motor,,,i took my time,, though it was hard,,and i ground the head down to a very thin amount of metal left before touching the cylinders or the engine,,, took a small thin chisel and broke the head peices away,, it took about 30 seconds to remove the bolt,,, the inside of he ski's engine and compartment looked like they were brand new,,so im thinking when im looking at them to buy,,,they had been took care of,,, boy did i go to school lmao,,,, but as i said,,all in all,,, it hurt my pride, lol but i have also learned a whole lot about the ski's doing all this repair, bought a candoo pro scanner today so i can use it to diagnose any future problems,,,they only have a little over a 100 hrs on both of them,, the engines run real nice,,,so all in all, im not a newbie on them anymore, thanks asking robert

 

[OldSchool]

A well maintained ski is a well maintained ski. Whether it is in Salt or not. As an avid rider of Salt Water, my typical procedure is to dip the skis in a nearby lake and run them a few minutes before taking them home to be rinsed down fully and wiped. A little touch of lube here and there on cables and a good wipe down goes a long way for a salt machine.

I used to sell my SeaDoos nearly every year, right before the new ones came out, I would tell the buyer that they were ridden in salt and explain to them what I did to keep them fresh.

When it comes down to it, if you do not know the seller personally, do not assume anything about the machine you are buying if it is used.

For me, I give things a good look, comp test, look in the pump with a little mirror and check the bilge to see if any wiring or hoses are out of order. If it runs like it should off the trailer, revs decent and steady with no popping or unstable idle I might buy it without riding it depending on the price. For me, if it is low enough, I figure I can afford to fix anything wrong with it that I couldn't find out of the water. If it is a 96 or later model, some came with hose fittings built-in so you can check for any water leaks from the engine and also get an idea if any water is leaking into the engine on a hose.

Yes, Salt water can create havoc if not maintained, bolt heads break off, electrical.. Heck, even the bilge can stink from it, but a ski that was handled well after salt use will not show the signs of salt use. Heck, you can look on the pump vanes half of the time and see salt water exposure.

 

[griz400]

riding in a lake is no substitute at all for flushing a ski, must flush it on a hose, reason being is the last the ski runs, is where -- at the boat ramp where all the sand, dirt , etc is all stirred up from being used all day, people walking in the water, etc.
fresh or saltwater use, needs to be run a minute or so once you are home in the driveway -- you do as you want to, but sediments kill motors because they lay in the same places, they build up and crystallize, over and over again ....

 

[Dennis1972]

funny! I have a 97 GSX which was only ridden it salt water since day one and its still 100%! and all you salt water haters what about all the outboard motors that are salt water cooled??? I have an 88! and it still runs fine!!! all you need to do is FLUSH it out when done and all is good!!!!!!!! and the one who said the salt water worked its way up the head bolts? um yea like someone else said that was not the salt water but the previous owner!!! I live on the jersey shore and have two skis a 1997 GSX and a 1988 Kawasaki 650 stand up and a 1998 bayliner with a 1998 force 125 outboard all of which were used only in salt water and all of which still run 100% today so its not the salinity of the water its the care you put into it!!!!!