Hi again....newbie here.
I recently bought a 2000 GS and a 1997 XP. I had some issues with the GS but it is running great now and in fact, even though it has the smaller engine it seems to be noticeably quicker than the XP and may be faster as well. It hooks up better and pulls significantly harder out of the hole for sure but without a speedo I can't really tell top speed and I haven't had a chance to run them side by side yet. The best indicated top speed I've seen on the XP is about 48 but remember that is using the stock speedo and not GPS. The real disappointment with the XP is coming out of the hole. It feels like it might be cavitating until it gets on plane and then it hooks up better. You can actually hear and feel the engine pull down just a bit once it gets on plane. I found a piece of vegetation caught in the intake grate yesterday. I cleaned that out and took it out again this morning and while it was better it still doesn't feel right. The impeller looks good in that it doesn't have any nicks, dings or bent blades. It appears to be stainless steel and has a pronounced swirl finish to it so I'm assuming that is aftermarket but I have no idea what make/model/pitch it might be. The edges of the blades are rounded rather than straight. Looking at the stock intake grate on ebay it appears that I have an aftermarket intake grate as well. I just read up on checking the wear ring this morning but have not checked that yet.
So the questions are:
Would you expect a 720 GS to pull harder than a 782 XP out of the hole or am I chasing my tail here?
What is the best intake grate and impeller combo for a 97 XP or should I go back to stock and start from there?
On the off chance that the intake grate is a POS design, is there any value in taking it off completely for a test run to see if that helps the cavitation?
Are there any other tricks to help with cavitation or anything else I can or should test on the water?
How hard is it to replace the carbon seal? Does the engine have to come out?
If I have to pull the pump I'd rather fix all of the possibilities at once rather than work on it every weekend for the rest of the year. I'm willing to spend the money to make it right but at this point I'm not even sure my ski has a problem. It may be not be any different than every other 97 XP!
I recently bought a 2000 GS and a 1997 XP. I had some issues with the GS but it is running great now and in fact, even though it has the smaller engine it seems to be noticeably quicker than the XP and may be faster as well. It hooks up better and pulls significantly harder out of the hole for sure but without a speedo I can't really tell top speed and I haven't had a chance to run them side by side yet. The best indicated top speed I've seen on the XP is about 48 but remember that is using the stock speedo and not GPS. The real disappointment with the XP is coming out of the hole. It feels like it might be cavitating until it gets on plane and then it hooks up better. You can actually hear and feel the engine pull down just a bit once it gets on plane. I found a piece of vegetation caught in the intake grate yesterday. I cleaned that out and took it out again this morning and while it was better it still doesn't feel right. The impeller looks good in that it doesn't have any nicks, dings or bent blades. It appears to be stainless steel and has a pronounced swirl finish to it so I'm assuming that is aftermarket but I have no idea what make/model/pitch it might be. The edges of the blades are rounded rather than straight. Looking at the stock intake grate on ebay it appears that I have an aftermarket intake grate as well. I just read up on checking the wear ring this morning but have not checked that yet.
So the questions are:
Would you expect a 720 GS to pull harder than a 782 XP out of the hole or am I chasing my tail here?
What is the best intake grate and impeller combo for a 97 XP or should I go back to stock and start from there?
On the off chance that the intake grate is a POS design, is there any value in taking it off completely for a test run to see if that helps the cavitation?
Are there any other tricks to help with cavitation or anything else I can or should test on the water?
How hard is it to replace the carbon seal? Does the engine have to come out?
If I have to pull the pump I'd rather fix all of the possibilities at once rather than work on it every weekend for the rest of the year. I'm willing to spend the money to make it right but at this point I'm not even sure my ski has a problem. It may be not be any different than every other 97 XP!