I was hoping you guys could give me some tips and advise as far as troubleshooting some issues with my ski. I'm a "car guy" and always work on my own stuff, just pretty new to skis.
I've got a 2004 GTX 185 with 177 hours. When I bought it @150hrs I was told it had upgraded valves, rebuilt blower, and was otherwise stock. A few weeks ago I took it on a ~50 mile ride, the ski ran great, no issues at all. When I got back to the boat ramp and pulled the plugs a large amount of water ran out. It wasn't enough that it affected performance enough to notice (although I was just cruising around), but it was certainly out of the ordinary.
I suspected an exhaust leak, and pulled the whole exhaust out without finding anything obvious. I took the ski out again to test, and try to find the leak. I couldn't find the leak, but this time noticed it was ~10mph slower than normal and could feel some slight hesitation at times.
Researched some more, suspected a failed carbon ring, replaced it, and went back out for a test. This time the ski is bone dry, no water leak at all, but the hesitation and slower speeds are still there. I rode around for probably 10 minutes before the ski just sputtered and died. If I hit the starter it would turn over, but sounded slow to turn and wouldn't start. Eventually it stopped turning over, which I assumed was the battery getting weak.
I got the ski back home, charged the battery and still it won't turn over at all. I pulled the plugs and they look fine. Looked in the cylinders as good as I can and don't see anything obviously fubar'd. I pulled the intake and the blower moves a little (like 1/16th of an inch) so I don't think it's seized. Oil looks clean and is full. I'm just a little stumped at this point. I assume pulling the intake manifold is next on the list, but I feel like if it dropped a valve I'd see some evidence in the plugs/cylinders. Any other things to check or stuff to try before I get ready to pull the motor?
Thanks in advance for any advise. Really hoping this thing isn't totally dead.
I've got a 2004 GTX 185 with 177 hours. When I bought it @150hrs I was told it had upgraded valves, rebuilt blower, and was otherwise stock. A few weeks ago I took it on a ~50 mile ride, the ski ran great, no issues at all. When I got back to the boat ramp and pulled the plugs a large amount of water ran out. It wasn't enough that it affected performance enough to notice (although I was just cruising around), but it was certainly out of the ordinary.
I suspected an exhaust leak, and pulled the whole exhaust out without finding anything obvious. I took the ski out again to test, and try to find the leak. I couldn't find the leak, but this time noticed it was ~10mph slower than normal and could feel some slight hesitation at times.
Researched some more, suspected a failed carbon ring, replaced it, and went back out for a test. This time the ski is bone dry, no water leak at all, but the hesitation and slower speeds are still there. I rode around for probably 10 minutes before the ski just sputtered and died. If I hit the starter it would turn over, but sounded slow to turn and wouldn't start. Eventually it stopped turning over, which I assumed was the battery getting weak.
I got the ski back home, charged the battery and still it won't turn over at all. I pulled the plugs and they look fine. Looked in the cylinders as good as I can and don't see anything obviously fubar'd. I pulled the intake and the blower moves a little (like 1/16th of an inch) so I don't think it's seized. Oil looks clean and is full. I'm just a little stumped at this point. I assume pulling the intake manifold is next on the list, but I feel like if it dropped a valve I'd see some evidence in the plugs/cylinders. Any other things to check or stuff to try before I get ready to pull the motor?
Thanks in advance for any advise. Really hoping this thing isn't totally dead.
