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Identifying a old seadoo and new member checking in with some basic questions.

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MCL

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Hi everybody,new forum member who has recently become a owner of a older seadoo jet.Bought it off a friend for a bargain.It has seen very little use the last 8 years,but needs some maintenance and elbow grease to bring her back to satisfactory condition.

First of Im not sure which year it is.The plate on the back has 1988 written on it as seen in picture,but if you remove the gray cover and storage locker there is a text with 1992 on it.The engine is the yellow one,it doesnt have trim.The friend who sold it claims its a 91.
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Can anyone identify what year and model it is?

Im completely new to pwc but ive been around boats for ages.Once I know the year I can read through the manual and learn more about the specifics of the model.

I plan on bringing it back to great shape during the cold winter months as I have a heated garage.
Things that need to be corrected:
*Replace the battery,it has a new one but it is undersized.Does the battery need to be agm?
*There is some sort of barlast tank in the front with 2 hull connections on either side of the pwc.One is leaking water into the hull.Is this tank to give stability during stand still?
*The bottom has some small gouges and scratches.I plan to redo the whole bottom and make it smooth and then paint it.
*The throttle cable is broken.Its a single cable to the engine compartment where it is shared into two,the cable that goes to the throttle linkage is broken.I have no idea were the other cable goes to.
*It seems to have some sort of oil injection system,I alsos suspect this is were the other throttle cable goes to.I was thinking of tossing it in the bin and premixing oil in the fuel.Good or bad idea?
*There is a strong smell of fuel in the engine compartment,I suspect its the carb(s) so it will be rebuilt.Need to identify the carb to get the correct rebuild kit.
*The seat is pretty trashed.Luckily I have marine grade vinyl leftover from my last boat project so it will be redone.
*It doesnt seem to have a bilge pump?Is it supposed to have one or is there some sort on continuous suction using the jet to remove any water in the bilge?

My friend claimed it would do close to 40 knots(45mph) which I strongly suspect.Such a bold claim does however suggest that the jet is in good working order.I strongly suspect the jet is completely stock,as modifying pwc is really not that popular in Finland.
I wouldnt mind beefing up the performance a bit ang googled a bit on popular performance upgrades.
*Decking the heads.Due to ethanol in ordinary fuel im forced to run on 98 octane gas,how much can I shave of the heads?
*Upgrade the stock exhaust to some later year exhaust(pink?).
*Replace the impeller to a stainless one.Any suggestions for make and model?

Thanks in advance!
 
I have a limited knowledge of early Seadoo's but I think it's either and 88 or 89 SP, like Tim said check the last two digits of the HIN (hull identification number). Here's a guide that should help.

http://www.seadoosource.com/seadoomodelreference.html

AGM battery, yes for a few dollars more I would definitely go with an AGM battery.

I have NEVER recommended this before, but I think in this case, due to the age of the ski, parts availability, and reliability go with pre-mix (40:1), one caveat you will need to leave the oil tank in the ski, as it provides drip lubrication to the rotary valve.

I haven't a clue about the ballast tank in the front of the ski.

Bilge pump, no there isn't one, there should be a self bailing system.

Personally, on that old of a ski I wouldn't try any performance upgrades, it's going to have an effect on the reliability and probably pretty much non-existent.

I know I have left a bunch of un-answered questions, but we have an expert on these vintage ski's, he's also vintage himself. [MENTION=49703]RodInEscondido[/MENTION] Rod can you help out here?

Lou
 
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Wow that's an oldie ! Not in bad shape tho, could come out really clean. Keep us posted and you will find tons of awnsers here
 
Well shoot, Lou ... ya forced me out of my rocking chair on the front porch waiting for a rain cloud to appear (kinda like watching the grass grow, southern California version). I do not know about the "expert" stuff, but I will do my best to help.

model 5802 (on white sticker) identifies it as 89 SP ... I got 2 of them I am working over. The one you got looks pretty nice.

agm battery is always best

ballast tank? Post a picture

I personally would not paint the hull initially, but that is choice item ... you have other things to do

I do not recall the official name of the cable, I call it a snake-tongue cable. One connection goes to throttle on carb, the other connection goes to oil pump that is mounted below the carb on the Rotary Valve (RV) cover. Sync adjustments are in service manual.

Most of the real experts out here do not recommend going to pre-mix (and I agree), but you possibly have a little time coming up where you cannot ride (I am in Southern California and frequently tease a little about winter, but grew up in Alaska so know the story) and have time to peruse this site for how-to-do it. I do, however, recommend using pre-mix in addition to the stock oil-injection for first runs so you can safely look for the bubbles to flow thru the oil injection lines and clear up which normally indicates you are getting oil flow. You will use more oil without the oil-injection system.

Find the fuel leak and correct it right away ... some bad stories relating to gas fumes and sparks (even of connecting the battery). I highly recommend removing the fuel tank and cleaning it, as well as the pickups in the tank and the fuel selector. I found the pickups in the tank rotted off and the little filter/check valve rolling around at the bottom of the tank as well as some real disgusting honey-like crap all over the bottom of the tank.

get a service manual, available here or other places on-line ... they are very good

The carb on this and the 90 model have a round vice square cover over the innards. I have found on all I have tested so far that when doing pop-off test I get leaks either beside the needle and/or under the seat of the needle/seat combination. I am having difficulty in locating needle/seat for these carbs; the newer carbs have a different needle/seat which is more available. I am testing the ability to lap in the older needle/seat (kinda like lapping in your valves after a valve job on 4-strokes). Other option is to try to adapt a newer carb (on the long list of things to try out).

You are correct regarding the lack of a bilge pump and that there are 2 black pickups deep behind the engine that connect to the venturi section of the jet pump to suck out water (if not plugged).

I agree with Lou and not recommend any performance upgrades. The SP is kinda an entry-level ski. Get it running, play for a while, then if you really want more performance, get a ski to fit.

Hope this helps to get you started.

Rod
 
my girl and i started off with 89 sp's. fun little ski's and very simple and straight forward to work on and figure out. repair manual is a must have tho if you don't have knowledge of jet skis. and jet skis can be very addicting and expensive too. I now have 9 in my yard at my boat ramp. 7 sea doo's and 2 Kawasaki 650sx stand ups.
 
Thanks for all the answers.

Not trying to stir the soup but I found a sticker next to the storage locker with a date from 93.It seems like a identification for the fiberglass hull.Took a picture
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I do however also believe its some of the early sp like suggested on the forum.I could find a plate with the vin number anywhere on the boat.

I dont have more pictures.But the "barlast" tank im talking about is a black box in front of the jet.Which has two hose connected to its bottom which leads to two through hull fittings on either side of the jet,one on the fittings is visible in the picture of the jet.

I know some people will not agree its worth to improve or repair a pwc of this age.But jets are only used in a few months during the summer here.Which means they get used very little,most of them die because of age rather than mechanical wear.I would also suspect they are worth far more here than they are in the states.

I have a ultrasonic washer at work so I will give the carb a try before I try to upgrade to a newer model carb.From the looks of it I would need a complete intake from a newer model 980(white engine) to adapt for the newer carb.I noticed there are no carb rebuild kits for pre 92 models.

The upper hull will clean nicely and is almost perfect,It will only need a good wash and buffing.The jet has been beached so that the gelcoat has worn through and has several small nicks.Not sure yet If I will repaint or regelcoat the bottom.

I already tore out the whole oil tank and hoses.The lines were full of air which makes me a bit suspicious about the oil pump working.I am aware than premixing will increase oil consumption,pollution and foul plugs more easily.
Is the rotary lubrication simply gravity fed?I was thinking I could mount a small oil canister for that rather than putting back the original oil tank,I like having space in the engine compartment,makes it much easier to work on.

I had a look at the impeller and wear ring.Wear ring has absolutely no marks on it,the impeller is stainless with some small nicks but overall looking good.

The steering cable is also shot,or the cable is ok but the plastic mounts at both ends have failed and causes alot of slack.

Do you have any suggestions for a web store which sells parts to this model and ships internationally.I need to order a whole bunch of maintenance items,and would prefer to buy it all from one place to keep shipping costs low.

Ofcourse I can update this thread if people are interested to see the progress of the jet.
Im currently working in a ship engineroom,and on my free time im writing my thesis in a university while also renovating a older boat and now this jet.All this on 3 different locations so im quite busy and progress can be slow depending on what im doing.
 
hey rod.Incase you need a rebuild kti for those carbureutors i Found one online:
http://osdparts.com/index.php?main_...ing_info&cPath=595_123_124_125&products_id=34
It includes the needle jet assembly.

I have a problem finding the ball joints for the steering.I was wondering if it is possible to upgrade the steering cable to a newer design 92--> and use the newer style ball joints.The pre 92 design sucks with its plastic ball joints.

Looks like the old eyes and brain are wearing out ... I had that same link in my personal notes ... duh!!!

thanks for the memory-jogger

will get back and reply to the other stuff a little later, the sun has officially passed over the yardarm
 
I know what you mean,I work all day and come on the forums writing with my eyes crossed,makes the writing hard to read an full of typos.

Well a little progress,if you can call dismantling the jet that.Before I found that rebuild kit i bought a 44mm mikuni online with a complete intake,should be a working unit and if its not then parts are easily available.
I found a tuned pipe and west coast cylinder head for 100$ too,I was a bit tempted to shave of the oem head myself but couldnt pass the deal.

So the complete intake is off,exhaust too and I also removed the cylinder heads.Bolts were untouched and the sleeve is standard 76mm,sez something about its hours.There is some small scratches and a couple of small spots with heat seizing and very light rust.Nothing alarming and could be used with a small loss of power.But while I have it apart I might aswell bore it 0.25 over and put new pistons in.The crank feels solid with no play at all.Hopefully the crankshaft seals are ok,would hate to tear the engine apart to replace oil seals.The rotary valve also checked out and is in good condition.
I need the short waterbox to fit the tuned pipe.The box can be found cheap on ebay but the shipping is killing me.Instead of buying the box I though about shortenign the box and tigwelding it together.It would be greatly appreciated if anyone knew the length of the short waterbox?

My throttle cable was broken,but since Im removing the oil injection I can probably use the injection cable for the throttle.
I removed the plastic ball joints from the steering system.The thread to the cable end seems to me imperial(unc).A standard metric m5 bolt will go about a 1/4 inch into the ball joint thread.The screws that attach the ball joint to the levers are metric m6(diameter 6mm).
 
Well the engine turned out to be in not so good shape.Both upper rod bearings had rusted and seized,there was no play in the lower bearings rod bearings but I suspect they may also suffer from rust damage.Both pistons had seized several times and both upper rings were stuck in their groves.

So im going to rebuild the engine,got a new hot rods crankshaft on the way.The cylinders are bored out to 76,5mm and wsm platinum pistons to go with it.The original 129(?) rotary valve is being replaced by the later year 148 degree valve.
I got the mikuni 44 sbn carbureutor.Going to rebuild it at work since there is a ultrasonic washer there,got a full oem mikuni rebuild kit for it too.From what ive understood the 44sbn has a fuel pump in it which renders the exterior fuel pump on the 89 sp useless,is this correct?Was also thinking about binning the original fuel filter(on its last legs) and replace it with a standard inline filter.

Removed the impeller pump.Impeller is stainless and in quite nice shape,some small nicks but overall good.There is some very slight axial play and the wear ring is shot.Got a new wear ring and pump rebuild kit,just waiting for the impeller tool to come.Can anyone tell me how the intermediate shaft is connected to the engine/intermediate bearing?The pump came of easily,but I cant seem to remove the the shaft from the engine.The engine and intermediate bearing is still in place.
 
The 89/90 SP have the external fuel pump, 91 and later have it built into the carb (or one of the carbs if dual). I am not sure if the bn44 carb will work where the original was bn38, an expert will need to make that call. I am in the process of replacing the older bn38 and external fuel pump with newer bn38 with built-in fuel pump, but no results yet. Yes, I would no longer need the external fuel pump.

Most posts I have seen here seem to recommend retaining the primary fuel filter/water separator simply because of the water separator part ... insure good seal. In-line auto-type fuel filter is then added before the carb. Here is example on 89 SP with external fuel pump still being used.
 

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The 89/90 SP have the external fuel pump, 91 and later have it built into the carb (or one of the carbs if dual). I am not sure if the bn44 carb will work where the original was bn38, an expert will need to make that call. I am in the process of replacing the older bn38 and external fuel pump with newer bn38 with built-in fuel pump, but no results yet. Yes, I would no longer need the external fuel pump.

Most posts I have seen here seem to recommend retaining the primary fuel filter/water separator simply because of the water separator part ... insure good seal. In-line auto-type fuel filter is then added before the carb. Here is example on 89 SP with external fuel pump still being used.

So time to update this topic.The project has been on a hiatus for a while,went and finished school and got my engineers degree,and some other stuff has also kept me busy.

The engine has now been rebuilt.Hot rods crankshaft,wsm pistons,cylinders bored 0,5 up.The cylinders and cases have been ported.Also got a westcoast cylinder head with 36cc domes and a westcoast intake.44sbn carb has been cleaned and serviced.Got the later exhaust pipe which is made by west coast.The plug that separates coolign water from the rotary shaft chamber had corroded through,I machined a new one and painter over the plug with epoxy to prevent any future corrosion problems.

The jet pump has been overhauled,I also painted it with epoxy since the paint had flaked off.Got a new solas impeller to match the engine mods.

The shaft bearing/seal was shot,the bearing had seized on the axle and spinned in the plastic bearing assembly.There is no new parts available,and the newer design doesnt fit with modifying the hull.So I bought some standard needle bearings and seals,machined a new bearing carrier that was pressed into the old bellow.The impeller axle was out of round and the splines were worn,found a good second hand unit off ebay.Since I used standardized bearing I had to machine 0,3mm of the bearing surface of the axle.

The bottom of the hull had alot of gouges and nicks.These was filled with a epoxy filler,then painted with a epoxy primer and finished off with a black polyurethane paint.Tomorrow if the weather allows,the top side of the full will be painted yellow.After that its time to start putting it all back together.The seat and handlebar will get new covers in black/yellow.

This project has really blow out of proportions.Every single thing of it has literally been replaced or serviced.It will be far from stock or original,but be in new like shape.I should have it water ready in a few weeks.

I still have one puzzle to fix.The yellow engines run hotter than the white and later engines.Ive read that the yellow engine will have problems with heat as the engine is tuned.Especially the high compression heads will bring alot more combustion heat.I would like to improve the cooling(getting more water to the engine),but I havent figured out how yet.If someone has any insight on this it would be greatly appreciated.
 
Good to see you did not fall victim to one of them snowbanks ... springtime in Fairbanks would occasionally reveal that individual that disappeared between a bar and somewhere else during the winter.

Seems to me that various connectors in the cooling lines are metered to control the cooling flow so do not know really how to mess with them. I would just insure you have things cleaned out and flowing good; the pissers are easy to check, the flow from the head to the exhaust side is a little more difficult ... I will be replacing at least one of these with clear line so flow can be seen as you will probably always have some bubbles in the system. Just a thought and I do not know if the new head altered the flow.
 
I will get back with pictures once the jet is somewhat done,today I will coat the topside of the jet.So hopefully next week assembly starts.I dont have time to upload pictures and do and before an after yet.Im trying to get as much done as possible before thursday,after that I have to travel for a few days,then im off to work for a week.And after that im moving to another apartment.So after thursday there will be probably be a month of no progress on the jet.

It feels great to finish school and have a solid job.I have so many things that I had to put on hold due to school taking all time that I had.Now I have time to fix all the projects left behind,starting with this jet.

I have to study the later cooling flow diagrams and make a decision,then test how it works while monitoring temperatures.I was also planning on running clear lines to better see flow and possible problems.
The 720 doo engine actually cools in reverse compared to the smaller engines.Cooling water is pumped directly to the cylinder head and out to the water jacketed exhaust,could be one possibility.Im trying to contact some people who have raced theese skiis back ni the day for their opinion about the cooling system.
 
Ive been busy lately working on the jet,a few small things still remain.It is splashready and engine has been run briefly for a few seconds(no water).I thought I would update with a few pictures

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The camera on my phone will for some reason not picture the yellow colour for some reason.Its either white or neon yellow,but trust me it looks really good.

Still left to do:
-Attach the vent covers
Reupholster the seat and handlebar covers
-paint the gray top cover black,I also need to get some sort of stainless hinge for the cover,as the shitty plastic oem design has broken.
-put on new grips
-put some new grip mats on the jet
-I also need to make some stickers,the jet is registered and hence need a id number on it.
-I need to fabricate a stainless pisser attachment for the cyl head steam lock outlet.

Sadly I will be very busy the next 3 weeks and wont havy any time to work on it.
 
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