Intermittent power loss till warmed up

[BroncoMarc]

I've got a 2005 RXT that I've had for a few years. I've had it out 3 times this year and each time it has had intermittent power loss for about the first 5 minutes, then it runs normally.

Example - I took it out today and for the first 2-3 minutes I could only hit 42 mph. Then the power started coming and going like someone turning on and off a light switch. After about 5 minutes, it ran normally for the rest of the day.

Here is a video of it cutting in and out. I was maintaining constant throttle, trying to keep it at 3000 RPM. (when it drops below 3000, that was me getting off the throttle).
New video by Marc Reiter

I thought it might be my MPEM dying. I've been giving me error beeps since I bought the ski. But, I finally shelled out for a new MPEM and today was my first ride with it and it still is doing it. It did get rid of my error beeps though!

Not sure if it's related, but I did get a check engine light (first time I've seen one) at the end of the day when I was going full throttle back to the dock. It cleared after shutting it off and restarting it.

Any guesses at what could be causing this?

Thanks,
- Marc

 

[Digdog]

Look at the plugs , keep them in order and look at the color etc. send us a photo , kind of sounds like fuel starvation.

 

[BroncoMarc]

Here is a pic of the plugs.

 

[Digdog]

It looks like you have an intercooler leak , is your oil milky color ? The plugs are in very poor condition , the first one looks like it has water on it , second one is very corroded. You can remove the hoses from the intercooler and get some fittings and pieces of hose and make a pressure tester with a gauge on it , see if it holds 20psi. I would also do a compression test on the cylinders , there maybe damage internally.

 

[BroncoMarc]

I changed the oil in the fall and it looked good then. The front plug had oil on it. I was researching that and found it could be tube seals.

 

[Digdog]

If that is oil and not water then good, but the pitting on the plugs is saying something bad is going on , either really old plugs or water getting into the intake. If there is no water then just try changing the plugs and see if it improves , use thread ant-seize if you can.

 

[BroncoMarc]

I ordered new plugs yesterday. Not sure how old the plug are. They were in since I got it and I've put maybe 15 hours on it. I've got a trip end of next week, so I can try it out then.

I just thought it was odd how it is cutting out and in like a light switch till it warms up. Sounds electrical to me. Like maybe an o2 sensor that has to warm up.

 

[BGS]

You can buy the plugs at O'Reily's.