just bough my first ski !!

[Dirtbikes4fun02]

jhjesse: i didnt know my seadoo was a celebrity! lol jk... the guy i bought this one from had a few others for sale also. i dont know exactly how many. but i am definately about to check em out

minnetonka: sorrry but i found the bumper i needed on ebay. there was a NOS still in the factory packaging for 32 shipped to the door. so i had to jump on it (i am pretty sure you cant blame me for that one lol). but thanks anyway and i will definately keep you in mind if i need anything else.

imloaded: thanks for the compliment. i am gonna give her a good bath and a quick coat of wax. then me and my brother are gonna head to the local lake after lunch (possible mid 70's tomorrow), and give her a test. i am thinking it is going to be EXTREMELY short lived once we see how cold the water is. but i am dieing to get her out on the water, i have never ridden a pwc ever and i have always wanted to.

 

[Dirtbikes4fun02]

ok so me and my brother took it out today. WOW!!! IT WAS SO COLD! the water burned at times. lol

the ski run awesome, it sputtered a lil bit at first in the upper rpms so i had to slowly work it out. but it ran like a champ after that and rev'd up all the way and was a blast.

but.. the starter went out about halfway through the day. you could push the starter button and you would just feel and hear it free spinning. we could keep hitting the starter button and get it to catch sometimes and ride it like that. but it got very unreliable towards the end where we didnt shut it off, we just put it in nuetral each time and switched drivers.

the starter would attempt to turn it over but then just free spin until it stopped. i could see it just barely turn the drive shaft a little before it just started humming away. but like i said every once in a while it would catch and start if it didnt let go and free spin.

so the mechanic i bought it from agreed that it was probably the starter.
he said that if i was the slightest bit mechanically able, that i could take it out, have it rebuilt, and then put it back in and i would be good to go. i was told to save my money and dont worry about paying him or anybody else to do it for me.
he said to just remove the exhaust and that the starter was under it.

does anybody have any suggestions? any how to articles? anything?
i may try to take it off in the morning. the mechanic just warned me to be careful and not to force that exhaust or i could mess it up and cause it to leak. he also said to get some high temp rtv and make sure that i use a lil bit of it to seal it all up when i am putting it back together. right??

 

[Minnetonka4me]

Forget taking the pipe off...its not easy, but you can do it leaving the pipe on. There are two 13mm bolts that hold it to the mag housing; you can reach them with a 10" extension. There is also the 10mm nut holding the red wire on, and one 13mm bolt on the back of the starter.

Thats it...it should pop right out.

Now...if the bendix on the starter is all rusty, there maybe water in the mag housing. It is best to take the front cover off the motor and get it clean and dry. 787 motors are a PITA so in a pinch I will tilt the machine so the starter hole is the lowest point and let all the water drain, then take a air blaster and stick it in there and try to dry it out as best I can.

Then...put the starter in and hand tighten the 13mm in the back. Then stuff tape in the 13mm socket, put the bolt in the socket, and use a little electrical tape to hold the bolt in the socket. Do that for both mounting bolts. A little patience and you'll have it done in an hour or so.

My bro just did the above last week for the first time; he did have a extra motor to reference, but he had it swapped out in 35mins.

If you take the pipe off you run the risk of breaking the gasket...$15 at the dealer. Also on all 580-720s the bolts on the manifold are known to get loose...if they are nice and tight I say leave em that way.

 

[Dirtbikes4fun02]

awesome. i am looking all over the net for pics trying to get an idea of what i am looking at and looking for.
i really appreciate all your help man. u should charge more for your knowledge!

thanks again and i will let yall know how it goes when i try to take it off tomorrow.

any idea of how much it should cost to have it rebuilt? i would assume the ones on ebay are junk and thats y he recommended me having it rebuilt.

 

[Minnetonka4me]

Well I learned all this the the same way you are....just make sure you pass on your new found knowledge when you can.


yup exactly the ebay ones are complete junk; SBTs are maybe one tier higher, and oem is about 10 tiers above that...the rebuild kits are about $30 on ebay.

I have a few used OEM starters, maybe even a yellow one, for $80 shipped. I know I got a white one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SEA-...tZPersonalQ5fWatercraftQ5fParts#ht_500wt_1182

Theres a good link to a picture to kinda see what you are dealing with...and a motor that over heated like crazy!! Take note they took the starter out incorrectly and didnt take the back bolt out of the mounting bracket. Much easier to take the 13mm bolt out.

 

[Dirtbikes4fun02]

you are the man! those pics are probably gonna be the ticket.
i was looking on ebay and didnt find any starter rebuild kit that had my year model specific (oldest i found was 92). so i dunno which one would work for mine.

if i take the starter out and i see that the bendix is rusted, u think i could just clean it up with some penetrating oil really good and re-install it? u think that would work? or should i just get it rebuilt while i have it out?

the mechanic at my work rebuilds starters and alternators for cars all the time. so i would assume that if i ordered the right kit and took to him he would rebuild it for me. i just dont know if that would be the best route to go.