muddy brown residue on rear plug

[adam38654]

I just bought a 97 seadoo bombardier XP on craiglist for a great deal. It is very clean and supposedly ran good until it sat for a couple years. I sprayed starting fluid and it wouldn't even crank so I checked the spark. It seemed to have a week spark. Blue but very faint.

I checked all the electronics/fuses suspecting it was the CDI/ECU coil or magneto. They all seemed fine but next thing I know it would cranked up when I poured some fresh gas down the fuel line directly to the carbs. I pulled them and there is a very tacky blush gunk in them.

Then my battery wouldn't take a charge very well so I bought a new one and I believe my starter just died.

There has always been a milky muddy like residue on the rear plug near the drive shaft. Then i saw this residue looked to be coming out of the headgasket so I pulled the rear RADE valve and it had blown a gasket and had the milky brown residue all over the guillotine.

 

[Coastiejoe]

For clarity, "crank" means turn over but not start. So saying it doesn't crank means it does not turn over. Just informing you as other will read it as I just described.

What color are the fuel lines? If they are Grey Tempo fuel lines, they need replaced, carbs pulled and rebuilt, and replace the fuel selector. The fact you mention blue gunk is leading me to believe they are the Grey Tempo lines. They determinate from the inside and clog all fuel related issues.

 

[adam38654]

Ok it would turn over but not start even with starting fluid. Then it cranked when i hooked up an external fuel tank and seemed to work with starting fluid also. Then it stopped firing again right before the starter died. I tried jumping the solenoid and nothing so either the starter or motor is seized.

Grey lines.I planed on replacing all the fuel lines,rebuilding the carbs, and adding an inline filter.

Now I am worried if the engine was flooded or bad seals let the crank or cylinders get scored up.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Do not use starting fluid on a 2-stroke. There is no oil in it. These engines get the lube from the fuel/oil mixing as it enters the crank case. Running on either is an engine killer.

I'd pull the plugs and see if it cranks. Do not stand over the plug holes as water or oil can come out in great force if it is in there.

 

[mikidymac]

From your pictures of the RAVE valve that sure looks like rust and rust/oil mix. If that is the case the engine and crank has water sitting in it and are shot.

 

[adam38654]

I would pour an ounce of 50:1 mix in the cylinder before trying starting fluid. No appreciable amount of water came out of the plug holes while turning it over. Just a small drop of the end of the plug and what you can see on the rade valve. I guess I will just have to split the case to see the damage.

 

[adam38654]

I would pour an ounce of 50:1 mix in the cylinder before trying starting fluid. No appreciable amount of water came out of the plug holes while turning it over. Just a small drop of the end of the plug and what you can see on the rade valve. I guess I will just have to split the case to see the damage.

The starter started working again so I am going to do a compression test. Hopefully it is still high and the crank or cylinders arent scored up.

Im thinking the previous owned tried to flush the system with a water hose without running the engine first.

Once I get it apart I will be able to tell where the water/oil is coming from and what the damage is. Remanufactured engines are pretty cheap but I would like to rebuild this block myself because its pretty clean and low hours.

 

[mikidymac]

Nothing more gratifying than rebuilding your engine yourself. We can walk you through all the steps to do it correctly.

In your first picture the head bolts don't have any paint so it has been off in the past. Make sure you post pictures of what you find.

 

[adam38654]

I tried to jump the relay and the starter just wouldn't work. I dont know if it was jammed up or what. I loosened the starter bolts to take it off before I decided to try that later and it started working again.

The front cylinder is 110psi and the rear is 125psi probably due the the little bit of oil in that cylinder. I am not sure if these cylinders/rings are salvageable so long as there are no gouges.

Why would there only be oily residue in the rear cylinder? If he did hook up a water hose without the engine running is there any way to flush out the motor if the crank isn't scored?

 

[mikidymac]

The 110psi is low enough that it might not start in the water. On a 787 150psi is perfect 120 is time for a rebuild.
If water was run without the motor running it probably got water in the engine and is why there is the rusty residue on the RAVE valve.
At this point and low compression you need to pull the head to see what is going on.