New to 4-Tec

Note: This site contains eBay affiliate links for which SeaDooForum.com may be compensated
Status
Not open for further replies.
benjilafouine

benjilafouine

Well-Known Member
Hello. Guess that from now on I will posting in this forum rather than on the 2-stroke.... I got myself today a new GTI 90 with plenty of functions (VTS trim, brakes, sport mode and plenty more). This machine has a polymer bottom and a 900 engine (same as Spark) but it is a full-fledged GTI. I was really impressed with the comfort on the first ride and the strong North winds didn't splash me and the ride was still smooth (almost 2 feet high of chop in some areas). Ski was very sluggish however being in the burn-in period. Being an older guy, maximum speed of 45 MPH is plenty for me. My old GTI is doing about 42 (when it works). Being on the second engine and at close to 200 hours, I felt it was time for a change. I have no kids and no nephews to borrow my stuff so I figured it would last a long time...

I could not experience the full power of my new ski because the engine won't go over 30 mpg in the burn-in period and acceleration is also reduced.

All it's missing it the new car smell...

A few pictures:

IMG_1324.jpg

IMG_1326_2.jpg

And the old guy (still looking good but gotten unreliable, hope I will salvage it):

IMG_1170.jpg

Benji.
 
are you sure you weren't using the learning key? I have sparks and there was no limitation to the engine in sport mode on the regular key it was all in how you decided to ride it during break in. The learning key does limit speed and power though.
 
Beautiful ski! Love those colors. Looks real comfy too. Interesting that it has a "break in" mode. Never heard of such a thing. Do you know what that ski weighs?
 
The dealer (the salesman) told me 100% that it has a computer controlled break-in period. I was a bit surprised too because the user manual is not clear about it. I did try both keys (green and yellow) with the same result.

I was able to select the Sport mode but the ski was still limiting the speed and acceleration. Unless I purchased a lemon I have no other explanation! It seems to be otherwise OK: starts very well, engine noise is normal, no RPM spikes, etc.).

I only used it 20-30 minutes last night and I will report back later today.

Benji.
 
I think the GTI 90 is around 600lbs with the polytec hull. If you tried both keys with the same result I guess that may be something they added. My spark was 2017 brand new and it had no computer controlled break in, I did break it in proper but I know I full throttled a couple times for a few seconds and got her over 40.
 
Just a note, my second spark, also a 2017 they keys were programmed backwards... My yellow key which is supposed to be the fast key is the slow key on that one, and the green is the fast key so I wouldn't see it out of the realm of possibility that they programmed both keys as a learner key either. Did they say how long the computer controlled break in lasted?
 
Weight is 640 lbs. Keys are OK because with the green key, I could not switch modes. With yellow key, I had access to all the functions.

As for the break-in, the manual mentions 10 hours for the break-in so I guess if they added the function that would be it. It may start to unlock gradually. Also, not sure about this but I think it even prevented me from moving at the same speed for more than 30 seconds. Can't wait to get on the water as soon as I am done with my work this morning!

Benji.
 
I just phoned the Service dept at the dealer and a technical guy confirmed to me that the computer is controlling the break-in. Depending on how I will use it, it will unlock at a certain point between 4 and 10 hours. The faster I try to go, the longer the break-in will last. I will better off doing a long and slow stroll. Since we are having a nice sunny day, this won't be a chore!

And no, the Spark doesn't have this computer controlled break-in period.

Benji.
 
I suggest you vary RPMS often while riding during break in, accelerate decelerate a lot. You don't want to sit at one RPM for long.
 
Reporting day 2.

I went on a ride today to get to the beach 10 miles away from home. When I left the dock the ski was still acting very funky: it would be sluggish, RPM would drop and get back up and I could barely reach 30 mph. At some point, I was almost thinking about a problem. When the ski reached 1 hour, I stopped the engine and tried the learning key. Surprise, it was going better! I stopped the engine again and put the yellow key back and voila, the engine had just unlocked itself. Tried Sport mode and acceleration was great!

The rest of the trip went much better from that point on: not a glitch anymore. Working perfectly. However since the owner manual mentions to go easy for 10 hours, I didn't push the machine. I briefly accelerated to 40 mph but only for a few seconds. I'd say that the computer controlled break-in period could be improved. I'll see what happens at next cold start.

As for comfort, what a difference between a 2003 and a 2018. Night and day. Actually, with these big waves from North winds (almost two feet in the middle of the lake), I would not have made it with my 2003 without a bruised bottom and back and completely splashed with water. With my new GTI, I made it and very comfortably. It now shows one hour on the counter.

IMG_1327.jpg

Benji.
 
Tried the ski cold tonight. Again very sluggish (normal key). And if I tried going WOT some kind of rev limiter was kicking in (RPM would definitely drop). Sport mode would engage but it would not accelerate faster than from cold start on touring mode (default mode). After 5-6 minutes of that (engine hot), I stopped the engine and tried the learning key. Learning key provided a smoother acceleration and no rev limiting although the acceleration with the green key is very slow anyway (and also limited in speed).

Then I put back yellow key and with engine hot, normal operation resumed (Sport mode working and kicking although I did not push it to WOT).

This is kind of a bizarre break-in period. The tech guy at BRP dealer told me this morning that it could take at least 3-4 hours before break-in mode ends but the owner manual is completely mute about that.

Has anyone bought a brand new GTI, GTX or else this year and with similar experience?

Tomorrow, I will start the ski with yellow key then ride five minutes and restart the engine with yellow key again. Didn't tried that yet. Hope this is all normal and not a sign of trouble.

Benji.
 
On second thought, I do believe that it is the computer controlling engine for break-in. Yesterday, I rode it for 30 minutes with plenty of start/stop and never it went near fast. Today it was much less worse, only seemed to limit when engine cold. Guess I have to ride these first 10 hours and see after...

I am an IT guy and if there is something I've learned is that most of the very technical computer stuff is not written... I may phone the dealer again tomorrow to try to shed some light on it.

Benji.
 
I would just let 5 hours pass varying speeds and RPM then see if there are still any funny acceleration issues after that. Sounds like the computer taking control if you ask me.
 
I finally figured it out! It is working just fine.

When cold and for about 10 minutes, it will be very sluggish and not going to more than 30 mph. The after 10 minutes, it starts acting funny, like sudden bursts of power and speed (up and down) for about a minute or two and then it unlocks completely until next cold start. Removing keys and restarting the engine had nothing to do with it.

So this is definitely computer controlled after all. I believe this is just for break-in but i'll see that at some point if it unlocks when it's cold.

So I will keep on going easy on it until it reaches 10 hours as per manual.

Benji.
 
This is my one week report.

The computer controlled break-in stopped after five hours so now we know this thing is real. Now that it is unlocked, I pushed it to its maximum speed three times using different VTS positions (only for a few seconds each time). As advertised, max speed is 42 mph. This is plenty for normal operation. I wish I could have pushed it a few more mph but for 3,000 bucks more, I'll settle for 42 mph which I rarely use anyways. Acceleration with Sport mode is still awesome. Enough to lose your baseball cap!

So my ski is working flawlessly after six hours.

One negative note on the ergonomic side of things for me: I miss my old throttle... It used to be thumb controlled (on the front of the handle) on my GTI 2003 as the GTI 2018 in index controlled (in the rear of the handle). Actually, I use both index and middle fingers at once because otherwise my thumb gets numb and starts to hurt after 20 minutes of riding. It this due to the protuberant handle?

Let me know what you think.

Benji.
 
Hmmmm. Addendum: this morning, after five days of not using my new ski and at 9 hours, the ski would not go over 20 mph for the first 5-10 minutes. I have exactly the same engine behavior as this guy:

Spark runs 3/4 speed until it "warms up". - Sea-Doo.net

And I mean exactly the same behavior. Even Sport Mode will not change a thing. Then after 5-6 minutes, it seems "uncertain", i.e. giving me sudden bursts of power and then it unlocks completely.

I really wish someone could give me an insight on this. It has to be computer related or else the ski would be already dead. By the way, I am not getting any error code like this other guy in the link.

Can someone shed some light on this?

Thanks.

Benji.
 
Last edited:
Hi Benji -
Unfortunately I can’t provide any possible solutions to your problem, but I wanted to let you know I’m having the EXACT same issue with my brand new GTI SE 130.

I just hit 13 hours and I still get the restricted ride for the first 5-10 minutes (rides rough, feels like the timing is off, won’t go more than 30mph, etc), then it jumps around for a few seconds then off it goes. When I turn it off and back on it’s all weird again - sometimes running fine for the first couple of minutes then bogging down for another 5-10 minutes before opening up). Totally asinine.

I haven’t taken it in yet (2 hour drive) but my mechanical tells me the GTI doesn’t have a computer break in and that there’s something else going on. Very disappointing for a brand new ski.

I’ll post any updates- hopefully you’ll do the same.
 
My guess is it’s something limiting power to let the engine warm up. We all know it’s bad to romp on a cold engine so I’m guessing it’s a warm up strategy.

I know my power stroke diesel keeps the turbo restricted to help warm up the engine so for the first few miles on a cold morning there is only about half power available.
 
Well well well... I think this answers the question. Computer must be controlling the cold engine because I don't see two GTIs doing the same thing exactly. My dealer told me *** there was *** a computer controlled thing as well as this other guy in the link I posted (a 2017 Spark with same engine). I think they implemented that on 2017 models and that it is not even yet in the manual (maybe they don't want to tell...).

The method programmed by BRP is a bit weird but it works. But it makes people wonder if it is broken when it is brand new! I am going to keep on riding mine as I believe it is not of consequence anymore. Hopefully I am not wrong...

Benji.
 
I'd probably never notice the issue. My lift is so far from the "no wake" buoys it'd take the whole warm up period just to get to where I could go fast.;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

J
New To Me 2020 Fish Pro - Questions
Replies
0
Views
246
jake_eizy
J
WaterJet
Reading SeaDoo 4 TEC valves
Replies
5
Views
266
WaterJet
WaterJet
S
2011 gti se C0073
Replies
8
Views
380
srestum
S
N
New to waverunners
Replies
2
Views
334
New to waverunners
N
J
2007 sea doo gti se 4 tec speed sensor issue
Replies
1
Views
200
ski-d00
ski-d00
Back
Top