New to Forum and Need Help - 96 GTX

[fsubelch]

Hello, I am new to this forum and really need some help. Over the weekend I was able to pick up a very nice 1996 GTX with very LOW hours (only 77 HRs). The ski is in great shape, and has never been stored outdoors. In the past 3 years, the jetski has only seen the water twice, and the gas that is currently in the jetski is at least 2 years old, and could possibly be 3 years old. Before purchasing the jetski, we topped the tank off with about 1 gallon of fresh gas and hit the lake. The first 90 minutes or so, the boat ran great, but the gas light (low fuel) light was on. I asked the owner, and he said not to worry about it, because the tank was full. On our way back to the dock, the boat lost a lot of power, and finally died. After numerous tries to restart it, we finally got it going again, but could not get the boat over 3K RPM. During this time, the boat is still saying Low Fuel, but the tank is nearly full.

I called the local dealership here, and they told me they do not work on jetskis this old, but he did recommend that I siphon the gas out and change the spark plugs and I should be good to go. Is it going to be that easy?? Any other suggestions?

Next question, what is the easiest way to siphon out the fuel, and how hard is to to change the spark plugs?

 

[Dr Honda]

You have 4 issues.

1) Just because you mixed in new gas... it doesn't take care of 3 year old varnish. (but you know that)

2) Your gray colored fuel lines are rotten on the inside, and they need to be replaced with standard black automotive rubber lines.

3) your carbs are plugged up with the junk in your old fuel, and the decaying rubber from the gray lines. (it's a very pretty green color) It's time for a carb rebuild.

4) Th reason your fuel light is on is because your fuel float sank. You can find a blow molded replacement on eBay.

As far as getting the old fuel out... get a cheap siphon pump from you local autoparts store, and drain it.


Good luck.

 

[fsubelch]

Thank you for the reply. This forum is great, and I am learning a lot already.

Taking this is to have all this done by a professional at a shop...what is your rough estimate this would cost me? I am sure most of these fixes are simple, but I would feel much more comfortable having someone that actually knows what they are doing take care of it.

On the other hand, I am sure I can find documentation on how to fix most of this on this site??

 

[Benchracer]

All of this stuff EXCEPT the Carb rebuild you should be able to do on your own, a shop will charge you an obserd amount to just to change out the fuel lines but is absolutly something you can do. go buy 25' of 1/4" automotive fuel lines and a box of clamps and start changing them 1 at a time. it is an all day project or 1/2 a day if you dont add Beer to the mix...:blush: you should be able to find all the info and a few step-by-step instructions on here. or just post up, This site is full of great and experienced people that I'm sure will be able to help.
By the way Welcome to the site:cheers:

 

[fsubelch]

Finally got the jetski back and went on the water today and the boat ran great! The only thing the shop had to do was get the old gas out, new fuel lines, new spark plugs, and clean the carbs. All which was mentioned above and I thank everyone for the input. The only other minor problem that was not fixed was the fuel indicator. It seems that the fuel float has sunk. I know above was mentioned to buy a blow molded replacement. Can someone shed some more light on this and how it is installed? Is this something that I can do on my own with little trouble?

 

[Seadoobuddy]

I'm ready to replace my gas lines this week. About 5 yrs ago I replace my float on the 96 GTX....i did it over the winter. *PITA*
The gas tank is not exposed because it's under the steering column. I had to slide (after pumping out gas) the gas tank and oil tank.

MAKE SURE TO MARK THE LOCATION OF WHERE WHAT HOSE CAME OFF OF ON THE TOP OF TANK.

I used masking tape but it faded over time (due to fingerprints,oil,grease,etc) so I peeked at my neighbor's GTX 2 different times to locate the right position. I bought a used float and tested it in *GAS* to be sure it would float. No problem ever since.