Newbie here with 2 96 GTX seadoos and need a little help/advice!

[lawdawg_18]

Okay sorry if I dont have all the terms and such right but I got in a barter/trade 2 1996 Seadoo GTX's on a double trailer. they are very clean and what i thought to be low hours. One of which has 110 hrs and the other 76hrs. One of them has the Rossier high performance exhaust system on it also and the other one is completely stock from what i can tell. Before i got them me and my brother tested them on the lake and they both seemed to run really good and i got hooked right there. The guy told me that the ski with the rossier exhaust would do around 70mph on a calm glassy lake and the other ski he told me had a rev limiter on it that kept it from going over 35 - 40mph. he said that if i noticed the RPMs bouncing around from around 5000 to 6500 that was what it was doing. Anyway after we got them took them out twice and ran them hard both times on the lake for about 3hrs each time. No problems at all and the stock ski that he claimed to only go around 40 tops was doing around 55 with no sign of the rev limiter on it. The Rossier ski would do close to 62 is all i could get it according to the on board mph. Now after that the stock one all of a sudden seemed like the rev limiter was on it again and the RPMs would bounce up and down and was really annoying. Did some research and discovered it was probably a bad rectifier since i have replaced it but not been out on the lake. The other ski with the rossier exhaust all of a sudden seemed to lose power one day and started only going around 40mph tops and acted like when you had it full throttle it was starving for gas. So did more research on what was going on and realised a lot of things needed some checking. So since then i discovered that both skis had original gray gas lines and i replaced them all and also cleaned the fuel selector switches in both. I hooked the one with rossier exhaust up to water hose at home and cranked it up and found that it was spraying water and exhaust from the exhaust right where they come together at the front of the motor its about a 5" sleeve that the old owner said he had put on it because the one that was on it when he got it was leaking. Well this thing was all dry rotted and cracked and spraying a water mist and exhaust everywhere. My question on that is where do i find another rubber sleeve that will work for this better the one he had on it was a cheap thing that wasnt even designed for this application. Ive looked everywhere on ebay and other online stores and cant find one. It also has the orginal clamp from the orignal exhaust over the sleeve that was the main cause of it splitting and tearing like it did when they tightened it down.

I need something that will work for this asap. Also i have discovered that im supposed to clean the rave valves. So i did as as i had read on these forums and removed them and cleaned them. Now the one on the rossier ski towards the front of the motor had a melted exhaust piston thing that is plastic and holds the spring and screws onto the thing that goes down into the motor. nothing else was damaged but it had a hole melted through it and i ordered a new one. Now both rave valves were so filthy i really doubt either of them had been cleaned in several years or more. The front one was almost frozen in place. Now since they are all cleaned and waiting for a new plastic exhaust piston will they work as normal or will the ski run even better now that they are cleaned? Also i discovered that the exhaust manifold was leaking water from the rear bottom of it i also removed it to find that the gasket was old stiff and dryed out. Now my main conserne is really the rubber boot thing that needs to fit over both exhaust pipes to conjoin and seal them taht is5" in diameter. Also i forgot to mention i checked carbs and the carb filters and all are clean and good looking. Any advice on anything else i have almost gone completely through these now and hope that they will run even better than before. Also i am having a big major problem finding oil for these skis the previous owner said he used quick silver and got it at walmart but the only one i could find in quicksilver at walmart was for outboard engines and was not recomended for pwc. I have been using a brand from oreilly's that is not the twc-3 kind and is recomended for sea doos but i can only buy it by the quart for 3.98 a quart. Okay sorry this was so long but i have fallen in love with these things and really want them to run like they should i hate having them ripped apart but cant stand the thought of blowing a motor for being ignorant. Thoughts tips and advice appreciated. thanks
also forgot to mention changed plugs and so far they look a brown color

 

[Dave_eng]

suggestion on source for parts

You will have better luck finding a rubber sleeve of a large size by going to plumbing wholesalers. Such sleeves are used to join sewer pipes under repair circumstances. Bring one of the parts to ensure they can try and get you the correct size as in the plumbing world they are often used to join different materials with outside diameters which are different. Sometimes they have sleeves with a corrugated aluminum outer sleeve to strengthen the rubber under more strenuous conditions. This would be my first choice but I would also use the style without the sleeve.

You can find smaller versions of these sleeves in places like Home Depot in the plumbing section but to get the larger sizes places which sell to real plumbers are the place to go. Bring a sexy girl friend to get the best service at these places.

I only use Seadoo oil but that is just me as I know it will work and choosing the wrong oil can have such disastrous consequences.

Good luck.

Dave p

 

[riding high]

If I am not mistaken, these are 787 engines you are dealing with. The recommended oil for these units is XPS Synthetic Oil. I am a stickler when it comes to using the factory recommended oil in these engines. I believe it will save you a lot of headaches in the long run. I did not see in your post where you changed the oil filter. I would also recommend you put an in line fuel filter in if you haven't already done so. You can buy the oil on line if you are not close to a dealer. Dealer price around here is about 50.00/gal. I do not recall you mentioning that you cleaned the fuel filter under the hood.

Just as a side note IMHO opinion these unit are very high maintenance. If you fail to maintain them they will fail you. From what I have heard and seen a lot of the engine problems are caused by detonation. Good luck to you.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

wow, those are two very busy paragraphs !

i'm only going to tackle two things:
1) if the "sleeve" you talk about is the rubber coupler, I think the home depot suggestion is wrong, (i wish it was right, it would save me $35 for the couplers I buy from factory pipe) perhaps you can post a pic of this item so we're sure exactly what your talking about... and then subsequently we can suggest where you buy the replacement.

2) rule #1 when receive a used watercraft into your household... don't just gas it up and go ! not blaming you, your about the 999,000th person do do just that, but much of this should have been inspected/checked/replaced before your first ride.

screw the quarts of oil, while you wait for parts (and since wallyworld has let you down), go to amsoil.com find a dealer, and buy a gallon of interceptor from a local guy or have it delivered (or buy a case !, the preferred member discount makes it cost effective), or go to a different walmart, I have 4 walmarts within about a 20 minute drive from my work, only 1 of them regularly carries the quicksilver that I want, the other 3 do not and when I ask for them the guy/gal behind the desk looks at me like i'm crazy

3) this is just a suggestion: if you hit ENTER once in a while: the paragraph's and train of thought are easier to follow, those big huge paragraphs make my eyes tired !