Potential Project: 2007 RXP

[KyleW2]

Looking for some opinions or advice regarding a potential project I might pick up.

It is a 2007 RXP, 215hp engine. The guy told me "The machine sat in the warehouse for 2 summer untouched, I didn't service it whenever I got it out. Ran for 3 months then wouldn't run. Had a mechanically inclined friend look at it and he told me the engine is bad"..supposedly, the ski only had about 85 hours on it.

So, here I am - debating taking the plunge into the 4 stroke world rather than sticking to the older skis. The reason this is even a consideration is the guy is willing to let the machine go for next to nothing, friend of a friend type situation. Obviously I need to prepare for the worst before considering the low price.

I have never heard of a machine go bad from sitting..but, I have also never been around these supercharged jet skis before. Have a few questions:

1. How reliable are the engines in these skis?
2. Would simply sitting and neglecting maintenance when pulling it out cause an engine to go?
3. How difficult are these to rebuild, or would I be better off planning on a rebuilt engine?

Any other information is appreciated!

 

[skiasylum]

1. Not very
2. Yes
3. They get rebuilt a lot.

Sounds like the typical scenario where the ski was neglected for a few years, taken out of storage, ran it, ceramic clutch washer failure in the supercharger, ran it, destroyed all wear surfaces in engine, and the engine is now toast.

I believe that year also had sodium filled valves that also failed prematurely.

Definitely a fun project but a lot of $ to fix properly and when your done you have a nice ski worth less than want you put into it.

Go for it!

 

[KyleW2]

Yep I did quite a bit of reading last night and ran across that ceramic clutch washer issue.

Similar skis run anywhere from $4,000-6000 in my area, but I really have no desire to spend anywhere near that on a project ski that I wouldn't be able to enjoy this summer!

Think I will be nice to my bank account and pass on it. That said, if anyone in the DFW area is looking for a ski like that...shoot me a message

 

[xspook]

1. Not very

BS. 4 Techs are very reliable. It's usually operator error or neglect that kills them.