RXP X 2008 gray smoke poors out the exhaust, barely running

[spx1997]

Gray smoke pours out of the back, engine running very rough, kill switch doesn't shut the engine off now.

- New spark plugs
- Compression 122-125 across the three cylinders
- New gas
- Oil change
- Run well previous weekend, till I put potentially bad gas in it
-
I just bought the ski a few months ago (71 hrs) it was running fine 70mph 8000 rpm. This past weekend I was forced to put some gas in it from a small marina. Within a few minutes it start hesitating over 5000 rpm, I took it off the water shortly after and drained most of the gas (3 gallons left) filled it up (12 gallons) replaced the spark plugs and changed the oil and filter (Sea-Doo XPS 4 Stroke Synthetic Blend Engine Oil - Gallon 293600122) since the Sea-Doo mineral oil appears to be superseded with the synthetic, filled it up to the top of the curve on the dip stick (about 3 1/2 quarts.) Now I can barely keep it running and gray smoke pours out the back. I took 10 oz of oil back out and it is reading 1/2 between the curves on the dip stick. I'm not sure where to even start.

 

[MarchiafavaMafia]

Well it’s got to have something to do with the gas, or something in the gas. I would try and syphon out all of it and drain all the gas lines you have access to and refill with fresh gas. Then start it up and let it run for a a couple minutes

 

[Rrm1387]

looks like burning oil . pull of the s/c hoses and look for oil. Bad gas unless its mixed with oil would cause it to run poor .

 

[spx1997]

I drained all the gas out again, pulled the fuel line.

Put 4 gal of new gas in it, no change
Pulled the hoses from the sc to the intercooler, and the hose from intercooler to the fuel injection manifold off and I don't see any oil. I'm assuming that would be the hose I need to check.

 

[MarchiafavaMafia]

Possibly some small debris was mixed with the fuel and it blocking a fuel injector or a fuel pump. Look at your fuel filter and see if anything looks abnormal. The smoke could be a coolant leak of some sort, a damaged cylinder gasket, or the intake manifold took in water

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

One hint, try doing things one at a time then water test in between b/c this make sit easier to backtrack the root causes.

That said, take those plugs out and look them over, all three. If one looks quite different, there may be some relationship to that particular cylinder. Such as an injector that's stuck open due to dirty fuel, for example.

I've never encountered bad marina fuel, marina owners usually are on top of that issue.

 

[spx1997]

All three plugs look the same, black and oily at the tip. I've started thee engine numerous times but total running time since I changed the plugs is only 10 minutes max. It barely runs at idle or any other speed.

 

[MarchiafavaMafia]

It still could be a clogged fuel pump, but other then that I’m low on guesses

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Make doubly sure there isn't too much oil in the crankcase, it sure sounds as if there might be (black and oily plugs)?

EDIT: I reread your post and noticed you removed some oil.

So, if we assume there was too much oil then there's likely some oil still in the intake manifold and cylinders. It will take some time for all of that to make it through the cylinders and clear out, so the root cause is probably resolved. (my guess).

It will also take some running time for the plugs to clean up or you might have one or two oil-fouled plugs as well. (they do foul fairly easily). If it's still running rough, you might want to replace the plugs again with known good ones.

 

[spx1997]

The fuel pump runs for 2 seconds after the key is inserted which pumps about 5 oz of gas, im inclined to think it isn't a fuel delivery issue since it never runs smooths from the second it starts.

When I changed the oil and filter I used a electronic pump and spend awhile trying to get every bit of oil out I could, which was about 2.25 quarts. The oil level was low near the bottom of the dip stick curves when I started the engine change. The oil capacity is 3L (2.7 U.S. Qt) oil change w/ filter, 4.5L (4.1 U.S. Qt) total. I put in about 3 1/2 quarts which seems right and the dip stick read near the top of the curves. I've read on some other postings the level should be in the middle which makes no sense to me but that is why I took 10 oz out.

Strange that it was heasitating above 5k rpm before I put it away and now it will barley run, I don't mind continuing to let is run but I dont want to damage anything further. According to the manual I can only let it run for 5 minutes out of the water with a hose hooked up since the water runs into a cooling plate of some sort.

 

[Rrm1387]

I think its time you hook the machine up to the computer . So either buy the can doo system or pay dealer 100 an hour. Seems that self diagnosis isn't working.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

The fuel pump runs for 2 seconds after the key is inserted which pumps about 5 oz of gas, im inclined to think it isn't a fuel delivery issue since it never runs smooths from the second it starts.

When I changed the oil and filter I used a electronic pump and spend awhile trying to get every bit of oil out I could, which was about 2.25 quarts. The oil level was low near the bottom of the dip stick curves when I started the engine change. The oil capacity is 3L (2.7 U.S. Qt) oil change w/ filter, 4.5L (4.1 U.S. Qt) total. I put in about 3 1/2 quarts which seems right and the dip stick read near the top of the curves. I've read on some other postings the level should be in the middle which makes no sense to me but that is why I took 10 oz out.

Strange that it was heasitating above 5k rpm before I put it away and now it will barley run, I don't mind continuing to let is run but I dont want to damage anything further. According to the manual I can only let it run for 5 minutes out of the water with a hose hooked up since the water runs into a cooling plate of some sort.

There's possibly some detail that's being overlooked.

Generally unless there's obvious oil contamination I'll start and run the engine just before removing the oil to warm the oil, making it easier to remove using a pump. Is this the procedure you used, and if so, was it running roughly at that point?

IOW, you feel confident the rough running you're experiencing now has no relationship to changing the oil?

 

[spx1997]

Great question, I did run the engine about 10 minutes prior to changing the oil and it idled fine with no smoke at that time.

Tonight I also ran the engine with the hose from the sc to the intercooler disconnected with my hand over the hose for 45 seconds and I didn't have any oil on my hand.

 

[spx1997]

I checked the oil level again after running it for 5 minutes and the level was above the high mark so maybe the issue is to much oil and my running it for 45 seconds wasn't giving me an accurate reading. I took out another 10 oz and it is still reading full. It still smoking a lot even after cleaning the spark plugs but maybe there is still residual oil that needs to burn off. I will run it again tomorrow and report back.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Okay then assuming the oil change relates to the rough running, oily plugs and oil smoke from exhaust, it's probably due to overfilling the crankcase. This happens often on the 4-tec, perhaps you're walking in the shoes of the thousands before you who've done this.

As far as the hesitation goes, you won't know if it still exists until you get back out on the water. Sometimes a spark plug will begin acting up causing a cylinder to drop out intermittently, this can feel like a hesitation. Just a little water in the fuel can cause similar issues as well.

Anyway, feel around inside the supercharger inlet near where the crankcase vent hose is connected, you'll probably find oil coming from the crankcase vent hose if the crankcase was too full.

 

[MarchiafavaMafia]

Still doesn’t explain why it happened after you got Gas from the marina