Should I buy totaled ski for $250?

[Sixstringninja024]

Hello all, I am new to the forum and have zero experience working on skis. I have rebuilt a few atv engines (2 and 4 stroke) from the ground up with the help of a service manual.

My dad's 2013 GTI 130se sank due to a hose popping off after he had a local guy fix an oil leak. It didn't fully sink, but the rear 60% of it sat in salt water overnight. The insurance totaled it after having it looked at by a dealer service center. The dealer wanted $750 for storage and repair estimates, but we worked it down to $250. My questions are:

What is the skill level required to rebuild these engines?

What is the ballpark cost to get this thing running again?

Will any of the electronics be salvageable?

Will the salt water damage the hull? (i still haven't seen it yet)

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Salt water will not hurt the hull. But nearly everything else... If it sat in the engine you will either need to re-engine it and or do a MAJOR rebuild. Will have to machine out the surface rust and get oversized pistons, get the crank re-worked.. All of the electrical connections will need to be torn down and cleaned. If the MPEM (the brain) was submerged, it will likely need replaced as you really can't open them.

 

[IDoSeaDoo]

Ya I'd do it. Never know,it might not be as bad as all that. They are supposed to keep the water out. 250 isn't much and you could make that back just parting out stuff on it. Better yet, sell it to me

 

[Coastiejoe]

It is true that a 4-tec has all the valves closed when the engine is off. So pull the intake and see if there is water sitting in it and on top of the engine. If so, remove the water before you try to crank the engine.

 

[XP 787]

If the insurance company totaled it what is the status of the title?

 

[Spimothy Leary]

I'd buy a totaled 4tec for $250 pretty much all day every day and if I could buy 3 a day like that i'd do it w/o even looking at them.

IMO its virtually impossible to lose money on the deal whether or not its a rebuild or a part out, there is money on the table.

Buy it.

 

[Sixstringninja024]

Title is clean. He bought it outright. I'm gonna pick it up tomorrow and give it a once over. I'll pull the intake sometime in the next few days. Depending on the condition I may be back on the forum with a hundred new questions as I pull the thing apart. Worst case scenario, be on the lookout for my used parts listing in the for sale section Thanks for the responses guys.

 

[IDoSeaDoo]

I would pull it as soon as possible. Every day that salt water sits in there is more rust accumulating. If this ever happened to me, I'd dismantle the motor that day. These engines really aren't hard to work on, and teh repair manuals are free. I do suggest getting one of those engine stands on wheels and bolt it to the side of the motor. Makes it nice to work on. The cases alone are worth a few hundred, and the aluminum shouldn't be affected during this short time.

Start by draining the oil. If you have an automatic extractor, it'll churn up the oil with teh water and might make it milky (might not though). If the oil is milky, you absolutely have to pull everything apart down to the crank. Make sure you disassemble all the oil system components as a lot of them are steel too. If they used a good synthetic oil, it may save you, as it coats better than conventional.

 

[sktn77a]

Title is clean. He bought it outright.

I believe it will have a "salvage" title if it was totaled by the insurance company.

 

[XP 787]

I believe it will have a "salvage" title if it was totaled by the insurance company.

That's what I was getting at. If it's getting parted out it doesn't really matter.

 

[MikeM8560]

id buy it for the parts at least the gauges would make you the 250 easy I assume they are ok

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/seadoo-cluster