SDC_MI
Member
So I did a terrible thing and created an account on Facebook for the sole purpose of trolling Marketplace. I have always been against social media and never had any desire to get involved. I used to be able to look around Marketplace without having an account but it was always annoying because it would continuously lock me out. Anytime I needed to actually communicate with someone I would have my wife contact the seller through her account.
Fast-forward to present time I now have an account and the freedom to constantly search for deals. I've already made multiple purchases, one of which is another 1996 XP. I found it locally for what I considered a good deal. Came with a trailer and was really clean. I bought it from a young gentleman who was really honest and straightforward. He had done work for an older gentleman who kept this ski in his garage and worked out a deal on it. Compression is right around 150 in each hole. It's in really great shape aside from the fact that it obviously spent time floating in the water when docked. VTS doesn't work which seems pretty standard on these and I've already repaired it on my other banana so I know the process. One of the best parts is that this one came with a nice trailer! Since I sold my GTX last year (Which I kinda regret) I haven't had a trailer to move my other XP or put it in the lake.
I had already ordered wear parts preemptively knowing that I planned to go through the whole pump. I figured regardless of condition I wanted to have a close-to-new starting point from that aspect. From outward appearances I didn't see anything that concerned me when purchasing the ski. We had already planned a trip up to the lake last weekend so I figured I would take it up and get a baseline before starting the updates. This would also give me a chance to uncover any other quirks I may need to tend to. I stopped in town first to fill it up at which point I forgot to replace the gas cap and lost that along the way. I had to borrow the cap from banana #1 in order to perform sea-trials. Luckily those are cheap, but how come none of them are every still connected by the chain?!
We dropped the ski in the lake and I fired it up and putzed around a bit to warm it up then drove in a couple circles but didn't go far since I was still wearing clothes and didn't have a lifejacket on. I came back to the dock and put my 15yr old on it. I told him this is our first trial so stay where I can see you. He jumped on and promptly sped off straight to the other side of the lake. At that point he turned left and drove off out of sight. I was frustrated and after what seemed like a long time waiting I started getting the Speedster ready to go out and look for him. Just before I left in the boat we saw him heading back in. When I questioned him he said it wouldn't turn. I said that was nonsense since I just rode it and it turned fine. Instead of checking anything I jumped on it and took off into the lake only to find he was correct. The steering cable had snapped right at the heim joint. Still being in my clothes and not feeling like jumping into the water I performed my best balancing act, using my right foot to reach back and steer the nozzle while driving and not tipping over. It was terrible but I made it back. If none of you have ever had to try this I suggest attempting to put your foot on the nozzle while trying to balance on an X4. It's not easy!
Fast forward, we came back home with it and last night I started pulling the jet drive. All went fairly OK other than struggling to slide the metal half of the carbon seal assembly forward and pulling everything out. The driveshaft had a slight amount of surface rust and was tacky like it had some grease so it didn't want to budge. Also there was a bit of rust holding the splines into the impeller. I didn't understand why I was having such a hard time pulling the jet pump off till I finally got it apart and found a rope wrapped around the driveshaft. I also realized that I forgot to disconnect the bailer hoses. Turns out everything definitely needed to be replaced. The carbon seal had deep grooves, the wear ring was disintegrating, and the impeller has damaged blades. All of which is not surprising to me and I knew it felt like it was cavitating when doing the initial trials. This might actually be why the kid wanted to sell the ski as it wasn't really performing great on the water even though it ran really well. I also found that the molded exhaust hose from the waterbox to the outlet has a crack. It must be multi-layered because the exhaust isn't leaking into the hull.
Here are some pictures. Overall, I still think I got a great deal and I'm looking forward to having fun on it. Maybe still this summer but next summer I will definitely have 2 bananas and a Speedster ripping around!
Fast-forward to present time I now have an account and the freedom to constantly search for deals. I've already made multiple purchases, one of which is another 1996 XP. I found it locally for what I considered a good deal. Came with a trailer and was really clean. I bought it from a young gentleman who was really honest and straightforward. He had done work for an older gentleman who kept this ski in his garage and worked out a deal on it. Compression is right around 150 in each hole. It's in really great shape aside from the fact that it obviously spent time floating in the water when docked. VTS doesn't work which seems pretty standard on these and I've already repaired it on my other banana so I know the process. One of the best parts is that this one came with a nice trailer! Since I sold my GTX last year (Which I kinda regret) I haven't had a trailer to move my other XP or put it in the lake.
I had already ordered wear parts preemptively knowing that I planned to go through the whole pump. I figured regardless of condition I wanted to have a close-to-new starting point from that aspect. From outward appearances I didn't see anything that concerned me when purchasing the ski. We had already planned a trip up to the lake last weekend so I figured I would take it up and get a baseline before starting the updates. This would also give me a chance to uncover any other quirks I may need to tend to. I stopped in town first to fill it up at which point I forgot to replace the gas cap and lost that along the way. I had to borrow the cap from banana #1 in order to perform sea-trials. Luckily those are cheap, but how come none of them are every still connected by the chain?!
We dropped the ski in the lake and I fired it up and putzed around a bit to warm it up then drove in a couple circles but didn't go far since I was still wearing clothes and didn't have a lifejacket on. I came back to the dock and put my 15yr old on it. I told him this is our first trial so stay where I can see you. He jumped on and promptly sped off straight to the other side of the lake. At that point he turned left and drove off out of sight. I was frustrated and after what seemed like a long time waiting I started getting the Speedster ready to go out and look for him. Just before I left in the boat we saw him heading back in. When I questioned him he said it wouldn't turn. I said that was nonsense since I just rode it and it turned fine. Instead of checking anything I jumped on it and took off into the lake only to find he was correct. The steering cable had snapped right at the heim joint. Still being in my clothes and not feeling like jumping into the water I performed my best balancing act, using my right foot to reach back and steer the nozzle while driving and not tipping over. It was terrible but I made it back. If none of you have ever had to try this I suggest attempting to put your foot on the nozzle while trying to balance on an X4. It's not easy!
Fast forward, we came back home with it and last night I started pulling the jet drive. All went fairly OK other than struggling to slide the metal half of the carbon seal assembly forward and pulling everything out. The driveshaft had a slight amount of surface rust and was tacky like it had some grease so it didn't want to budge. Also there was a bit of rust holding the splines into the impeller. I didn't understand why I was having such a hard time pulling the jet pump off till I finally got it apart and found a rope wrapped around the driveshaft. I also realized that I forgot to disconnect the bailer hoses. Turns out everything definitely needed to be replaced. The carbon seal had deep grooves, the wear ring was disintegrating, and the impeller has damaged blades. All of which is not surprising to me and I knew it felt like it was cavitating when doing the initial trials. This might actually be why the kid wanted to sell the ski as it wasn't really performing great on the water even though it ran really well. I also found that the molded exhaust hose from the waterbox to the outlet has a crack. It must be multi-layered because the exhaust isn't leaking into the hull.
Here are some pictures. Overall, I still think I got a great deal and I'm looking forward to having fun on it. Maybe still this summer but next summer I will definitely have 2 bananas and a Speedster ripping around!
