Kawasaki triple bog issues

K

kentknudsen92

Location
Charlotte
Need input and ideas to chase what I believe is an electrical issue on my GP1 with 1100.

I started getting a bog or feel like ignition retard under full load but would pull hard again after letting off gas but would soon return. Replaced spark plugs and tried again but now ski has gone in limp or overheat mode and would rev out. Checked battery and it was weak at 12.5v.
Replaced battery and ski ran great for 30 min then started bogging down again, didn't go in limp mode but continues to cut out under full load.
Double check battery leads and connections and cut 1/4" off all 3 spark caps and reinstalled.

Unfortunately I don't know exactly which motor or electrics I have. Boat was built by Kommander and has Kommander head and Novi 48 carbs I believe but as stated feels more like electrical than fuel

Any input or ideas highly appreciated......I was about to try to order a voltage regulator but not sure of exact model yet without removing existing one....
 
K

kentknudsen92

Location
Charlotte
600;jsessionid=2548A60CA20BE2141610B23591EB0ED4-n1.lxa13b

motor in question.......
 
Pro-pulsion

Pro-pulsion

Location
Ontario, Canada
Those kawi 1100's had accelerator pumps on all three carbs. It's an automatic thing when you hit the throttle they immediately dump a shot of prime into each carb. I've seen guys playing in short burst runs like spin a circle, rip out 50 feet, hit the throttle, spin out and run 50 feet...rinse and repeat. Then they can't the ski to run right. Loads up, fouls plugs or soaks them. Flooded for cold starts. Those carbs were pretty much an exclusively cruising or racing carb. Another area kawi had troubles was in the fuse block with internal corrosion. You can't see it because it's below the squeeze tabs for the fuse prongs. You have to disassemble the thing right down to bare bones and clean up all contact points, protect with di-electric grease and rebuild. The other weak point kawi has is their coils. If you get a multimeter and test the secondary windings, that means a...as in one, test lead in each sparkplug boot, at the same time to complete the circuit testing the resistance. Of course you need the right service info for the engine but those are some very common kawi issues from the mid 90's runabouts.

Two other things to consider that just popped up in mind, if those carbs haven't been rebuilt in years prioritize that. Don't let them run on half plugged in the filters and out of sync, you will almost certainly blow the center cylinder. Last thought, check for the one way vavle off the fuel tank. I believe they had them still on the zxi 1100/900, sometimes they fail and won't let air into the tank. The tank will implode eventually running the ski out of fuel to the carbs until it gets to weep enough air back in the tank. My 650sx did that once, the ski ran great for 20 minutes or so then would dwindle down and barely run or shut down. 10-15 minutes it would power weep just enough air back into the tank to fire up again for about 20 minutes or so until it imploded the tank. To test, you should be able to blow air in one way, hence the name, and not back out the other way. Super cheap compared to a coil if that's what it is.
 
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K

kentknudsen92

Location
Charlotte
Update: I exchanged the voltage rectifier and ordered a new stator, however, did not mount it as it came with male pin connectors and existing one has female pins on stator side. I did following stator checks.
Purple to Red - 442ohms
Yellow to Black - 27.3ohms
Blue to Green - 504ohms
Brown to Brown - 1.0ohms

So put it back together and moved on to chasing fuel......

Found center carb setting off from other 2, is this normal or should they all be aligned ?

I backed out high adjuster in 1/8 increments to 3/4 turn and felt not much difference. Then went in almost 1/2 turn and ski ran a lot better so believe now this is my issue but couldn't finish due to heavy rain.

Plan on fine tuning more today and checking spark plugs ....
 
Pro-pulsion

Pro-pulsion

Location
Ontario, Canada
I've said it before in other threads and happy :) to say it again, get you one of these...

https://vwparts.aircooled.net/Snail-Type-Syncrometer-Carb-Sync-Tool-GERMAN-SK-p/ste-sk.htm

...and sync your carbs properly. I'll see if I can find you carb settings on an 1100. But it would surprise me if the center is meant to be different from the others.

So far this is what I have found for carb settings...

Low: 1-1/8 +- 1/4
High: 3/4 +- 1/4
Idle @ 1250 +- 100 in the water, 1800 +- 1000 out of the water
 
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K

kentknudsen92

Location
Charlotte
Ok.....so went back to fine tune in warmer weather and now ran like crap again. Couldn’t get it to run clean unless setting high at only 1/4 turn out and didn’t like how white plugs were .....but ran great
 
Pro-pulsion

Pro-pulsion

Location
Ontario, Canada
I got nothin...if you are unsure of when the carbs were rebuilt I'd say rebuild em. You will also need whatever gasket(s) go between the carbs and manifold. Sounds to me you have a sticking or stuck open needle valve if you're leaning it up that much just to get it reasonably running well. To find out you're going to need to remove and might as well rebuild the carbs anyway.
 
K

kentknudsen92

Location
Charlotte
Carbs off and first glance looks really nice, zero yellow ethanol crap deposits. Reeds look brand new.

One question, I loosened reed flange bolts on top and then moved through the bottom. I heard a little pressure relief fizzle when loosing few of them.....is this normal or could I have some sort of crankcase pressure issue ?
Apologies if that's a stupid question but have never experienced anything like that.
 
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