Need some help, fuel mixture

[shiner1836]

Ok yall, I just picked up my 89 kawa 650sx thursday, ran it yesterday and it seems to lag, the old owner said he was running 40:1 mix, so thats how we fueled it. Comin back to the lake house, the ski was terrible out of the hole, couldnt even get it up. Our fuel mix was just regular unleaded at 40:1. Im new to this so should i be running 93 octane at 50:1? Its got brand new plugs in it. Initially I thought it was just out of gas but after getting to where I could check the fuel it was apparant that it wasnt lack of fuel. WHat do yall think? I would love some help with this as I would sure like to be out on the water right now!

 

[shiner1836]

no help? anyone? really?

 

[Maxumflux]

how does it run out of the water?

 

[Pro-pulsion]

Lagging out of the hole...I would pull the carb off and give it a good cleaning and replace the intake gasket. I've also heard that mixed fuel reduces the life span of the diaphragm and typical carb kit parts so it may be time for a carb kit and intake gasket. A really good start to figuring out what's going on is a WOT chop. Run it full out to the best you can, heading back towards your trailer would be best and while still keeping the throttle full open shut the engine off. Don't restart it but you can let go of the throttle after the engine stops turning, then just swim it back to the trailer and pull the plugs. If you can put up a few pics we can see how it's burning but it just sounds like carb issues...any idea how much compression it has? If it's lower than 120 on either cylinder then it's time for a top end rebuild...if the engine has never been opened up then a complete rebuild is in line.

Edit: Forgot to mention, there are two areas that could also be an issue, crank seals or the water drain on the bottom of the engine. It's that little plunger thing mounted on the exhaust. They pretty well always stop sealing eventually and allow a ton of air into the engine. That would def. make it run like crap and have no power.

 

[shiner1836]

Thanks for the help! Its got a performance head on it so i dont think its time for a rebuild on that as it was pretty well taken care of, the exhaust is coffman exhaust so ill have to figure out where that plug is....anyone know some good ski mechanics around austin, san antonio or houston?

 

[Pro-pulsion]

The water drain I was mentioning isn't to do with the exhaust but the plunger knob is mounted on a flange on the stock pipe. I'm not sure if the Coffman pipes have that flange or not, if not it may be mounted somewhere else by the previous owner. It looks a lot like a primer or choke knob and when pulled opens a rubber plug mounted onto a plate assembly at the bottom/exhaust side of the crank. It's easy to find but you do need to pull the engine. Best of luck dude.