New to me 97 RN SJ - What's been done to it?

[p2im0]

One goes to the vent of the gas tank n one goes to the vent to the battery if applicable.

Ah got it, no vent on current battery. Thanks for the fast turnaround!!!


One more oddity, I pull out the stock Waterbox to find this mess, looks like one weight in the front, a spot for a second but it’s missing (one weight may explain why the ski tips right!!!) and some old purple foam to prevent it rubbing a hole in the Waterbox.

What to do up here? Folks leave those weights in usually?

Also stock steering cable seems to have sat against the Waterbox for sometime and melted. What’s the normal routing for steering cable?

 

[CHRISRACERX]

I’ve never seen any kind off weights in the skis. The purple thing looks like it was just left in there and it got wedged n that’s it. The waterbox stays relatively cool to were it should melt the cable. Probably overheated at some time to melt it like that. Also it could have just worn down from vibration against the water box. Mine routes up the right side n curves up right before the water box to go up to the pole.

 

[CHRISRACERX]

Wsm makes a good replacement cable. That’s what I installed in mine. Check out my build that I’m almost finished with. Some of the pics might help you out with where things belong. I have a sealed battery also. I took out the vent line.

 

[Vortex]

Weight in the front was put there to keep the nose down, fairly common racing mod especially back in the day.

 

[p2im0]

Thanks for the replies. Is my impeller stock? Can anyone tell by pics?

 

[mikidymac]

That looks like a stainless prop and the stock would have been aluminum.

 

[CHRISRACERX]

It’s easier to tell what it may be from a pic from the intake grate side. Stockers have a hex head built into them for install n solas impellers don’t. They have a tool that slides into the impeller for installation. I think skat trace are like solas also

 

[mikidymac]

It’s easier to tell what it may be from a pic from the intake grate side. Stockers have a hex head built into them for install n solas impellers don’t. They have a tool that slides into the impeller for installation. I think skat trace are like solas also

Yes, the Skat's are hexed for their special tool but be careful because it deforms easily.

 

[Vortex]

Must use box wrench with skat impeller tool

 

[p2im0]

Here’s the impeller that’s in it. Definitely stainless. Just not sure what kind.

 

[Req]

Wear ring and impeller look in good shape. Not sure the pitch but it looks higher than my 9/15 concord, everything is though.

 

[eastcoastjumper]

View attachment 357722



The more that I look at the carbs I can see that the low-speed and high-speed needles are different on each carb, only maybe by 1/8 of a turn. I'll be pulling the motor out in the next couple days - what else should I look for/be doing with it out?



View attachment 358241

Second, I was reading up on what it takes to do dual cooling - when I looked at my pump I noticed there's a separate intake on the left side of the pump that's capped off with some fuel line and a bolt - what kind of pump is this? Stock doesn't have that, right? (Where do I look for identifying marks? Under ride-plate?)






1-why is there a fuel filter where the one way valve is supposed to be?

2-Your midshaft is shot, someone put 5200 where the rubber ripped in the housing

3- Your low and high speed screws look off because they arent all exactly threaded the same. When they seat all the way in, make a mark with a paint marker. Then turn out to spec. They usually end up indexed different from eachother, even though you're making equal turns.

 

[p2im0]

1-why is there a fuel filter where the one way valve is supposed to be?

2-Your midshaft is shot, someone put 5200 where the rubber ripped in the housing

3- Your low and high speed screws look off because they arent all exactly threaded the same. When they seat all the way in, make a mark with a paint marker. Then turn out to spec. They usually end up indexed different from eachother, even though you're making equal turns.

1. Previous owner clearly had no idea what he was doing - already fixed

2. I was thinking the same thing. Looks like it was just a drip from some 5200 that was applied up above on the hood latch. I pulled off the midshaft and the 5200 peeled right off too.

This isn’t perfect but looks ok to me and it wasn’t leaking. I plan to at least make it last the rest of this season.

3. Exactly this, they seat differently. I thought the same thing when I first saw the mix screws.

 

[p2im0]

Anything I should do to the midshaft while it’s off?

 

[eastcoastjumper]

ah yeah that housing looks alright. Must have been a drip like you were saying. Ive seen people try covering it up before

 

[mbrick]

East coast jumper is spot on.

You need to figure out why the tank vent has a filter and no one way valve. First off no need for a filter there, fuel does not flow through it. And you need the one way valve to make sure the fuel system can pressurize.

The second pulser fitting that is plugged with a bolt should be done correctly. The bolt may leak and you don't want a crankcase air leak.

The blue vent is for the battery as others mentioned. I got rid of the wet battery because it was spewing acid out at the bottom of the handle pole. Unacceptable. I went with a Yuasa AGM instead, way better.

The ski generally sits to the right due to the battery and fuel tank biased to that side, I doubt its from that small weight in the front.

Yes, steering cable needs to be replaced. Looks more like rubbing than melting. The steering cable lays along the waterbox in that same spot in both my skis.
Edit: Can't vouch for the quality but Thrust has steering cables on sale. I would want OEM or a heavy duty. https://www.thrustinnovations.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=&products_id=1361

As others said the carb bracket just doesn't have anywhere to go because that is a different cylinder head. You could pick up an inexpensive 61X head around here or eBay if you wanted it to be right.

Here are a few photos of my engine bay so you can see a few of those details. The second pulser fitting is not tapped on the 62T cases.

 

[p2im0]

Hey folks,

I'm about to get the ski ready for the winter and after pulling out of the water and running Sta-bil through the fuel system I notice a super-strong fuel smell.

After taking a closer look I notice the front carb is basically pouring out fuel from the fuel pump side. I thought it was the vent line connection but I replaced the zip tie and it seems tight. I rebuilt both carbs in July. Any suggestions on what to look for before I tear it down?

Also, once I pull the carbs out, how can I test the fuel pump seals to see if that's the problem?

Check out the video of the leak here.

 

[mbrick]

Seems like you need to tear it down and rebuild the fuel pump side. I'd wipe it down so you can see exactly which joint is leaking.

Did you use an OEM Mikuni rebuild kit?
I see a little corrosion, were the sealing faces clean?

I like to put a bit of vacuum grease, silicone grease, etc on the sealing areas of each component in that stack. Both sides of the diaphragm, etc.

 

[p2im0]

Seems like you need to tear it down and rebuild the fuel pump side. I'd wipe it down so you can see exactly which joint is leaking.

Did you use an OEM Mikuni rebuild kit?
I see a little corrosion, were the sealing faces clean?

I like to put a bit of vacuum grease, silicone grease, etc on the sealing areas of each component in that stack. Both sides of the diaphragm, etc.

Yeah I used the OEM Mikuni kit. The sealing faces were thoroughly cleaned - I have a hard time believing the leak has been this bad all season. Could be from sitting for a few weeks before pulling out of the water made it worse.

Any easy way to test the seal/function of fuel pump for leaks with carb off? Low PSI, 10-15 from a compressor safe?

 

[mbrick]

I agree, I think you would have known. My skis don't leak at all from the carbs. I just smell a little bit of fuel if I stick my face in the engine area from the evaporation out of the carbs the first day or two after running them.

I don't know if pressure would be ok... Maybe less than 10psi to start.