SJ engine dies after jumping small wave

[jjchambers]

I bought Pablo's 95 SJ two weeks ago. I water tested it there and it ran great for the 15 - 20 minutes I rode it. Had to wait these 2 weeks to get title/registrations crap squared away before I could ride here in Sarasota. During those 2 weeks, I D-cut the ride plate, replaced o-rings on the head, charged the battery and that was it. I got all my registration done today so I went to take the ski out. It started right up at the house and then at the ramp. Went about 1/4 throttle thru the no-wake zone for about 300 yards then got in the open. Jumped one small boat wake and the ski died. I then realized I was in 3' of water. The ski started back up but I could not get up on plane. It was like I had something in the pump of impeller. No matter how far I opened the throttle it would stay like I had it only open 1/4 of the way. I got into deeper water, it "cleared up" and I was back to normal. I stood up and with in a couple second it bogged/slowed down again. I started heading back to the ramp and after 30 seconds of this bogging / not being able to palne it cleared up again and I took off. I jumped another boat wake on my way in (I don't think I even got any air) and it died again. It takes a second to start but starts up, but won't accelerate. My cooling line was not clogged b/c my pisser was working the entire time.

Sorry for the long story but what could be causing this? This is my second time on this ski (first time in salt water) and I was really looking forward to riding all weekend. I did fillup the tank to about 3/4 before I went out. I did use Quicksilver where Pablo was using Amsoil. I don't think that would matter...

I checked the ski out when I got it back on the trailer and no loose hoses or anything in the pump or fuel filter (that I could see) I flushed it just fine when I got home...

very frustrated...

J

 

[McDog]

My guess is that the total loss doesn't like saltwater. You need to seal off as many connections as possible and grease everything up.

 

[jjchambers]

If I had been riding for a while and then it quit I would possibly suspect that, but all I did was idle, 1/4 throttle for a couple minutes jump the first wave I saw and it quit. There was no chance of the TL getting wet before that happened. Now would a loose connection somewhere cause this? Sometimes it ran great, other times not so great, but it was still running. I also did check my plug boots, those things are on tight so I don't think it's them.

J

 

[surfjunkie]

dirty carb?

the jump could have sent some of that stuff that builds up at the bottom of the jets into the jet....

 

[Waternut]

Salt water has a funny way of ruining electrical things really quickly. When I went to Daytona, just the waves hitting the ski while I took the beach cart back was enough to kill it. Didn't even get a chance to start it up half the time.

I don't remember how pablo had his wiring set up but if there are any connectors at all, you're going to want to remove those before running in saltwater again. Solder and shrink wrap is going to be your best defense for salt water.

 

[jjchambers]

The more I think about it the more I lean to a carb issue like surfjunkie says, but would it really clear up like that and run good for a bit then "clog up" again... I believe the carbs were just cleaned last fall... could they gunk up that quick?

J

 

[jjchambers]

Salt water has a funny way of ruining electrical things really quickly. When I went to Daytona, just the waves hitting the ski while I took the beach cart back was enough to kill it. Didn't even get a chance to start it up half the time.

I don't remember how pablo had his wiring set up but if there are any connectors at all, you're going to want to remove those before running in saltwater again. Solder and shrink wrap is going to be your best defense for salt water.

I don't know enough (anything) about TL, but could a loose connector / water intrusion really cause this to happen? I would think if the TL acted up I would have no spark at all....

J

 

[spazzit]

dirty carb?

the jump could have sent some of that stuff that builds up at the bottom of the jets into the jet....

x-2
mine did that last year had stuff in the little filters and jets

 

[orangefinger]

You have dirt in your carburator, there is something sitting on top of uour jets...

 

[McDog]

It's easy to check your carb jets. It's only four screws on the triangle side of the carb, and two more screws on the inside. Then you unscrew the two jets and look through them. Then you put it back together. Look at the tech FAQ on how to rejet your carbs for how to and pics.

One jump is all it takes to get some saltwater on the wires of the TL. If the carbs are clean then I would slather all the wiring connections and plug boots with dielectric grease and see if that fixes it. If it does then you will need to do a more permanent fix of adhesive lined shrink wrap on all the connections and keep grease in the plug boots at all times.

I hope one of those fixes it. Isn't freestyle jet skiing fun? Sorry you're having troubles. Good luck.

 

[jjchambers]

I'll pull the carb this morning and see what I find and then grease up the TL wires.

Where can I find the adhesive lined shrink wrap? My plug boots are plenty greased.

Do you guys think I need to get an entire re-build kit or should everything be OK just checking the jets and putting it back together?

Thanks,

J

 

[McDog]

Just check the jets and put it back together as long as the diaphram isn't damaged.

 

[OCD Solutions]

I had the exact same problem with my 07 this year. It would run perfect at times and then bog. When it cleared up it ran too good for my jetting to be off so I suspected gunk in the carb. Sure enough I found a bit of gelatinized fuel left over from the rebuild in one of my pilots.

Frustrating but should be a quick and simple fix. Good Luck!

 

[cattledog]

cut back ignition wires use dielectic grease you can buy it from autozone, salt water causes problems with total loss, look at daytona all the up north guys come down and a lot of the skis wont run good, just spent two weeks in lovelly sarrasotta

 

[jjchambers]

dirty carb?

the jump could have sent some of that stuff that builds up at the bottom of the jets into the jet....

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! and everyone else that guessed dirty carb. My HS jet was clogged almost completely. I think the hole in my LS jet was bigger than what was getting thru my HS jet. Anyway a blast of air cleaned it out and it's all back together. I double checked all the TL connections and they are good and greased up. I'm going out today so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for all the help AGAIN.

J

 

[cattledog]

good luck keep us posted , when the ski is running great life is grand

 

[Pablo]

Bon voyage...nice trouble shoot JJ. Good luck riding. Let us know how it goes.

 

[jjchambers]

It went a lot better then yesterday! But I tried to count how many turns out the HS and LS screws were when I was cleaning everything out and I think I lost count on the LS so I think I messed it up a bit... BUT everything worked great! I think I'm going to try a bit of tuning tomorrow. Thanks for all the help everyone!