Ski getting hot, where do I start?

[2002zxi]

My orange ski started pulling some major stunts with me this weekend. It bogged down really bad and then wouldnt start again(the first time). I got a tow back to shore, and took off the hood to find the whole inside of the hood was really hot. I took out the spark plugs and they were almost too hot to touch. The whole engine compartment was steaming. The tops of the spark plugs were somewhat white. I figured I had mixed up the fuel a bit too lean so I added a couple ounces of oil to the in tank mix. The fuel did look a bit too light colored before that. I also changed the spark plugs. 30 minutes later... the same thing happened.

Throughout the weekend the same thing happened 5-6 more times. For the rest of the time I know it wasnt lean mixed fuel. I dont konw where to start as far as troubleshooting this issue. Only engine mods on this ski are a milled head and B-pipe. I went through probably 16 spark plugs on that ski this weekend because the ski would start with a fresh set of plugs each time that werent hot. Come to find out, when the ski cooled down it would start with the ones that were already in it when they had cooled down.

 

[meatball]

May be because your engine is overheating...

Your coolant system may have something wrong with it. When you splash water on it does it sizzle? A little sizzle on the b pipe is normal but on the engine itself isnt. Hot is normal, but even after towing it in, and it was steaming, you have a coolant problem. Your line might be clogged somewhere and you need to fix it. Whats happening with your overheat sensor? Did you disable it? It should limit RPM's after the engine heats past 170 degrees. I've had clogs and undone lines before, and after it hits the limiter mode, you dont have much ride time before when you get back to shore, and its steaming and sizzling. You sensor may be broke, but definitely check the coolant system, check the line back to the pump first, the check the engine jackets second. Is the pisser pissing?

 

[djkorn1]

clogged water line?

blown head gasket?

:bigeyes:

 

[2002zxi]

May be because your engine is overheating...

Your coolant system may have something wrong with it. When you splash water on it does it sizzle? A little sizzle on the b pipe is normal but on the engine itself isnt. Hot is normal, but even after towing it in, and it was steaming, you have a coolant problem. Your line might be clogged somewhere and you need to fix it. Whats happening with your overheat sensor? Did you disable it? It should limit RPM's after the engine heats past 170 degrees. I've had clogs and undone lines before, and after it hits the limiter mode, you dont have much ride time before when you get back to shore, and its steaming and sizzling. You sensor may be broke, but definitely check the coolant system, check the line back to the pump first, the check the engine jackets second. Is the pisser pissing?

The engine was steaming but the B pipe wasnt even sizzling. The pipe was hot to the touch but didnt sizzle. It happened a handfull of times because I wasnt there for all of them and this ski has had a history of being finicky and I thought it may have just been too lean of fuel. Also, when someone from this board saw my ski he said that I should probably be using B8HS plugs instead of B8ES plugs because the head wasnt thick enough to need the B8ES plugs. One of the tries was with a set of BH plugs.

I didnt notice a huge loss of RPMS, but I wasnt riding it the first couple times it happened, I just got it back to shore and started messing with it. The 3rd time it happened was when I was riding it and it didnt feel like it was performing well before it bogged down and quit. I havent messed with the sensor, so AFAIK it's still there. The pisser is pissing like it normally would.

 

[2002zxi]

Sorry, I dont know what the ''engine jackets'' actually consist of. I'm assuming thats the medium where water flows between the cylinders and the outside of the engine, but I'm unsure how to ''check'' them. (not a wrencher yet)

Just sitting the ski on a cradle in the water and revving it there was water coming through the cooling lines but I dont know how much volume there's supposed to be there

 

[2002zxi]

clogged water line?

blown head gasket?

:bigeyes:

I would hate to have an excuse to upgrade the motor... :Banane01: My skills are non existant right now, but that ski is soooooo weak compared to my other ski. The overheating ski has a lot of potential. It already has sweet paint, a stiff aluminum pole, footholds, hand holds, UMI bars... but the engine has always been weak.

 

[meatball]

What exactly do you mean by the engine was steaming? 160 degrees (enough to burn you) is normal.

 

[2002zxi]

What exactly do you mean by the engine was steaming? 160 degrees (enough to burn you) is normal.

I've ridden in 100 degree temps a few times this summer and the ski hasnt ever steamed when I've taken the hood off to check fuel level or any other reason... until this weekend. I could just tell a lot of steam coming off the top of the head and hte spark plugs were hot enough you couldnt grab them. Neitehr of those things has evre happened before.

 

[GDFL]

Backflush the cooling system with a hose and see what comes out. If you've done a lot of shallow starts lately or the ski has sat on the sand then there's a good chance you have sand in there clogging things up. One of my pissers completely shut off one day at the beach so I quit and went home. A ton of sand came out when I flushed.
Garrett

 

[Frosty]

I would start by pulling every line off and going through them. I have had a single small pebble get lodged in 45 degree brass fitting causing reduced water flow. Take the time to go through everything...