The other Alex
(Jetdude)
- Location
- Lake St. Clair--
What the hell! To start the venting process...
The ski runs great out of the water, I got the cooling all hooked up right, no more over heating, crisp throttle. I put it in the water, give it a once over and everything looks good, get half way out of the canal and the dies, won't stay running unless I pump the primer, so I plunge my way back to the dock. I pop the hood, and its half full with water, and the low speed screw had fallen out.
???????
I put the the low speed screw back in, pumped out the water, and tried to find the leak. It looked like it was leaking around the midshaft slightly, and I noticed a bolt missin out of the three on the midshaft, so I pull all the bolts, clean, tighten and add the third one, all are tight and everything looks good. I put the ski back in the water, fire it up, runs good. Smooth, strong, bottom end is dialed in nicely. I ran it against the sea wall for at least 20 minutes and it didnt take on anywater, everything looked great, I had the throttle varrying, idling, half, everything was looking good for the 20 minutes at the seawall. SO...I put the hood back on, and head back out. Everything feels good, like I said, bottom end was dialed in, we get out the canal and I take off, feels nice, handling well with the two foot chop. The top end felt a little rich, as after a few minutes it would feel like the carb needed to be cleared out, so I figured I'd stop and close the hi-speed screw a quarter turn or so. The the ski started losing more power, couldnt even get it up on plane all the way, and then before I knew it I was down on my knees, giving almost full throttle and barely getting anything out of the engine. So we hook up the tow line, time to start heading back, I figure there is probably some water in there since its so sluggish, and then I started to smell gas. So then I figured my low speed screw fell out again. We start towing back, and I'm on the back of the ski keeping the nose up. A quarter of the way back, nose digs in, digs in some more, and before I know it the whole ski is down.
^&%$, I hate when that happens! Thank god Aaron talked me into putting real foam in there instead of Great Stuff, because the tray stayed nice and on top of the water. So A half hour later and a few mouthfull of water, we are back at the dock with my ski sitting on the bottom of the canal. The whole way back the gas smell got stronger, and stronger, to the point where it was making me nautious. I pop the hood, gas everywhere, and of course water up to the top. So we drain, the crank over with out the plugs and get it cleared out again.
Now as I go out to work on it, I need suggestions. Obviously I am taking on water, even though 20 minutes running it at the dock there was none coming in. And something is up with my low speed screw, I had it only 1.5 turns out and it fell out. Im going to see if I can get it running and find the low speed screw. I'm guessing I need to buy a new low speed screw and see if that fixes anything?
I am at a loss, what should I be checking now. Everything is spic and span and running good at the dock, but the second I get to the end of the canal I start taking on water and losing screws. Any suggestions at all would be WONDERFUL. There is no water coming in at any of the cooling hoses, all clamps are tight, I didn't notice any water coming in at the midshaft when we were running it at the dock, there is no water coming in at any of the exhaust couplers or around the water box, nothing leaking from the exhaust manifold...
I am cursed!
The ski runs great out of the water, I got the cooling all hooked up right, no more over heating, crisp throttle. I put it in the water, give it a once over and everything looks good, get half way out of the canal and the dies, won't stay running unless I pump the primer, so I plunge my way back to the dock. I pop the hood, and its half full with water, and the low speed screw had fallen out.
???????
I put the the low speed screw back in, pumped out the water, and tried to find the leak. It looked like it was leaking around the midshaft slightly, and I noticed a bolt missin out of the three on the midshaft, so I pull all the bolts, clean, tighten and add the third one, all are tight and everything looks good. I put the ski back in the water, fire it up, runs good. Smooth, strong, bottom end is dialed in nicely. I ran it against the sea wall for at least 20 minutes and it didnt take on anywater, everything looked great, I had the throttle varrying, idling, half, everything was looking good for the 20 minutes at the seawall. SO...I put the hood back on, and head back out. Everything feels good, like I said, bottom end was dialed in, we get out the canal and I take off, feels nice, handling well with the two foot chop. The top end felt a little rich, as after a few minutes it would feel like the carb needed to be cleared out, so I figured I'd stop and close the hi-speed screw a quarter turn or so. The the ski started losing more power, couldnt even get it up on plane all the way, and then before I knew it I was down on my knees, giving almost full throttle and barely getting anything out of the engine. So we hook up the tow line, time to start heading back, I figure there is probably some water in there since its so sluggish, and then I started to smell gas. So then I figured my low speed screw fell out again. We start towing back, and I'm on the back of the ski keeping the nose up. A quarter of the way back, nose digs in, digs in some more, and before I know it the whole ski is down.
^&%$, I hate when that happens! Thank god Aaron talked me into putting real foam in there instead of Great Stuff, because the tray stayed nice and on top of the water. So A half hour later and a few mouthfull of water, we are back at the dock with my ski sitting on the bottom of the canal. The whole way back the gas smell got stronger, and stronger, to the point where it was making me nautious. I pop the hood, gas everywhere, and of course water up to the top. So we drain, the crank over with out the plugs and get it cleared out again.
Now as I go out to work on it, I need suggestions. Obviously I am taking on water, even though 20 minutes running it at the dock there was none coming in. And something is up with my low speed screw, I had it only 1.5 turns out and it fell out. Im going to see if I can get it running and find the low speed screw. I'm guessing I need to buy a new low speed screw and see if that fixes anything?
I am at a loss, what should I be checking now. Everything is spic and span and running good at the dock, but the second I get to the end of the canal I start taking on water and losing screws. Any suggestions at all would be WONDERFUL. There is no water coming in at any of the cooling hoses, all clamps are tight, I didn't notice any water coming in at the midshaft when we were running it at the dock, there is no water coming in at any of the exhaust couplers or around the water box, nothing leaking from the exhaust manifold...
I am cursed!
