Bought myself a project '99 LS2000

[dabomb6608]

Hello all,

Long post ahead but catching up about 2 weeks worth of messing around and getting a little background of me out of the way. Posted this on the old forum before I realized this was a "newer" version. Longtime member over at greenhulk under the name "raiderteen". Might post up there as well.

Been boating for about 15 years now, since I was about 11 years old. Got a '95 Waveraider 1100 summer of 2005 and still have it kicking around. That being said I have extensive experience with these 1100/1200 Yamaha motors. Had a '96 Glastron last summer as my own first boat. Bought it cheap with a cracked manifold and warped head. Got it running and ran it all summer long before selling it for a nice profit. I'm very mechanically inclined and not really afraid of jumping into any projects. I do mechanic work on jetskis/boats/vehicles on the side and buy/sell/trade a lot. Currently sitting on 7 different skis I bought over winter and have fixed up. Rebuilt several Yamaha power valve motors and also non-power valve ones over the past few years for customers or from skis I was flipping.

Well Feb 21st I found myself this '99 LS2000. Purchased for $2000 in "as is" condition. Owner stated one motor shut down and he thought had electrical issues. Other motor supposedly ran. Pretty dirty cosmetically but really just needing a deep cleaning. Few rips in sun deck and rear back rests. Otherwise in decent shape. I knew going into it to expect the worst as that's how everything goes when purchasing used from someone who doesn't know anything about them. But I knew what I was getting and knowing I have experience with these motors made me confident enough to purchase. without any hesitation. The market for these is still good it seems around here and I have plenty of meat on the bones to invest in it and still sell down the line when I upgrade. I promised my significant other we would be keeping this one for at least 2 or so years...unless I get a insane offer that is lol.

Anyways, got it home and started digging into it. First a compression check. Port motor I could spin by hand at the coupler. Starboard seemed froze. Both motors didn't click or attempt to turn over initially even with jumping the solenoid. Checked wiring and all was good. No corroded cables or any other typical issues. Pulled starters and jumped them with cables. Still nothing. Port starter was froze and starboard starter had something catching when I spun it by hand. Tore them apart and found a froze bearing in the port starter and destroyed magnets in the starboard. Had a spare starter from a Kawasaki that had a matching center section. Between the three I was able to get both working properly.

With the starters reinstalled it was back to a compression check. Port motor checked out fine. ~120 across all three. Starboard was a different story. Something had it bound up. At that point I decided to start tearing it down.

But before I did that I wanted to test fire the port motor. Poured some premix down the carbs and turned the gas valve on and it started right up. Great! Back to the problem motor....

Once the head was removed I found a mag piston with a hole burned through it. Scaring in mag and PTO cylinders. Was very substantial in Mag cylinder. PTO was just slightly scared below exhaust port. A quick note, these were converted to premix. I removed the Mag piston in an attempt to see if I could find any obstructions to the crank in the casing. Nothing there. I removed the front cover to inspect the flywheel and bendix. Nothing other then a lack of grease everywhere. Had rusty shavings that I believe were from a worn bendix that stuck or from missing washers on the bendix.

At this point I started trying to rotate the motor by hand. It would rotate slightly, so I tried seeing if I could hear where it was "hitting". Looking at the coupler it looked like the coupler was resisting. So I decided at that point to turn my attention to the pump. After some choice words and a bit of force the pump finally pulled out. And I found my second major issue. A corroded impeller housing causing the liner to swell and contact the impeller. Good news was the motor now turned over. The bad news was I noticed somehow the midshaft had broke and the only thing holding it in place before was the driveshaft splines...

I started tear down of the carbs. They weren't "terrible" but they weren't "great" either. No clogged jets or passages. Return restrictors were clear. Fuel pump check valves weren't creased. They just had a bit of nasty from old fuel sitting in them. Genuine Mikuni diaphragms that were still soft. I did notice that my High and Low screws were adjusted from factory spec. With the Mag carb having highs almost half a turn lean.... I was a bit concerned that I didn't find any substantial evidence of a fueling issue other then the high/low screws.

Another thing to note. Both engines appear to be SBT motors. For sure the starboard. Pistons are SBT brand.

I then unbolted the engine from the mounts. Noticed one rubber mount was separated and no longer usable. This potentially caused a misalignment which caused the mid shaft issue mentioned later. From there I was able to yank the rest of the motor out by hand last night ever so carefully. Being a tall and lanky build certainly helps in tight areas. I wrapped a tie down around the motor making sure to secure it from shifting any. Then lifted it up and onto the back swim platform. Then jumped out of the boat and carried it into the garage.

At this point I also removed the mid shaft assembly. Confirmed the shaft itself did indeed break at the coupler. Appeared to be an old break as it had rust on the breaks surfaces. With the splines on both ends of the break its highly possible it went unnoticed as it still would function with maybe a bit of chatter.

I started tear down of the crankcase. Once apart I cleaned out the cases and inspected the crank. I am a bit weary of a couple bearings. Its possible there are some aluminum pieces still hanging out in them and it needs a very thorough flushing/cleaning. I've had worse feeling bearings from a PV motor clean out great and be just fine. The aluminum is much softer then the steel bearings thankfully so hopefully they clean out fine.

A few side notes I found on the motor tear down. It appears this motor busted out the bottom of the crankcase when SBT got a hold of it. Its been welded and repaired. I have pictures of that as well.

At this point last week I was at a cross roads between rebuild/reman motor/used motor. I ended up finding a killer deal on a complete running motor with electronics/carbs/exhaust out of a exciter on eBay for about $600. It is located down in south Florida so needed to arrange shipping. I got a hold of the shipping company who delivered my Harley from south Florida a few years ago and sure enough they will be heading up this way with a load of bikes after Bike Week in Daytona. So looks like potentially the week of 18th-22nd I could have the motor in my hands. Cost was $200 for them to bring it up. That timeline works out perfect for me considering I leave this Saturday for a cruise and won't be home till the 17th. I plan to do a thorough cleaning of the engine compartment when I get back in town before dropping the new motor in.

With going this route I will have a spare motor to rebuild this spring, spare carb set, spare E-Box, as well as spare exhaust manifold/stinger.


Once I have the motor dropped in and everything tests out okay I have upgrades here and there planned.. Most likely will install the groupk fuel/air separator. Stereo system install. Add some LED lights throughout. Maybe do the steering upgrades available. Sticker delete/replacement as most are faded. Deep clean everything. Hyrdoturf mats or Seadek if my wallet can take the hit. Find a replacement step ladder as the main U hoop is missing. Dual batteries. Gauge upgrades. The list is long and will get done slowly through the summer. I've got a solid month or two before boating season kicks in full swing so have plenty of time to at least get her water ready. I have already spent the past two weeks soaking up additional info about these boats from here including a lot of the "must dos". I look forward to sharing my progress as I move forward on it.

Here are shots of the boat and motor tear down.

 

[Scottintexas]

in "as is" condition. Owner stated one motor shut down and he thought had electrical issues.

View attachment 89023

If we haven't heard that a hundred times before, definitely probably "just an electrical issue"

Glad to have you on board, where are boating at ?


.

 

[dabomb6608]

If that isn't the truth lol. I knew full well going into it to expect the worst. At the price I got it I knew I could drop two motors into it and still be ahead so wasn't too concerned.

I guess I should update my profile info on here. I am in Southern Illinois, boating on Lake of Egypt mainly with some trips to the Ohio River and possibly Rend Lake. I saw in June there is a river run going on over on the Kaskaskia River we talked about potentially checking out in June as well.

I grew up boating on the Ohio River down in Golconda, IL. Family had a 27' Bayliner and my jetski. Some of my favorite memories were made down there.

 

[James R Whitten]

I like those boats. Definitely cool.

 

[BigAbe75]

Welcome! Looking forward to following along.

Checkout our Shelbyville gathering at the end of July too. It’s a great time, as well.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/2019-lake-shelbyville-gathering-july-24-july-28-2019.20821/

 

[Liftr]

I can appreciate a guy who is not afraid to “bite off a project”!

 

[Speedling]

I did the same with my first boat,an exciter!
I have the piston on my desk as a trophy of sorts. Po had an oil line fall off. Upgrade lines is the key!

 

[dabomb6608]

Welcome! Looking forward to following along.

Checkout our Shelbyville gathering at the end of July too. It’s a great time, as well.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/2019-lake-shelbyville-gathering-july-24-july-28-2019.20821/

That looks very interesting! That also is not far at all from where I bought the boat! I purchased from a guy over near De Land, IL. I will have to look into it and mention it to the lady. I've never boated Lake Shelbyville, but it looks like a nice lake.

In other news,

I am still awaiting my replacement motor. It was picked up by my transporter and is looking like he will be up this way next week. I have done a little bit of cleaning inside the engine compartment at a car wash but now need to get in and wipe everything down. My replacement impeller housing and intermediate shaft assembly are getting delivered today. I can work on getting those installed this weekend hopefully. Three of the four bolts snapped holding the pump on so will need to get those taken care of.

Once the engine is here I will button up everything in the engine compartment before dropping it in. Then it will be pretty close to test run time. I need to go through some of the wiring by the dash at some point. Previous owners removed the lanyard and I wouldn't be surprised if the other kill switches in the shifters and rear lid aren't deleted as well. I've got wiring diagrams so will just need to do a lot of tracing. I might eventually reinstall those systems to stock functionality.

 

[dabomb6608]

I did the same with my first boat,an exciter!
I have the piston on my desk as a trophy of sorts. Po had an oil line fall off. Upgrade lines is the key!

Its funny you mention the trophy piston. I've got 3 "trophy" pistons from various motors I have rebuilt for customers. I will be adding this one to my display for sure.

 

[dabomb6608]

The new motor has arrived. I am starting to get covered up with customer skis right now so I might be a tad delayed in getting this installed. Right now the to-do list includes ordering a replacement engine mount, prep/clean engine compartment, install replacement midshaft assemby, install replacement engine mount once it arrives, reinstall motor, remove 3 broken transom plate bolts, reinstall pump assembly, drain gas, refill with fresh premix, turn keys and hope for a successful test run! Hoping in the next 2ish weeks to get around to everything depending on my schedule.

 

[dabomb6608]

Almost ran into a issue last night while removing the engine mount that had its rubber section break off. First bolt snapped at the head. Was a bit more delicate with the second one. Finally got the second bolt removed. It tried to start bending and snap but held. I was then able to remove the engine mount from the hull. There was enough of the broken bolt sticking up to get two nuts on it for a very nervous removal. I generally have terrible luck with snapped bolt removals.

From there I started to remove the intermediate housing that bolts to the rear wall. I guess this doesn't have a threaded insert and needs to be accessed from under the rear hatch tray to get to the nuts? I might go ahead and access that rear bilge area to do this instead of just installing the other parts to the original. I need to take a look back there anyways just for inspection and making sure all is well. I've read through the how-to a few times already. Hopefully its not too bad.

Once I get new bolts for the engine mount today I can install the new one and then get the replacement intermediate housing bolted in. The hull will be ready for the motor to drop in at that point. After the motor is installed and ready to fire I get to tackle the 3 bolts that snapped at the transom plate when I removed the pump. REALLY not looking forward to that....

 

[dabomb6608]

Okay guys I need some advice. After way too much fighting last night I removed the transom plate to either drill and tap the broken bolts out or just replace the whole plate. But I still can't get it completely removed. The dang bracket that threads to the end of the steering cable is not coming lose. I am on the verge of stripping the set nut trying to break it lose. I've even used some locking pliers plus a wrench on that nut in an attempt to double up my holding force. I am going to give it another go tonight after a trip to harbor freight for some reinforcements. If this fails then I guess I will just cut the cable and replace it. If anyone has a tip for that let me know.

When I opened up the bilge access I noticed a few things. First was the switches. One was stuck in the down position. the other appeared to function. I left them plugged in and just moved the tray off to the side. Also from the factory did they spray what appears to be black rubberized paint on all the thru-hull points? I also noticed the rubber pads that rest under the water boxes were just laying off to the starboard side. The port water box also was not secured with its bungee strap. I'm going to disconnect the hoses and pull them to reinstall those pads and see if they have rubbed the hull significantly. One last thing I noticed was the last exhaust hose leading to the outlets on both sides was deformed a little. Almost like they had a kink in them. Trying to remember if I have seen any of the skis do that...

In other news I have the replacement motor mount and midshaft/intermediate assembly installed. So the engine compartment is 100% ready to stab the replacement motor in. I might haul it out to my dads to use his cherry picker and get a second pair of hands for assistance on that install. I can also use his drill press to attempt to drill out the transom plate bolts while I am there. I also need to source 3 replacement bolts. I looked at the hardware store and they have standard thread bolts that might work if they are long enough.

Sorry no pictures this time. I seem to always forget to take any pictures as I go along. Even though I have my phone out playing music and with manuals downloaded and open half the time.

 

[4x15mph]

Sounds like it is going as well as can be expected as things are always harder than you imagine. I hope you are enjoying digging in though and you are finding some good fixes.
- I also found a pad or two laying in the bilge when I accessed it. I didn’t have any damage that I found
- I don’t remember the exhaust hose being warped as you described
- if the bilge is still open, use 4200!sealant around thru hull fittings
- I’m not clear on what you are talking about with the steering cable plate. I did replace mine 2 years ago and it was a hassle. If you want to send a pic I can understand and help better or PM me to talk on phone

 

[dabomb6608]

Motor is mounted and everything is getting buttoned up on it. I also finally got my transom plate removed while I was at my buddies shop installing the motor. He's got several thousand dollars worth of snap-on tools and he got that steering cable end off in about 10 seconds. Guess I need to step my game up on tool selection lol.

We then drilled and tapped the holes where the broken pump bolts were on the transom plate. I am stepping up to 3/8-16 (course thread) bolts. Couldn't find any metrics in 8" lengths. Unfortunately one of the holes drifted on us so we are going to be brazing the hole closed then redrilling that one sometime this week. I'll try to remember pictures of that when I head over there again.

I've got to go run a jetski on the lake tonight that I was doing carb work on then hopefully will be continuing on getting the motor ready to fire. I'm terrible at remembering pictures but will try my hardest to take some.

 

[dabomb6608]

Heres a couple pictures. First one of the replacement motor. Second the port side motor that ran when I purchased. Then a shot of some VX Cruisers that a customer dropped off for some repairs over the weekend. After finishing up the work on them I decided to take some measurements for reference on a future 4-stroke conversion. They are both identical MR1 motors but with different coupling/driveshaft setups inside the engine compartments. One having the typical intermediate shaft and wall that mounts to behind the motor. The other didn't have that midwall behind the motor and the driveshaft bearing assembly mounted down into the hull. After some measuring it appears the MR1 motors would be a VERY tight fit if able to be fit at all in the LS2000. There is only 31ish inches between the front and rear wall in my engine compartment. The MR1 motors are roughly 30 or so inches from furthest forward point (exhaust pipe) to the rear of the motor (not including coupler). I am looking for some TR1 engine measurements to see how much shorter those are if any.

 

[4x15mph]

Great write up, thank you. I will be testing out my new carbs soon and may have some adjustment questions.

 

[dabomb6608]

Great write up, thank you. I will be testing out my new carbs soon and may have some adjustment questions.

More than happy to answer any carb issues. I've rebuilt many.

Didn't get anything accomplished last night. Ended up messing with a Seadoo ski most the evening after finding a rather large leak at the square exhaust flange during my test run. I still need to setup a evening with my buddy to braze that transom plate so we can redrill and tap one of the pump mounting holes. Then reinstall the pump and finish up the engine hookups.

Below is a current shot of my driveway....Ultra 150s in for motor rebuild on one and most likely carbs on the other, the VX Cruisers were in for a tuneup/oil change and a lack of top speed which was found to be due to algae buildup on the bottoms and in the pump tunnels, then the Seadoo which I ran last night after going through the carb and found a exhaust water leak. My waiting list is about 5 jetskis and a Seadoo Challenger as of now...I've been very busy the past month.

 

[dabomb6608]

Yet another delayed update.

My attempt at drilling and tapping the transom plate worked up until the point of reinstalling the pump. Ran into a few issues, mainly the 3/8 bolts I used were too large to get a socket on once tightened up against the pump cone. So last night I just bit the bullet and ordered a new transom plate and 4 new oem pump bolts. I am guessing I will receive everything by Monday depending on when they actually get shipped out. Which is fine because I will be out of town all weekend.

In other news. I do have the replacement motor "running". I've got a sticking throttle situation on the rear carb as well as a wiring issue causing the key not to shut down the motor. I've tracked it down to being the white wire that gets grounded from either the key being in the off position of the lanyard being removed. I believe I have a break in that wire between the dash and rear engine harness connector.

I've got Friday off work and I am hoping the weather cooperates for me to get some forward progress done. Doubt the new transom plate and bolts will be here by then but I can figure out the wiring and carb issues for sure.

To say I have been busy with customer skis is a understatement. The VX Cruisers are finished and gone. Have two early 90s Seadoos finished up and waiting for pickup. And got two Kawis delivered Monday which I found a rear piston with a hole burned through it on the ZXI 1100 and a lean bog on acceleration on the STX 900. Waiting to see what he wants me to do with the ZXI but went ahead and removed the carbs on the STX and found some pilot jets with a bit of clogging.

I'm getting extremely anxious to set this boat in the water for some testing. Can't wait!

 

[dabomb6608]

Finally some forward progress!

The new transom plate came in yesterday so after work I once again removed the original one that I had attempted to drill and tap to install the new one.











Now that the pump is reinstalled I am waiting for the weather to work with me a little bit. Supposed to be raining the next 3 nights till Friday evening. Which is just my luck

I will get a maiden voyage in and see if there is any immediate issues to address mechanically. I also replaced all of my switch covers on the dash over the weekend. Ordered from New Wire Marine, was about $30 or so for the whole set. I will try and remember to get a picture of those at some point. Was a super easy 5min install using a small flat head screw driver and patience.

My fuel gauge is needing replaced. I have tested the sender and its around 100 ohms (half tank'ish) Giving me reason to believe the sender isn't the issue as from my reading they normally show full empty. I jumper-ed the fuel gauge harness to ground and didn't get any gauge movement. I can jump the oil light and it lights up so I know I have power to the gauge.

Few other things on the list of to-dos before regular use include replacing the navigation lights up front and ordering a anchor light stick. Doing a deep clean on everything. Make sure there aren't any leaks present after the transom plate removal. Get a temp radio installed while I save for audio upgrades. And also get a small tool kit setup to have with on the boat along with the standard supplies that I don't already have.

 

[dabomb6608]

Got lucky yesterday evening with the rain cutting out enough to run down to the lake for a quick float/run test.

Right off the bat I found a few immediate issues. I believe the front carb has a fuel issue on the motor I replaced because it was not firing on that cylinder. I could pull the spark plug cap and it would stay running the same.

The second issue I noticed was my port motor is leaking at the intermediate shaft. So I guess I will be replacing that one as well.

I didn't even take it off the trailer cause I knew I wouldn't get far with a motor down a cylinder. No reason to push it that hard for no reason. Once I got home I had just enough daylight left to pull the carb rack. I will go through that front carb with a fine tooth comb and see what I can come up with. I have some new diaphrams and fuel pump check valves available to put in once it is apart. I try and keep a few of those in stock.

I remembered to take pictures of the toggle switches as well.