Just bought a Seadoo

[BigN8]

Jet Ski that is!!!!! Just bought a very well maintained single owner 1997 GTX. About 145 hours on it. Anybody have any experience with old 2 stroke GTX jet skis?? Anything I need to look out for?

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I started maintaining a fleet of skis from 1998. Pretty much the same as 1997. A fully and properly charged battery is a must. I remember lots of strange running issues because of weak batteries. Keep spare plugs and tools onboard.

Have fun! There's nothing like 2 stroke power!

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

It has the 787 110 hp good strong reliable engine and a good hull design, just one thing to do on those , add a second ground wire from the engine to the battery and avoid a lot of issues with the electrical system.

 

[MikeyL]

I'ld suggest, just to be"sure" a new set of plugs !
Amazing what 1 "bad" plug can do in a 'ski.
Good Luck and hope you enjoy a ton of fun for years.
Barbie & I love our SeaDoo's ! Mikey Lulejian - Lake Oconee, GA

 

[4x15mph]

Congratulations, I want one. I haven't considered Sea Doo but based on @Cobra Jet Steering LLC response, I will include these in my search. I have 10 days until I go to the Outer Banks. I am not taking the boat and I thought about getting a ski to take along. We will see

I'll stay tuned to see how you make out with that ski. Good luck

 

[itsdgm]

Congrats on the ski. I noticed cracks in the oil lines on My last SeaDoo boat. Never gave me issues, but I replaced them none the less. They were leaking and I figured it would be catastrophic if they failed.

 

[john94si]

Keep a good tow rope onboard.. you will need it. 2 strokes break all the time.

 

[scokill]

Keep a good tow rope onboard.. you will need it. 2 strokes break all the time.

My buddy has two seadoos, one two stroke and one four stroke...the four stroke stays in the shop and the 2 stroke has never been.

 

[BigN8]

We tie up with other boats all the time in a certain cove. Been using my friends Honda Aquatrax Turbo for years. Now that all our kids (4) have their permits to drive I figured we needed to add a toy. So our kiddos use the skis to kneeboard, tube, and just play around on. They stay within our side of the lake pretty much in sight. I'm not overly worried about the breakdown as there will be another ski out there but I will add a rope to the storage compartment just in case. Thanks for that tip.

I bought this ski from 3D Powersports right up the road from Phil Dill. These are good guys. They completely go through the skis and do any preventative and corrective maintenance before they sell them. Then they lake test them. This particular ski Gary told me he sold to the original owner back in 1997 when he worked at the dealership. He performed all the maintenance on it for its lifetime and said the owner took really good care of it. The guys at 3D Powersports are good genuine guys, so I feel confident it will be a solid ski, and if I have problems I'm sure they will treat me right. They are more of a service shop than they are a dealer. The engine compartment looks just as clean as the outside. I just ordered a cover for $99. Even though the seat doesn't need to be replaced I think I might get an after market seat for it.

 

[farrelltravis]

Nice! I bet you will be cuttin' up that wake!

 

[ScarabMike]

@BigN8 Those things look brand new!!! Congrats man. I just got myself one, and been on it almost every day. Great buy!

http://www.watercraftsuperstore.net That site will be your best friend!

 

[BigN8]

@ScarabMike Awesome site! Thanks for the tip.

 

[Ronnie]

@BigN8 , I had a 96 gti that looked just like yours. Since you know the service history you have a lot less to be concerned about. I bought mine cheap as it was running rough due to age. To make it right I had the replaced all of the fuel line as well as the fuel on / off / Reserve valve. The lines sometimes get glogged up, especially if the previous owners didn't winterize it/treat the fuel properly. The valve is a $15 with wax as one of its components, the wax sometimes brakes down and blocks proper fuel supply to the engine, it took my shop a few days to diagnose this one. Depending on your budget and skill set you may want to consider buying marine viynl from Joanne's fabrics and recover the seats yourself. My local store carried a matching color as well as a few others and at about 20% of the premade equivalent.

Congrats on the buy, the 96 gtx was my first 3 rider ski and one of my best.

Edit: If you start to experience any fuel related problems with it consider doing the same things that I mentioned above as well as rebuilding the carbs, don't forget to replace the inline, actually, end of the line fuel filter in each carb.

 

[Evil Sports]

Got rid of my Seadoo GTX Di for the Aquatrax before it blew up.

 

[JCampbell]

Very good ski. I had the same one ('96). Highly recommend using Blue Marble oil in it. Used that in mine and when I traded it in for the Yamaha, it had over 400 hrs the compression was like it was brand new. Had it for 11 years without a single issue