My Winter Project

[itsdgm]

Hold throttle at wot and it won't dispense fuel. Gives more accurate compression numbers too. The smoke could be water vapor in the exhaust and that valve was open. Remember that 1 and 4 run in sync and 2 and 3 run in sync. Add a few mL of oil and see if the numbers go up (for ring seal testing). Make sure to crank until the gauge doesn't move, release pressure, and repeat at least one more time. I do 3 readings and they should be within a few psi. Normally they are within 1 psi.

I did forget to mention that I tested at WOT. I've read before to do that. But I never understood why, I always thought it was something to do with the air flow, not the fuel flow. I realized after all the "testing" that it would've been nice to add the oil and see if numbers jumped up. But at the time I was so excited to get a chance to work on the ski that I needed to just push forward and get it buttoned back up before I needed to get back inside.

So I'm sure there'll be another chance down the road to check compression again. But thanks @Jgorm for the how to tips.

 

[Jgorm]

Wot is also for airflow so you don't pull vacuum behind the throttle. I'm pretty sure most 96 and newer vehicles disable fuel while starting at wot. I ran commission on my "good" engine today and only got 30 psi on all of them. Then I put plugs in and tried to start, but the fuel pump is not priming. Doh! I don't believe the numbers because it ran fine.

 

[itsdgm]

So, my next step for figuring this thing out is getting the WaveRunner into the water. If you’ve been following from the beginning, you know that I don’t have a trailer. The trailer that came with the ski was rusted through and through and was a double ski trailer. I don’t have room to store something that big in my garage or on the side of the house. So I ended up giving it to a friend who wanted to use it for parts to build a trailer for his Razor.

So the step of buying a trailer has essentially been going on from day one. But since I’ve figured out that the ski is worth keeping, I’ve been looking more seriously the past few weeks.

While looking, I’ve noticed a lot of different features and designs of single trailers. While looking closely at pics on Craigslist and eBay, I realized that I needed a trailer:

1. Either light enough to stand up on the side of my house, or small enough to fit neatly in the garage
2. Galvanized is a must since it’s going into the ocean.

Stay tuned......

 

[Ronnie]

I just skimmed Craigslist ads local to me for pwcs and trailers and found only one used pwc that came on something other than a painted trailer (it was a 2016 high end Seadoo on a Triton Aluminum trailer model LTWC1), this is out of something like 200 ads. I didn’t realize how rare galvanized and/or aluminum pwc trailers are and am surprised I didn’t see more considering that most of the boatable water around me is either salt water or brackish water.

Good luck in your search but I am thinking you may be better off building your own from a kit. One of my friends got such a kit for his birthday once, it contained an axle, two tires/rims, two leaf springs, a light kit, a trailer tongue and instructions on what else to buy and how to put it/weld it altogether. This kit was about $300 in the mid 80s. Who knows what it costs now or if it’s still available.

Another alternative may be to purchase a used small galvanized or aluminum (14’ to 16’) boat trailer and modify it. I saw a few ads for such trailers around me wth the average cost being $300. Ive also seen push button hydraulic systems that would allow you to transport the waverunner in the bed of a truck but they looked a lot more expensive than trailer.

 

[Seadeals]

I noticed in a pic of the waverunner engine that the head does not have the second forward tube location and the metal tube enters between coils 3 and 4 instead of 1 and 2. Is there any significance to that design difference should you ever decide to use it in the boat? They must have changed it between 2005 and 2006. I have still been trying to figure out exactly what waverunner models and years have the same engine as my 2006 (mostly just down to how many years before they changed anything with the engine design now). BTW, inspected the block repair I did closely and there is still no evidence of any cracks or water leakage. That effort has already been worth it to me.

 

[itsdgm]

I noticed in a pic of the waverunner engine that the head does not have the second forward tube location and the metal tube enters between coils 3 and 4 instead of 1 and 2. Is there any significance to that design difference should you ever decide to use it in the boat? They must have changed it between 2005 and 2006. I have still been trying to figure out exactly what waverunner models and years have the same engine as my 2006 (mostly just down to how many years before they changed anything with the engine design now). BTW, inspected the block repair I did closely and there is still no evidence of any cracks or water leakage. That effort has already been worth it to me.

Glad to hear that your epoxy is still holding up. As far as the waverunner ........ man ........ you’ve got great observational skills You’re right. This 05 waverunner has what I believe to be the exact engine as my 07 boat. However, that water pipe is located in a different spot. I’ve looked at pics of other 05 skis and they don’t seem to have it like that. So it’s quite possible that this engine isn’t original either and could be an earlier year. But, I do remember after tearing down my original engine that the newer heads and valve covers have two spots that the pipe can be installed into and a block off plate for the other location. So the newer heads and valve covers could be reconfigured for either application. Look on top of your engines and you’ll see a rubber plug in between the 3rd & 4th cylinders. Under that plug is a block off plate where the water pipe could be relocated to.

 

[Jgorm]

Yup

 

[itsdgm]

Yup

I figured that if I needed to drop in my newer engine that I’d just extend the water hose to fit the newer pipe location. That way I could pull it and put it in the boat quicker if necessary. After looking at the water hose in the WaveRunner, it appeared that there might be enough slack in the line to reach the water pipe in between the 1 & 2 cylinder. This led me to believe that the engine could possibly be from an earlier ski. But I haven’t even looked further than that (checking serial numbers).

 

[itsdgm]

So I had been looking for probably two months for a trailer. Pretty much since buying the WaveRunner.

During that time I noticed a guy selling a SeaDoo with a galvanized Shorelander trailer for $1500. One thing that I noticed about the trailer was that the tongue appeared to be removable. Also, the specs on the trailer showed the trailer being only 5’ wide. A removable tongue and a 5’ width meant that the footprint of the WaveRunner on the trailer with the tongue removed would be almost the same as it sat on the work stand. This means that I wouldn’t have to deal with separating the ski and trailer and standing up the trailer alongside the house every time I wanted to take it out. That would be a major PITA. I could simply remove the tongue and leave it in the garage.

I emailed the seller and asked if he’d sell just the trailer and he said no. But he would sell both for $1000. So I kept searching and put a galvanized Shorelander trailer at the top of my list. But I never saw another one after searching for for months. So, what to do? I kept seeing the SeaDoo/Shorelander combo coming up. I sent the seller another email. This time he said he’d do $800. That’s when I asked further questions about the SeaDoo and trailer. He wasn’t too mechanically inclined, all he really knew was that it ran and had never given him issues. So we decided to meet.

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• itsdgm
• Feb 2, 2018

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• itsdgm
• Feb 2, 2018

When we met, I realized that the ski ran, but wasn’t by any means going to be the pride of anybody’s fleet. This would probably take a bit of effort to sell. But the trailer was what I wanted. It was obvious that the seller wanted out of the business of owning a SeaDoo and didn’t want to take it home. I made it clear that I really didn’t want the ski. So I shot him an offer. An offer that I fully thought he’d counter or possibly get upset at me for offering. Especially since his add was asking $1500 and he had me there already coming down to $800. To my surprise, he couldn't shake my hand fast enough to seal the deal. I guess he really, really didn’t want to tow this back home.

So now I have my trailer, oh yeah, and more work to do of selling a SeaDoo.

 

[Ronnie]

What year and size engine is the Seadoo? Got any pics of the engine to post?

 

[itsdgm]

What year and size engine is the Seadoo? Got any pics of the engine to post?

Ask and ye shall receive.

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• itsdgm
• Feb 2, 2018

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• itsdgm
• Feb 2, 2018

It’s a 94 XP with a 650cc motor. It has an aftermarket exhaust and air filters. The oil injection has also been removed. The previous owner bought it a few years ago just as it sits and has only run a few tanks of gas through it since he’s owned it. I ran compression before buying it and got 140 psi on each cylinder. He said that he’s selling it because he moved to an apartment where he won’t be able to store it.

I’ve had the ski and trailer for about two weeks at this point. It’s been advertised on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. I’ve had a lot of emails and texts. But selling it without a trailer really limited the buying field.

FWIW, I met a buyer today and am delivering it in the morning. But no money has changed hands yet, so it’s as close to being sold as it gets. Im crossing my fingers that it goes as planned.

 

[Ronnie]

Thanks for the info Dennis. If it had an 800 cc (actually 787 cc) engine I would have driven down immediately. Good luck with the sale today.

It’s getting warm up here, I’m thinking of taking the waverunners out with my family today instead of working on them, my waverunners that is.

 

[itsdgm]

So I got a lot done today.

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• itsdgm
• Feb 4, 2018

I sold the SeaDoo and transferred the WaveRunner from the work stand to the trailer. I’m so happy that I’m getting some space back in my garage. Oh yeah, and some $ back for the SeaDoo.

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• itsdgm
• Feb 4, 2018

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• itsdgm
• Feb 4, 2018

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• itsdgm
• Feb 4, 2018

After the sale of the ski, my net cost for the trailer was only $100. It needs a bit of work (lights, replace a few bolts, inspect the bearings), but so far I’m happy to find the exact trailer that suits my needs and at a cost that didn’t hurt.

I’m getting much closer to testing this WaveRunner in some water. Should be fun.

 

[buckbuck]

That is an impressive transaction, @itsdgm . Do the bunks fit the Waverunner?

 

[Ronnie]

Nice winch system you have there Dennis. It looks like it makes short work of handling your 800ish pound waverunner.

 

[itsdgm]

That is an impressive transaction, @itsdgm . Do the bunks fit the Waverunner?

Yes. I could tell that the seadoo didn’t look positioned correctly on the trailer when I bought it. Much to my surprise the bunks fit the waverunner perfectly. Now I just need to figure out the bow stop.

 

[itsdgm]

Nice winch system you have there Dennis. It looks like it makes short work of handling your 800ish pound waverunner.

Yeah, this was no small task for the hoist. I bought it thinking an 880 lb hoist would be overkill. Then I looked up the weight of the waverunner (715 dry) and figured that it would do it, but close. It was a bit of a pita though. The cable kept hitting the shut off switch that limits the lifting height. It has to do with the hoist rotating a bit before it lifts the load. I’ve “adjusted it to work for lifting without the cable being set up with the moving pulley (for heavier loads). But not it hits the cutoff switch when lifting with the moving pulley. So I’m going to have to re-adjust that ..... again. Oh well, it got the job done. That’s all that matters.

 

[itsdgm]

So the trailer is a 1997 Shorelander galvanized single trailer. Having talked briefly before purchase with the previous owner it was clear that no maintenance had been done on his watch. So here’s my list of things that I want to do to get this ready to go.

1. Figure out how to remove the tongue for storage
2. Install new tail lights
3. Inspect and regrease the bearings
4. Replace or repair the trailer jack stand

First.
To remove the tongue all I had to do was simply remove one through bolt and loosen a square “U-bolt”. I presoaked everything with lubricant. As luck would have it, one nut simply snapped off while loosening the u-bolt. It is a 97 after all and there is light surface rust here and there. So it’s kind of expected. I found a replacement on eBay for a few bucks, no big deal.

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• itsdgm
• Feb 6, 2018

Another thing that I had to do was to clip the trailer wiring that was running down the tongue and split in two. One leg of wiring going down each side of the frame. I’ll replace that when I do the lights.

Second.
I found a set of LED trailer lights at Home Depot that came with enough wiring to do the job. I ended up running new wire down one frame rail and then through the rear crossbeam to the light on the other side. Also, I installed a four flat set of plugs between the tongue and frame rail. That way the wires could easily be disconnected when removing the tongue. Then I removed the old lights and installed the new LED lights. They are very similar styles but I’m hoping that the LED’s will outlast the trailer. I soldered every connection and used marine grade heat shrink tubing to insulate. I even ran a ground wire from the connection at the tongue directly to each light to avoid any ground wire issues.

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• itsdgm
• Feb 6, 2018

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• itsdgm
• Feb 6, 2018

Enough for now. I’ll document the rest next time.

 

[Ronnie]

Dennis, the bunk carpet looks a littl worm in one of the pics above, are you going to replace it or leave it as is? I would normally leave it alone but if your skis hull still looks like new it may be worth the tie and expense to replace the carpet or the bunks.

 

[itsdgm]

Dennis, the bunk carpet looks a littl worm in one of the pics above, are you going to replace it or leave it as is? I would normally leave it alone but if your skis hull still looks like new it may be worth the tie and expense to replace the carpet or the bunks.

At this point, I’m leaving it. The hull of the WaveRunner is in good condition. But not perfect.