| Jetski Repair for Dummys - written by a dummy |
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| Written by Adrian Fleming | |
| Wednesday, 19 March 2008 | |
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As a newbie to Jetskis back in 2002, I came across my first Jetski - a Seadoo XP ltd with an aparent engine problem. I had been thinking about buying a jetski at the time but I couldnt afford it, so when this fix er upper came along, I couldnt resist -little did I know what would happen
As a newbie to Jetskis back in 2002, I came across my first Jetski - a Seadoo XP ltd with an aparent engine problem. I had been thinking about buying a jetski at the time but I couldnt afford it, so when this fix er upper came along, I couldnt resist -little did I know what would happen The experience started very well...for a seadoo xp in mint conition with a roller coaster trailer and life jackets, I paid only €750 given te engie trouble. I estimated that worst case scenario I would need to buy an engine at max €3000 so in my head it was still a cheap ski.
Not surprisingly having a degree in computer science is of no use to you when trying to repair a Jetski....so straight away I knew I needed help. On consulting google, I found a great website call autorepairmanuals.biz. Its a US based website who sell repair manuals for cars, bikes, jetskis and more. And there I found a Seadoo XP rerpair manual by Clymer. http://www.autorepairmanuals.biz 2 weeks and $37.99 dollars later I find myself in my dads shed, in the middle of January, given the size of the engine bay access, it was clear I needed to take the engine out if I was going to be able to do anything with it - big mistake! So using a rachet pulley from steel girders of the shed, I eventually lifted the engine out of the engine bay. and to my surprise, the crank turned freely by hand. Up until now, the engine appeared completely seized as it wouldnt turn at all by starter or by hand or by force. Sitting on a retired bar-b-que I realised that it must be something else, so I checked the drive shaft which goes from the engine back to the impeller and low and behold, it was stuck. So straight away, the f'ing and blinding started as I realised that I had spent 6 hours of my Friday evening in the freezing cold taking out a perfectly working engine! Little did I know the fun was only just beginning! So before I takles the jammed drive shaft, I said I would try to start the engine. I lowered it into the engine bay again and reconnected all the hoses, andwithin 10 mins, the engine was running like a dream off my car battery - (My pride and Joy audi is now battery less as the madness continues into the early hours of the morning). Happy with the days work I went to bed. The next day I got stuck into it again, serviced the engine, replaced all the hoses which were "gummy" from petrol sitting in them for over 2 years, changed the plugs, oil line filter, fuel filter and gave it a good cleaning and washed out the engine bay.
So after putting it off for as long as I could like tomorrows homework, I attacked the jammed drive shaft. Where was it stuck? It didnt take long for me to notice a grease nipple on the mid bearing. Not knowing what a mid bearing was at the time, I had the cop on to realise that if it has a grease nipple, it might be seized if the last owner didnt grease it. And considering the grease nipple was so well hidden from sight, who could blame him for missing it!!! Sure enough it was seized solid at the mid-bearing. With some pulling draggin horsing, shoving, tearing, f'ing, blinding, more pulling, and draggins, several hours and much more f'ing and blinding later I finally got the drive shaft out of the engine bay with the mid-bearing firmly seized to it. Success....well sort of. I then paid a visit to the local garage and asked to use their hydraulic press....my dad reckoned that would free the shaft from the seized mid-bearing - and it did. Quikcly it was clear that a new shaft and mid bearing, mid bearing seals and more would have to be replaced. It wasnt until this point I thought...where the hell do get parts for this thing! The mechanic in the garage laughed hard at me....and I guess who would blame him....as he wathced the local computer geek covered in grease, ripped knuckes and hands trying to figue out the mechanics of what I now knew to be a 2 cylinder 2 stroke engine over a weekend with nothing but a book and a set of Aldi spanner and socket set. I rang a few jetski retailers looking for these parts..and they were all more than helpful to supply the parts to me but the cheapest quote for the lot was about £600 sterling. So while waiting for my next paycheck - I consulted the web for a cheaper alternative and I struck Gold! Ronnies Microfiche! What a site! What a fantastic resource for all Jetskiers! Just select your Jetski Make and Model and it brings up detailed diagrams, schematics and descriptions of every single component in the Jetski! http://www.ronniesmailorder.com/fiche_select.asp No more explaining things in terms of the long yoke or small thingy whatchamacallits. No more! From here on, I was speaking the lingo! From studying the diagrams, I ordered the following from Ronnies and afer emailing their customer care, a very nice girl called Wendy organised shipping on the cheaper alternative USPS for $46 to ireland. Qty Part Number Description Price Total 272000012400 SUPPORT-JOINT $26.97 $26.97 293350007 NEEDLE BEARING $13.47 $13.47 272000009 SHAFT-DRIVE $196.47 $196.47 293550008 FITTING-GREASE $5.47 $5.47 293900016 BUSHING-SNAP $2.47 $2.47 293300032 O-RING $1.47 $2.94 272000135 CLIP "C" $2.47 $2.47
271000687190 GRATE-PUMP $65.47 $65.47 the entire jetski drive system and engine parts are sitting in an orderly fashion on the floor of my dads shed. The bolts are all in 5 plastic containers labeled for the area they came off. The rest is in a big cardbopard box...and I leave the new parts down beside them.....U2 joshua tree, cup of tae, not tea, tae, and off I went again. Ensuring to follow the instructions to the letter from the book, and greasing the mis bearing with high quality, heat tolerant grease, I reassembled the drive system, and persuaded the engine back into place interlocking with the new drive shaft with soem gentle persuasion(rea that as: more pulling draggin horsing, shoving, tearing, f'ing, blinding, more pulling, and draggins, several hours and much more f'ing and blinding later ).
With the engine back in place and all new hoses reconnected, all bearings greasd up, engine serviced...this computer science geek, hooked up the now fully charged jetski battery, inserted the lanyard switch, said a prayer to st.anthony, put what change I had in my pockets into the swear Jar my mother put in the shed after week 1 to cover the last 3 hours of despicable name calling (some new ones which I invented my self which event Dr. Cox would be proud of).... and she turned over. With two or three more tries she kicked into life....the smell of the two stroke petrol engine and toxic dioxins filled the shed - delighted. The weekend came the weather was Sh!te, thank you winking weather man from wexford! Did it matter to me...answer no....dont beleive me? heres the proof....
Total cost....€1210 including 1997 broken Seadoo XP €750 in 2002, €460 of parts, filters, hoses, oil, grease, grease gun, tesco socket and spanner set and my trusty repair manual. Satisfaction at having this ski run smoothley for 4 years afterward...priceless! I sold it in 2006 for €3000.
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