Personal Watercraft question

[GNJimC]

Seems like whenever I have an "other than Turbo Buick question" this forum has been the best place to find answers so here is a PWC question/situation.

I own a 96 Polaris SLX. I bought it from a dealer about this time in 2005 with about 45 hours on it. The dealer I bought it from is close to my home but about 1 1/2 hours from my lake house so I have taken it to a dealer near there for winterizing. I got the thing out the weekend after the fourth of July for the first time this season. Ran it for about 3 hours until it died. Motor ran rough for about 2 seconds and just died and it would not turn over. (I feared the worse) Anyways, I took it to the dealer that winterized it and they finaly get to it and called to tell me that the crank was bent, needed 1 new piston and rod, and head for that cylinder. They claim that water must have gotton into the lower end and rusted a crank bearing and cused it to seize up. The parts guy said that if the PWC was ever rolled and took on water, and sucked it into the intake, the water could have sat in the lower end, particulary since it only has 68 hours on it. However, if this was the case, why would it show up this year after only 3 hours use this year, not in the 17-18 hours use the past two years because since I have owned it it has not been on its side or rolled over in the water.

Question is, is there somthing that they possibly did not do correctly when they winterized the PWC that could have caused this? They have been honest in the past with my other boat and have been reasonable on prices etc. I never gave them any doubt until the parts guy said that it would probably cost over $2000 with parts and labor to fix it, however one of the mechanics would be willing to buy it from me as is for about $300. I realize the labor is probably 2/3 the cost, and the mecahnic may want to just buy it, fix it and sell it to make some $$ on the side, but somthing seems fishy to me that they were the last ones to service it before the motor seized up.

Not sure what I could do about it but I was just looking for some unbiased opinions.

Thanks

Jim

 

[Black Car]

Here is a good site PWCToday.com - Welcome to PWCToday - the World's Largest & Best PWC Site!

It does sound fishy that it "just" happened. You say that you ran it for about 3 hours, did it run good up till it started to run rough?
The 96 is probably a two stroke engine, right?
Does it have a seperate oil resvoir or do you mix gas & oil?
You did mix or fill the oil resvoir?

From my experiences (not with pwc engines) if a bearing seize up, it usually just screws up the surfaces where the bearing rides.
I can see the crank being messed up too bad to turn, same for the rod.

Why did they say you needed a new piston?

Gary

 

[GNJimC]

Thanks for the link Black Car...

I logged on and registerd and posted the question there.

Yes it is a 2 stroke. The 3 hours of use was just this year. I have owned the machine since 2005 and have put a ****ping 20 hours on it. Since I have a house on a lake, that is not much at all. (not like I have to trailer it far to ride) It was not a gas/oil issue. They claim the entire lower end is gone, crank is shot. Not sure why I would need a new piston, but they indicate there could be even more damage.

I have learned that there are re-man short blocks and long blocks for these. Dealer claims none exsist. Personaly I just think they do not want to mess with it but for a $2K bill + they will do so.

I hate to junk it since the rest of the ski is mint. I guess I am just debating on selling the thing as is and finding a different one, or find someone who can actually help me with mine. If I do sell it and not re-buy I have two nice jet docks for sale.

Again thanks for the link.

 

[GNJimC]

Why did....

.... I get a ****ping when all I typed was a word that rymes with "pop" but drop the first p and replace with a wh? I did so to describe the hours on the machine .

If I offended anyone sorry.

 

[ghall]

Having owned 4 jet skis(3 of them were mid 90's polaris's)---i can beleive it. I am sure it is nothing they did winterizing it, about they really do is fog the motor, pull the battery out, just basic stuff.
I had an extremely simiar thing happen with my 98 polaris 1050sl(needed crank, bearings, and one piston also)--i pulled the motor myself, took it to a local marine machine shop for a rebuild. Seems like the total bill was 900-1000
I put it back together and sold it and will NEVER have another one.


Geoff

 

[GNJimC]

Thanks

ghall,

nope, after further review I dont think they did anything wrong with the winterizing. Been studying all night here about the different short blocks and long block kits, rebuild kits, new crank assembly etc. $1200 gets you a new long block with warranty. Just pull the old and bolt in the new. Thats maybe what I end up doing. Just sort of ticks me off that they could not be honest with me from the get go, by telling me they cant find new or rebuilt engines etc. Then their mechanic wants to give me $200 for it the way it sits. I now know what he was going to do with it, for $1400 he has a nice ski with 68 hours

 

[Black Car]

NADA.com under boats/pwc will list your "book" value.

NADA Appraisal Guides - Get A Value - Boats

This shows low of $950 & average of $1050, so with a bad motor that cost +/-$1000.00 + cost of labor to install, then $200-$400 doesn't sounds so bad. This is based off what NADA says the ski is worth.
Just my 2 cents.
I have 2 PWCs myself; a 4 stroke Kaw & a 2 stroke Yahama, both 1200cc, 3 seaters.

Gary

 

[GNJimC]

Yep. Looked at those values myself. Salvage the old ski for whatever I can get, spend about the same money if not less on another one just like it. Looks good on paper, but I have yet to see another slx, I can replace it with beat up 650 sl's or slt's with 300+ hours on them, run into the same problem in 2 years or just spend the same $$ on the long block, fix it and know what I have.
Guess I could go the American way and buy a brand new one and finance it. Then again, maybee not.


Thanks again for the link to PWC forum. Those guys were pretty helpful.

 

[SVT F15O]

Remanufactured pwc engines, Rebuilt pwc engines - SBTontheWeb.com

Did you try those guys for prices>??? I know people that have had good luck with them.
I wouldn't go buying another $1500 jetski, it is asking for trouble. I either put the money into what you have or spend some more money on a good low hours ski.
I just picked up a 2003 Yamaha GP1300R with 50 hours. This thing moves, even with my fat ass on it! I almost forgot how much fun jetskis were!!! Best of luck, -Mat-

 

[GNJimC]

Yep, I checked out SBT. That will probably be the way I go. Since it is already August I will wait until after labor day and swap the motor myself as a winter project, or find a marine mechanic that would want to do it over winter. The other option would be to pick up a late model ski cheap this winter. When millions of people find out the teaser interest rate on thier mortage is going higher OR that 120% home equity note rate increases, there may be more than a few toys for sale....... cheap.

Thanks for the link.

 

[GNTIM]

I installed an SBT motor in my 99 Yamaha GP1200. The product looked great and runs fine. The warranty is what sold me. I used to buy a new ski every 2 to 4 years but I beat on them too much {parking on beaches, tying up to piers that are built for taller boats and more} to justify spending that much money on something that is always getting scratched, I don't feel like washing and needs insurance.