Big Mistake

[RickF]

Last year the motor in my 900 ZXI broke a rod. Found your website towards the end of summer last year and decided to wait till spring of 2001 to replace it. At that time I could not find the website again but did find "PMC". They're marketing seemed pretty good so I decided to buy one from them and when I called them I mentioned I was going to buy from a competitor of theres in the same area, but could not find their website. They kinda lead me to believe you went out of business.
This is 08/28 and I am still trying to get it going. The first motor I received only had 1 pulse line, called them and they said I could either drill it my self or send it back. They said if I drilled it myself it would not void the warranty. So they sent me the tube and I installed it. Started up fine , did notice it was leaking water from the head bolts(up thru the threads) seemed odd to me, but they said let it warm up and retorgue the nuts. Finally quit leaking. I did remove the oil injector and run pre-mix(found this tip on your site) to make sure the engine got oil. Once I got it out in the water, it just didn't have any pep to it. So I ran it thru the break in procedure. It never improved so I took it to a dealer locally(thinking it was a carb issue), he had said the compression was fine, but the leak down test was below standard and recommeded sending the engine back to PMC since he could not open the engin due to warranty reasons. So I sent it back, and they first said it was a fuel problem and no oil in the crankcase. I then went to tell them I ran the same gas in 3 other jetskis and had no problem with them. As far as the oil, I told them it was pre-mixed so I know that could not have been an issue. They then said cylinder number one had no compression due to a hole in the piston. They said probably running to lean. They fixed it and sent it back to me. I am now in the middle of installing it. Having the carbs checked out before starting it.
After installing the engine, what can be done to check out the leanness of a cylinder to avoid this problem. Installing the engin is not a big deal following the manual. What other steps can I take to avoid the same issues?
My local dealer said they had made a couple of purchases from them and had issues. They always buy from SBT.
Thanks

[Bryan Glynn]

Wow - sorry to hear you went with PMC [img]graemlins/spit.gif[/img]

As far as making sure you're not lean, I would recommend rebuilding the carbs, and doing cautious plug checks, following the instructions in the Carb Tuning guide in our Tech section.

Note: holes in the pistons are most likely from an air leak or fuel starvation, not improper carb tuning.

BTW - what did PMC do for you as far as tech support?

[ August 28, 2001: Message edited by: Bryan Glynn ]</p>

[RickF]

When I finally got to talk to a tech(3 days of trying), he said it probably ran to lean and it was a probably a carb problem or fuel issue. I wasn't really to impressed with them.
I'm not sure if it's normal or not, but the first time I got my motor back, I was missing the gaskets for the reed valves and the bushing for the bendix gear. Called customer support and they said what ever gaskets were left over from the kit is what they send on. So I had to purchase these additional items which took another week or so to get from another company. If thats normal, I just wished they would have made me aware of that earlier so I could have had the parts by the time I got the motor.

When you mention air leak, air leak from what exactly, hoses on the carb? Also, is there a way to check the fuel pump output?
How long does it take to burn a hole in the piston?
My confusion I guess comes from the fact that the bike ran find last year except that the #2 clyinder rod broke.(water in the cylinder is my assumption) So I would have thought that the carbs and fuel system whould have been ok. At least sufficeinet not to cause major problems anyway.

I apologize for all the questions, trying to minimize investment.

Had a friend who's motor went out this summer and recommeded SBT and not PMC.

[Bryan Glynn]

AIr leaks can come from the carb base gaskets, intake manifold or case. A proper leak down test reveals them, and you can also test with propane while running.

Holes can burn through in a matter of seconds, depending on the temps, amount of leanness/fuel starvation, and RPM.

When you ingest water, you do run the risk of it going through the pulse line(s) into the fuel pumps and causing damage requiring a carb rebuild(s) - although it doesn't happen everytime.

[RickF]

Bryan,
Thanks for your quick responses I do appreciate it.
I know they are competitors of yours, but have you gotten any feedback about PMC? Reputable, quality...etc. if you can't say I understand.

Again Thanks.

[Bryan Glynn]

I'm not allowed to say anything negative about them, but rest assured they are not even in our league. Them to us is like Kia to GM. We do 7500+ engines a year man!

[RickF]

I thought so.... Just my luck....:)

I was reading thru your installation guide, do I interpret this correctly that none of the gaskets on the reed valves, intake manifold and carburators need any gasket sealer basically just the exhaust side?

[Bryan Glynn]

As stated in our manuals:

"Paper Gaskets
It is SBT’s recommendation that all paper gaskets be treated with Loctite High-Tack Gasket Sealer prior to installation. Read and follow all instructions on the product canister to insure good gasket sealing on your new engine.

Special Gaskets
It is SBT’s recommendation that all exhaust gaskets be sealed with Loctiteâ Copper Gasket Adhesive prior to installation. Read and follow all instructions on the product canister to insure good gasket sealing on your new engine."