Possible engine problem?

[littlej72]

I purchased a reman engine for my 96xp from you guys a couple of months ago, back in the beggining of april. I finally got together all the other parts I needed(old ski replaced a lot of electrical parts) and the time to do the swap. I installed the engine using your book(there are some errors mostly in the suggested sizes?) and a factory service manual and it went fairly smooth. I finally got all the lines routed etc. and all water leaks fixed. It leaked a little water at the ex. manifold but I fixed that with some sealer.
Anyway, the question here is. I finally got it running, no leaks etc. ran it on a hose for a few minutes, mostly to check for leaks. once all was well, the next morning I started it out of the water(it was flooded for some reason?) cleared it out. Plopped it in the water and rode it around at just enough speed to come barely on plane, went through about a half of a tank, it was very rich so keeping speed down was easy. I shut it down and put it up on or lift. Ate lunch came back, lowered it in and it would not turn over, just click, stater solenoid was/is brand new, as is starter. I thought possible hydro lock somehow? pulled plugs and the same thing, wont crank. Removed the plastic pto cover and attempted with no plugs to turn over by hand, it was solid no movement. I used a small pipe wrench and a rag and was able to free it by turning it to the right(sitting on the ski). Spun it over with no plugs, and nothing but air mostly came out of the plug holes. Reinstalled the plugs, and it fired right up, I proceeded with another full tank of fuel and it seems fine, except for a rich midrange issue which is unrelated, same as before.(I think needle and seat/ pop off issue) I thought it possible that the pump may have had a small shell jammed in it or something along those lines,(although the prop is perfect and pump shows no signs?) but that would be a first for that ski(owned it since new) I guess my question is what was the most likely cause? I plan to compresion test it this week, and if you guys alow it pop the head off and take a peek. It is running strong other than the midrange issue and has maybe 2 hours of run time on it give or take. What would be your recomended course of action? I have a pretty vast mechanical knowledge and am very detail oriented but I want to stay within the guidlines of your warranty.

[littlej72]

Re: Possible engine problem?

No reply?

[Technical Support]

Re: Possible engine problem?

Sorry, I missed this thread yesterday.

#1, if you have a leak at your manifold - you have a PROBLEM with at least one part. Adding sealer does not fix the problem, and creates others. Get new gaskets, find the cause of the leak and fix it, and use the correct gasket treatment.

If your engine was flooded, that's extremely bad. Not only do you need to determine WHY it was flooded (user error, that sealer you tried to use, bad parts?) but it does damage, especially to a new engine.

Your lock problem is most likely a bad flywheel. The ring gear is probably slipping and the starter is staying engaged.

The bog is most likely a carb issue. I would suggest rebuilding them and checking pop-off or replacing your needle & seats.

[littlej72]

Re: Possible engine problem?

Thanks for the reply.

The flywheels are both new, cup and all front and rear, starter is 2 years old, and in that scenario how would using a pipe wrench to break loose the engine(pipe wrench turning the rear pto) have solved it? As far as the leak it was simply an external water leak at the exhaust manifold to the cylinders from me using no sealant on the exhaust gasket and probably undertorqueing the bolts that hold it on(there allens and hard to get a good turn on) it was fixed completely by removing the manifold, replacing the gasket(which was new) and coating it lightly with hondabond, reasembling and retourqueing. Im going to compression test it once it stops raining. The parts surounding the engine are very new or new, I didnt reuse much of anything and certainly all gaskets. I do suspect a pop off problem, the carbs that are on there sat a while, I cleaned them but did not rebuild. hope that clarifies things and makes my questions from my original post easier to answer.

I am a professional auto dealer mechanic and very thourough, not to say Its impossible I missed something, but nothing hokey was done here, in short I am mechanically inclined and fairly knowledgeable. Thanks.

[littlej72]

Re: Possible engine problem?

Pss. it wont be run until I figure out at least the carb issue, as it makes it hard to ride anyhow.

[Technical Support]

Re: Possible engine problem?

If you had an external water leak, there is also a very good possibility it leaked internally as well. When that happens at the manifold, it gets sucked right back intothe engine.

If your flywheel is new and the starter is old, it could possibly be a sticking bendix on the starter. By using a wrench to turn the engine slightly backwards, it lets the mesh loose, and the bendix retracts.

[littlej72]

Re: Possible engine problem?

Gotcha' yeah its not that old but it is a goki, should have used oem. As far as detecting whether at this point the leak is internal still....(external leak is gone) I replaced the new gasket with another new gasket(one that came in the kit sent with the engine) and this time coated it as recomended. I would assume I would have very clean plugs maybe or water on the plugs?

[Technical Support]

Re: Possible engine problem?

Yes, those would be very possible if you still had a leak. I would bet you solved the leak problem.