99 XP Limited engine help

[jkolz]

First off, I wanna say this is a great website and have learned lots from reading all the posts.

Now the problem. I had my ski out over the weekend and it ran great all day Sat. and half of Sun. After lunch I took the ski out, raced around the lake w/ a buddy and it ran great. We stopped in the middle of the lake to chat a little. Once we were done, I started it and took off and it started fine. I got about 30 feet and it started to bog down (acted almost like a fouled plug) and then just died. Went to restart it and nothing happened. You can hear the starting motor engage and that is it. Towed it back to shore, pulled the plugs and the same thing. Tried to move the piston and couldn't (didn't wanna put to much force on it though). It seems like they are right at the top and bottom so not sure if that would make it difficult to move. Not sure where to start looking for the problem, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for all the great advice and any help in advance.

Have a great day.

[dsolie]

Re: 99 XP Limited engine help

So, the starter spins, but the motor doesn't.. And with the plugs out you can't turn the motor by hand??

Sounds like 1 or 2 (or both) things. Your bendix, which engages the starter to the flywheel sheared and has jammed the flywheel from moving.. and/or, you have seized your motor.. badly.

Take the head off, look from there..

[jkolz]

Re: 99 XP Limited engine help

The starter doesn't spin. You can hear it engage into the bendix and that is it. The bendix was just replaced last year. There isn't anything that appears to be jamming the impellor either. I'm not really sure how to try and spin the drive shaft though w/o taking it all apart. I went to the rear access area and tried spinning something but I don't think it was the drive shaft. Once I pull the head off, what should I be looking for? If it is a froze piston, any ideas on how much to repair it?

Thanks.

[dsolie]

Re: 99 XP Limited engine help

First, pull the pump. That will rule out the pump being the failure.

Now, in order to spin the motor by hand, you need to look on the back of your motor (not the ski). There will be a grey plastic cover held on by a few wingnuts. Undo the nuts and pull off the plastic cover (not much room because of the vent tubes, but shove it out of the way). Now, with the plugs out, grab the big wheel that the plastic cover was covering.. It should spin fairly easily...

As far as repair, if the motor is LOCKED up because of a motor failure, you are looking in the 1-2k range for repair. Hopefully you don't have any case damage from a thrown rod or the price is going to climb quite a bit.

[jkolz]

Re: 99 XP Limited engine help

Alright, so I got ambitious this afternoon and pulled the head off and yep, frozen piston and a ton of metal shavings on the piston. So now I'm looking at rebuilding a motor, any ideas on who to go through or am I better off just buying an already rebuilt one from SBT? Also is there a way I can fit the 951 DI motor in the engine compartment?

[dsolie]

Re: 99 XP Limited engine help

SBT it... You need to find out the cause of the failure too, otherwise the new motor will meet the same fate. Pull the motor and start taking it apart, pictures along the way. We can help on here diagnose the failure so yo can fix it (probably the carbs, oil injection or cooling system failed).

A DI motor will drop right in there (they are both 951's).. But you will have to spend $1000's on electronics, fuel rail, gas tank etc... Cheaper just to go out and buy an 03-04 XP-DI