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  • PWC Owners !

    They come in all shapes and sizes and with vairing degrees of intellengence...

    I did a service on a 1997 GTX yesterday. When I finished the service work, I started it to check the idle speed which is susposed to be 3000 rpm out of the water. The motor ran at a little over 4000 rpm. I reached in to adjust the tee handle to lower the rpm, but it wouldn't come down and it had some slack in the throttle cable as it should.

    I screwed around with it for awhile trying to detirmine why it was idling so fast when I noticed the fuel level was very low in the tank. I added a couple of gallons of fuel to the tank. I moved the selector knob to reserve. It still idled fast. I messed with it for another 15 minutes or so, looking for cracks or a base gasket problem.

    About then, the owner came up and said that there was a "problem" with the fuel reserve selector position. I switched it to "on" and the idle came back down.

    I told him that the selector valve needed replacing before he did further damage to the motor. I could hear the pistons rattling in the bores. He refused to have me install a new valve ( about $20.00 ) and he actually got mad at me for telling him that his motor was not in good condition, and that when a motor starts rattling, it probably won't last too long. He said he would continue to use the "on" position, and didn't need the reserve option.

    I wrote the problems onto the work order, because I'm sure when it breaks, it will be my fault, as I will be the last guy who worked on it.......

    Some people are idiots. If you take your ski in for service, let the mechanic know of any problems that you are aware of. This would have saved me about 20 minutes of dicking around. I could have at least tried to clean the valve for the guy. What gets me, is that his ski was so low on fuel that he must have run out of gas the last time he rode it if it was in the "on" position. No wonder his pistons rattle.
    He probably cannot hear the rattling over the noise from the rocks in his head.......
    Bill O'Neal WCM
    <a href="http://www.watercraftmagic.com" target="_blank">www.watercraftmagic.com</a>

  • #2
    Those darn dealers, always trying to scam you for more parts! [img]/graemlins/winkanim.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]

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    • #3
      I understand your point of view, obviously the selector should have been replace, I know I would off.

      But i can also understand the owners point of view, I spose I am lucky that I understand how things work and why something needs to get repaired before it destroys its self, every one has been ripped off and charged stupid amounts of money for something that wasnt even nessasary (cant spell either). I have mates that are motor mechanics, one time my mate told me his oil pressure switch was stuffed, so luckily a customer just brought the same model car in for a service, so he cleaned the customers switch ordered a new one for him self and charged the customer for the new switch which he then installed in his car at the customers loss. Now you can turn around and say this is an isolated incident and to which I say Bulls**t, this happens every single day, over and over again, so I can understand the customers reluctance to have something replaced.

      But I am lucky to understand that when something is broken it should be repaired straight away.

      I service and repair my familys vehicles, I always try to explain to them why something is running bad, and to teach them something, ie: the reason why the part needs to be replaced. And to not just say this needs replacing because I said so.

      But none the less if the customer knew the ski was running funny in the other position, its his own fault for not having it repaired.

      Regards
      Michael Efanow [img]smile.gif[/img]

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      • #4
        Michael,
        Understand his point of view ? It's like having a doctor tell you you have emphizma and should stop smoking,. but you get mad at the doctor and go buy another pack of smokes...

        I fully explained to him the pitfalls of his motor problems. I have serviced this ski in the past. I have never screwed him on a repair, and have been totally honest with him.

        He responded in an almost hostile way to me. I felt like maybe I should not have told him anything, and just given him his ski back and waited for it to come back broken with an even larger repair bill awaiting him, but that is not what my service is all about. He was obiviously in denial.

        My point, writing this, is to try to get people to understand that it is important to let the mechanic know what problems you may have noticed between services. Not only will it save time for the mechanic, it may just make the difference wether or not you have a pleasant trip out to the lake, or one spent running around an unfamiliar town trying to find a hard to get part to fix your watercraft, while the family sits and waits for dad to get the boat fixed.....

        If his selector valve is clogged up in the reserve position, it is probably at least partially clogged in the on position too, not to mention the internal fuel filters in the carbs.

        This family is in for a long summer without the use of their water toy...... And it all be be unnecessary.
        Bill O'Neal WCM
        <a href="http://www.watercraftmagic.com" target="_blank">www.watercraftmagic.com</a>

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        • #5
          We consumers are a fickle bunch-to be polite. We have problems and no matter the logic, they become the fault of others. My .02 the mechanic should have all the info to properly diagnose a problem. I wish I could find one near me that telling that information would actually make a difference.

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