JS 550 Not “Pissing”

Hi guys, just bought a 1986 550 last week and have noticed then that there is no water coming out of the “pisser” when it is running. After about 30 minutes of riding, the jet ski starts to bog more and more to the point it won’t even pull me out of the water (I’m about 165 lbs and have no trouble riding any other time). I am thinking this is caused by a slight overheating issue as not seeing any water coming out would suggest... am I thinking along the right terms? If so what would be some things to check? Imagining this would be caused by a blockage somewhere? Not new to pwcs but new to stand ups as well as machines this old. Also the “new” starter as the seller told me is already going/has gone out. I went ahead and bought a seadoo 580 starter to replace it. Any things to look out for when doing that conversion? Thanks in advance!
 

Vumad

Super Hero, with a cape!
Location
St. Pete, FL
These sort of things tend to happen approaching 40 years old. There is a small access hole in the back for assessing the condition of the system. Just insert one or two fingers and feel forward a bit. Any enlargements might be obstructing flow and should be addressed.
 
Location
West MI
After about 30 minutes of riding

Maybe I'm confused here, but it seems like you ran the ski for 30 minutes despite knowing that the cooling water wasn't flowing. Is that correct? Or is there a parallel path that water can flow in addition to out of the 'pisser'?
 
Maybe I'm confused here, but it seems like you ran the ski for 30 minutes despite knowing that the cooling water wasn't flowing. Is that correct? Or is there a parallel path that water can flow in addition to out of the 'pisser'?
From my understanding, the majority of the water comes out of the exhaust with the excess coming out of the pisser. You can visibly see water coming out of the exhaust when running which is what leads me to believe water is running through the cooling system, just not enough. Also to be fair, I was unaware of what the pisser was or the fact that water should be flowing out of it until after I started searching for potential causes of the bogging.
 
Location
West MI
From my understanding, the majority of the water comes out of the exhaust with the excess coming out of the pisser. You can visibly see water coming out of the exhaust when running which is what leads me to believe water is running through the cooling system, just not enough. Also to be fair, I was unaware of what the pisser was or the fact that water should be flowing out of it until after I started searching for potential causes of the bogging.

I see. Good luck!
 
Location
West MI
Jeez, like I said I’m new to stand ups. Also in the middle of a work day and last thing I care to do is try and decode some smarta$$ comment lol. Was really hoping for some better advice from this forum...

Don’t be pissed at me! I know nothing about 550s, and was just doing a public service pointing out the comedy.
 

Vumad

Super Hero, with a cape!
Location
St. Pete, FL
Jeez, like I said I’m new to stand ups. Also in the middle of a work day and last thing I care to do is try and decode some smarta$$ comment lol. Was really hoping for some better advice from this forum...

It was funny and you know it. Can't always expect serious answers. The forums are just the beach without the sand. Some good advice, a lot of bad advice, and a few good (and bad) jokes.

You can buy an infrared thermometer at harbor freight for $5. Check the temps on your head, cylinder and pipe. It might not be reliable on polished surfaces. You can also try flicking water on the parts and see how it reacts. Head and cylinder should bead up, *maybe* on occasion create some water vapor but for the most part, no. Water on aftermarket pipes *that are not jacketed* should create vapor, sizzle on race boats, never boil. Stock and jacketed pipes should never sizzle, and very rarely make vapor.

Check for blockages by running it on the hose. To do this you need a flush connection. These connections however are in the middle of the cooling and the pressure will go the path of least resistance. You can block the pisser but you can not block the exhaust injection or the intake side. You can cut a pipe of plastic tubing (I used an old Kawi fuel pickup tube, fits perfect in aftermarket pissers) that you can shove into you pisser (team ram rod) and "backflush" the ski. That reduces the outlets from 3 (out, in and exhaust) to 2 (exhaust and in). Observe the flow of each area and decide if adequate water is flowing. Always flush with the ski running, otherwise the exhaust can fill and backup into the motor. Back flushing is actually better, doesn't require an installed flush kit, but is much less convenient.

This is a start since you asked specifically about cooling.

There are a lot of other issues which can cause such symptoms. Bad tank vent (as fuel is drawn, it creates a vacuum, without an inlet source, the tank pulls vacuum and starves the carbs). Failing CDI/stator/etc (caused by heating, but they don't have cooling systems).

No information about the starter conversion here, but SBT starters are only good for about 1-2 years. Contact the seller, see if it was an SBT starter, because I think they come with a 1-year warranty, but I may be mistaken, or that may be optional extra $$.
 

Big Kahuna

Administrator
Location
Tuscaloosa, AL
Hi guys, just bought a 1986 550 last week and have noticed then that there is no water coming out of the “pisser” when it is running. After about 30 minutes of riding, the jet ski starts to bog more and more to the point it won’t even pull me out of the water (I’m about 165 lbs and have no trouble riding any other time). I am thinking this is caused by a slight overheating issue as not seeing any water coming out would suggest... am I thinking along the right terms? If so what would be some things to check? Imagining this would be caused by a blockage somewhere? Not new to pwcs but new to stand ups as well as machines this old. Also the “new” starter as the seller told me is already going/has gone out. I went ahead and bought a seadoo 580 starter to replace it. Any things to look out for when doing that conversion? Thanks in advance!
Vumad gave good discription of what to look for. I am gonna give you a simple one, where the pisser is. remove from the thru-hull fitting and blow into it. Is it stopped up? Dirt dobbers are known to make nest in water lines. If so, remove hose from other end and replace or clean back out. You can also get a flush kit that attaches to your garden hose that has a 3/8 barb fitting, remove the hose from the thru-hull fitting and hook up to back flush.

when the ski started running bad, was there any exhaust smoke in the engine bay when you removed the hood? If you have the OEM fibreglass water box it may have split and slowly started filling engine bay with exhaust gases. This will choke out the motor.
 
Ok, so followed some of the advice given on here (besides getting a prostate exam lol, that one went completely over my head. Frustrating at first but see the humor now) and found a couple results...

First off, the pisser was in fact clogged. The clog was in the 90* plastic piece right before it exits the hull. Looked like it had been clogged with a leaf or some other, similar, junk. Cleaned it out and can now easily blow all the way from exit to inlet. Hoping this fixes the problem there.

Checked the tank vent while I was at it. Is it supposed to be a two way or one way vent? The only ones I have dealt with before were one way and when I blew into these ones, it was easy to blow air one direction but impossible to blow it the other. The one in the ski looked just like this except I was able to blow, albeit very difficultly, through it from both directions. Could this potentially mean its shot?

Last thing I noticed was a missing exhaust nut. This was located where the pieces join up for the exhaust to make the first bend after coming off the motor. Still seemed very tight with just the two nuts (not that I'm not going to fix it). Is it possible that this could be a contributing factor to my problem? Have not noticed any smoke coming out when taking the hood off immediately after riding. Either way, thought it was worth noting.

At this point, feeling that the clogged pisser is the biggest source of my problems. Would anyone care to explain why that would cause bogging though? Figuring that if water is still able to exit through the exhaust it should still be able to cool. Maybe someone can enlighten me on how the system truly works.

Thanks for all the help up to this point!
 

Big Kahuna

Administrator
Location
Tuscaloosa, AL
With that pisser clogged, it was forcing more water into the exhaust stream, could even be loading the waterbox with additional water.
Fix the bolt, yes, as the pipe heats up you could have been getting an exhaust leak, as it cools it goes away. Fix these and take for a test ride.
 
With that pisser clogged, it was forcing more water into the exhaust stream, could even be loading the waterbox with additional water.
Fix the bolt, yes, as the pipe heats up you could have been getting an exhaust leak, as it cools it goes away. Fix these and take for a test ride.

Ok! Thank you for explaining, that makes sense. Will get the rest of it fixed up and plan on test riding Friday. Will keep everyone posted on how it does!
 
Top Bottom