My jet ski is afraid of the water

[JmG]

Funny story.. Friend of mine gave me his old 80's Kawasaki 440 last week. When I picked it up it was dead. Engine, carb, etc all got rebuilt last year, so I started out dumpin the old gas, putting in 40:1 mixture, put in a new battery, spark plugs and cranked her up. It would crank for days, but never turn over so I fiddled with the high speed/low speed adjustments and finally got it to turn over.
Now heres the funny part. It will start up no problem on the trailer or in the bed of my truck, but as soon as I get it on the ramp at the lake, it wont turn over.
I guess I found that funny, but my main question is Im not a 2 stroke guy, so does anyone know where the high speed/low speed should be set? I keep fudgin with it and it wont stay running unless Im giving it gas, but when I finally did get it turned over in the water, when I gave it gas it died.
Also, do these things usually white smoke like crazy or is my mixture wrong? Thanks guys! Im so ready to ride so I can get used to it and upgrade haha

 

[ski4]

Funny story.. Friend of mine gave me his old 80's Kawasaki 440 last week. When I picked it up it was dead. Engine, carb, etc all got rebuilt last year, so I started out dumpin the old gas, putting in 40:1 mixture, put in a new battery, spark plugs and cranked her up. It would crank for days, but never turn over so I fiddled with the high speed/low speed adjustments and finally got it to turn over.
Now heres the funny part. It will start up no problem on the trailer or in the bed of my truck, but as soon as I get it on the ramp at the lake, it wont turn over.
I guess I found that funny, but my main question is Im not a 2 stroke guy, so does anyone know where the high speed/low speed should be set? I keep fudgin with it and it wont stay running unless Im giving it gas, but when I finally did get it turned over in the water, when I gave it gas it died.
Also, do these things usually white smoke like crazy or is my mixture wrong? Thanks guys! Im so ready to ride so I can get used to it and upgrade haha

wow i don't know much about them or the carb on it

i bet someone here does .

good luck
they may need some more info on it though ie the carb be it stock or a/m any add on parts etc? like an pipe etc

maybe post a pic of the motor etc
??

 

[Mouthfulloflake]

Hey you finally got a ski!

I wish I knew more about the old kawicrap to help you but I dont...

it sounds like youve got multiple issues, likely fouled plugs, possibly weak spark, and carb settings molested to hell.

where are you putting it in the water?
blue springs is the closest to fayetteville that I know of, but it sort of sucks for ski tuning...

im working this weekend, but maybe we can get together soon and Ill do my best to give you some help with it.

( and I know some girly men with 440/550 experience that I can call)

 

[BBYamaha]

Is there just a high and low, I mess with one the other day woulnd run for ******** but ran great on the trailer and was smoking like a s.b. so I turned the high and low all the way in (be careful not to over tighten) then turned them both out about 1 1/4 turns, then went out for a quick run and it ran great, came back in after about 2 minutes of 3/4 to wide open throttle running and killed it and checked plugs to see what was going on. Made a slight high speed adjustment like 1/8th turn to lean it out a hair and that was it, If you have not pulled the carb pull it off and take it apart and clean it out then put it back on and try again. I am no kawi expert but I have bought and sold 9 of them bastards over the last 6 months and they all ran great when i sold them.. Some here may be of more knowledge but for now I would start with what I have type, Count how many turns it is at for a start and post it up.. The ski I played with yesterday was bone stock and was an 84 I think, My 90 is also about 1 1/4 turns out on the high and 1 out on the low and screams across the lake

 

[sj1million]

I say pull the carb apart!

 

[JmG]

Well I finally got it over its fear yesterday. It was in the lake running, but I havent messed with the low/high speed settings yet. Its a stock carb as far as I know (ill post picture later). New plugs, new battery, engine rebuilt last year, but set up all winter. Its smokes like a mother f'er haha. When I finally got it runnning, I left it for a while to heat up and damn it definitely got hot! When I tried riding it bogged out at like 5-10 mph probably and sucked balls (figures since its a kawi 440 haha) Im down on Ouachita right now since Im working on the lake for another week or so. Ill try adjusting the speed settings next time I take it out there. Thanks guys

 

[JmG]

Heres the engine shiz.. I packed it up, gotta wire my truck and pray I dont get pulled over for expired tags tomorrow cause Im heading back up north with it.

 

[Mouthfulloflake]

thats a dang antique!

good luck on your trip this way