650/X-2 Water in crankcase. Time for a rebuild.

[89sx]

Kept finding water in my cylinders, thought it was a head gasket. However, it is not. After, pulling the cylinder head off and doing some flipping around, I have found water in the crankcase. Its time for a complete rebuild. A full set of bearings for sure, I already have a set of gaskets, and maybe pistons and sleeves depending on prices. My main question is where is the best place to buy this stuff? or do I find a motor and simply drop it in?

 

[ang4th2]

assuming you are rebuilding a 1989 650 sx ? find a good used crank if you have a good top end .. or see if you can find an old TS or something and drop the engine in .. sometimes you can pick up a old ski for a few hundred with a good engine but usually when you need one you wont find one fast LOL .. your rebuilding a ski that is only worth about $1000 or less in decent shape so keep that in mind dont over spend on it .. maybe time to part it out and buy a complete new ski .. you have options !

 

[Vumad]

Do you have the crank case drain on it? Block that off. Don't spend any money on it until you figure out why you have water in there rusting your crank.

I bought a 750xiss complete running for $450, parted it for $500 and kept the motor and electronics for my ski. Strongly consider your options. Buying parts may not be the best one.

 

[dbattersby20]

buying stuff new, i like atlanticjetsports.com

 

[89sx]

Yeah, sorry guys, its a 89 650sx. I had a good motor and hull then the hull split at the nose. So I picked up a 650 with everything but a blown motor and swapped motors. I rode it for a season and now I'm pretty much back to square one. I have a good hull and 2 blown motors. I have a lower end thats in better shape than the one that had water in it, meaning its been dry and is cleaner, but the bearings are shot. I have a good set of pistons, 2 good cylinder heads, and one good head cover..

Ive ordered head gaskets before from atlanticjetsports.com, seem to be a good company. I found a guy nearby with a couple 650 motors for $300. I havent talked to him, just read his craigslist post. I only have about $900 in everything I have plus a trailer.
So I have a few options.
1.) I get new bearings and have the crank rebuilt and build one good motor out of the two that I have, so that I know its a good, reliable motor.
2.) Go see this guy and find the best motor I can for $300, maybe talk him down a few bucks. Put new gaskets in it and run it.
3.) Try to sell everthing I have and get a new ski within the next month.

AtlanticJetSports.com wants about $400 to rebuild a crank with new bearings. Then I can rebuild from there. Just alot of options and I havent meesed with them long enough to know what is best. I think I could rebuild the crank but they recommend that it is "professionally rebuilt".

Thanks for the info so far

 

[89sx]

Do you have the crank case drain on it? Block that off. Don't spend any money on it until you figure out why you have water in there rusting your crank.

I meant to answer this with my previous post. The motor with the water in it does have a crankcase drain, the motor with the bad bearings has the blockoff. Im leaning towards just rebuilding this block, I will probably do that evenutally either way, however, I would like to do something very soon to have something to ride within the next month or so.

 

[Vumad]

The 650sx is a fun ski but not great compared to other skis. It's light and fun to ride for some tricks but not better than a square nose superjet. The 650sx carves kind of lame and can't compare to any of the other models.

You can spend $500 to rebuild your $1000sx and it be worth $1000 or you can try to part it out and put the money together to buy something better. The problem is that if it is almost all stock it's worth about $200 because it has a title and you have to play the game. You are better off if you are replacing it consider it a complete loss and buy a ski outright. Get what you can for the ski but don't count on any of that money for a new ski.

I've been in your spot and its easy for people to tell you to buy another ski. In school, very limited income, just rubbing 2 pennies to get by as long as you can.

Budget is going to play a big factor in your decision. If you can afford a 701 sn superjet in your area that you think would be reliable then go that way and get out of the kawi.

I have no beef with the 650sx. I think it's a fun little ski. The problem with it is that kawi keeps changing their platform so any part you buy is going to be very old. It's nice that those parts can be had cheap but the quality of those old used parts is a problem.

If you can't afford otherwise, get a new crank and rebuild the motor. However in the long run this will likely cost you more. Otherwise, buy a whole new ski the best condition you can afford. At least with the sn sj or the 750sx you can replace the broken parts with used parts that Are less than 20 years old.

 

[Vumad]

I'm not saying buy a superjet. That's what everyone told me. I got out of my sx/x2 and bought a cleanish rn sj $2800. Best decision I ever made because it is not worn out or abused so it just keeps going and going.

I don't agree the sj is necessarily the way to go. I've bee. Riding a bunch with sxr racers and for my riding habits the sxr may have been the better choice. I don't care which model is best for you, what I care is you find something that is reliable.

 

[89sx]

Thats honestly what Im looking for is something reliable. There is a sn around and a few rn too, but I was just going to try salvaging what I have. Around here 650sx's are going anywhere from $1000-$1600. I know they arent worth but about $1000, but there is a bunch of people around that dont know that. (like me at the start of last summer) I would love to have a Superjet of any kind. I rode one last summer that was an awesome ski but at the time thought it was priced to high. Knowing what I know now, I would have bought that ski the second he told me the price. It was a square nose superjet, not sure of the year anymore, but it was one of the cleanest ones I have ever seen. $1800. thats all. I know I will probably lose money but my best option right now I think is to piece together a motor and sell it along with everything else that I have and get a superjet. Maybe at best I can break even. Its just hard to sell just parts around here, but whole ski's go fast now that riding season is coming around.

 

[dbattersby20]

From my experience of buying things off Craigslist I would not buy a motor unless possibly you are able to go for a ride o n a ski with the motor in it. I have a 650 sx along with a custom thing I'm working on with an sj platform. The 650 never ran right and I couldn't figure it out so last winter I bought a 750 engine off Craigslist (had to rebuild it completely). It probably even needed a new crank but I crossed my fingers and used the old one. I figured that a heavily modded 750 engine is a pretty strong set up so if I ever wanted to change hulls in the future I could do some work to the engine and drop it into something new. I like working on skis and modding them so I am content with keeping th 650 for now. I hope to get a spare hull this summer to work on and maybe move the components over to. I do try to make wure that when i spend significant money i buy stuff that will work in the future when i upgrade to something better. There will always be the better thing to get.

 

[89sx]

Thats kinda what I'm thinking too. I can spend a little more money now and have a decent ski that will last a while. I know superjets are the best way to go but right now I cant spend 2 grand on a ski, I mean I could, but I cant have that much invested since I'm back in school and not working full time anymore. Thats why I am thinking about sticking with what I have and rebuilding what I have. These motors this guy has are just sitting on a shelf. I was going to drop it in mine and fire it up just to check it out. Then all that I would be out is time and the gas to get the ski there and back.

 

[dbattersby20]

I'm in college too. I would rebuild it. I think there are cheaper options than 400 for rebuilding a crank

 

[89sx]

Yeah thats kinda what I was hoping to find. I got a guy that works on 4 wheelers and dirtbikes around the house, he does it for a living and has done several things for me and used to rebuild motors for a friend of mine back when he used to race. I may just take him the bottom end and see if hes willing to do it. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[stagesrt4]

buy whole motor n call it a day

i rarely rebuild

i part out whats still good on motor you have n just swap a motor in from another kawasaki

any kawasaki 650 will drop right in...you could even drop in a 750 or 800 but would have to add few power mods to match motor add HP.

 

[ang4th2]

buy whole motor n call it a day

i rarely rebuild

i part out whats still good on motor you have n just swap a motor in from another kawasaki


any kawasaki 650 will drop right in...you could even drop in a 750 or 800 but would have to add few power mods to match motor add HP.

yup I agree .. go take a look at the $300 engines .. you should be able to tell if that are good .. pretty simple look through the exhaust ports and intake you can see the crank and cylinder through . spin the crank over if its nice n smooth buy it .. buy both if you still have that second hull and build two sell one off ..
good luck !

hey stagest4 .. that old TS I bought was $200 sold off that engine for $300 last week and it was damn clean .. ( except for the busted coupler that was the noise ) sold the pump for $100 and still have teh ebox carb and SS impeller ..

perfect example of a cheap parts ski

bought it just becuse I was already there .. and we had a place to meet how perfect that worked out LOL
the sxr I bought off you is almost ready

 

[89sx]

I'll see what I can find. Supposidly someone was coming to get all this guys 650 stuff last night. He told me to call back today to find out if he still had it. It was several motors and pipes and random parts for $300 not just the motors.. So I guess Ill jsut keep digging.

 

[Vumad]

yup I agree .. go take a look at the $300 engines .. you should be able to tell if that are good .. pretty simple look through the exhaust ports and intake you can see the crank and cylinder through . spin the crank over if its nice n smooth buy it .. buy both if you still have that second hull and build two sell one off ..
good luck !

hey stagest4 .. that old TS I bought was $200 sold off that engine for $300 last week and it was damn clean .. ( except for the busted coupler that was the noise ) sold the pump for $100 and still have teh ebox carb and SS impeller ..

perfect example of a cheap parts ski

bought it just becuse I was already there .. and we had a place to meet how perfect that worked out LOL
the sxr I bought off you is almost ready

I have a motor I'll sell you. Looks beautiful on the inside. Spins nicely, 140/140, no noises with the head on. Starts right up and makes power. You buy my engine right?



Except it died on me the last time I rode it. With the head off there is a slight noise when you spin it but nothing you'd think much about. When it runs now, it vibrates like there is a family of pissed off badgers stuck inside of it.

I am waiting for the flywheel tool so I haven't split the cases yet, but I can pretty much say with certainty I lost a crank bearing. The motor looks mint because the crank bearings haven't grenaded through the motor yet, but if I'm right, they will soon. REMEMBER.. you can see the crank rod bearings, you CAN NOT see the crank bearings.

http://www.x-h2o.com/threads/129733-Motor-help

Buying a used motor is not the same as rebuilding a motor with parts you know are good. Unless you are buying from someone you trust, don't just buy a bench motor. Now, if you can buy a whole running ski that you can part out and keep the motor, making the motor pretty much free like I did, then I vote used motor, otherwise, rebuild.

Last 650 motor I bought was in a non-running ski with good compression, 150/150 I checked it (claimed not running because it had been sitting about a year). Looked nice. I was never able to get it running, ended up snagging a ring and loosing that compression (hadn't been fogged just sitting dry) so I sold it for $50 and was money ahead after I sold all the other parts it came with, and it worked out good because I got a free accusteer out of the deal.

 

[89sx]

Im still leaning towards a rebuild just because I feel more confident about it. I found a crank with all bearings and rods on a website for $195? Thats cheaper than I can buy a rebuild kit for. Is it worth it?
http://www.shopsbt.com/kaw-1989-650sx/20-203.html

Now I will have to have the seals and little odds and ends that I broke due to my lack of knowledge of these motors, but that seems like a deal to me and is reasonably priced.

Now heres the other option, Atlantic Jet Sports has a rebuild kit for $185 but it does not include webs. Im not sure what the webs do or if they will need to be replaced. Any info on the webs? The kit with the webs included is $285. To me, the $195 for the complete crank is still a better deal.
W/O webs:
http://www.atlanticjetsport.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=2654

WITH webs:
http://www.atlanticjetsport.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=2655

Any opinions? Is SBT a reliable website?

 

[dbattersby20]

the webs are the circles on the left. they're in both pictures even the picture from the page with out webs. If your webs are in good shape i would think you could reuse them, but im not sure. SBT is reliable i guess, ive never gotten anything from them but they've been around for forever. pretty sure that the biggest problem with sbt is their bearings. the 195 means you have to send them your crank so you have shipping there and shipping back. you can fit a 650 crank in a flat rate box and ship it for about $18 dollars (i did this earlier this year) my guess is that they may kill you on return shipping so that 195 really becomes more like 240 or 250.

 

[dbattersby20]

similar info here: http://www.x-h2o.com/threads/81606-650sx-crank-rebuild