Whoa! Ski revs to full throttle!

jetskee

jetskee

Team Not-As-Ugly-Anymore
Location
Newark, Ohio
Ok, I still have this runaway ski problem. Here's the story so far:

I pulled the motor. Visually inspected all gaskets, nothing looked
cracked, etc. I took the motor to Buckeye Water Sports,
a local shop I trust (not a dealer, but a honest-to-goodness ski
mechanic named Curt). We pulled the flywheel, and the crank seals look
immaculate. No cracks, no oil/fuel leaking out into the flywheel area.
Also, the pulse line comes off the front cylinder, so Curt tells me the
ski would not run right if there was a problem with the front seals,
as it would screw up the pulse (the ski runs great, just way too
fast).

So, even though they looked OK, I bought all new gaskets
(carb-to-manifold, case-to-reed cages, and reed cages-to-manifold)
and replaced them all.

Still have the problem....start the ski, immediately starts accelerating
to full throttle. I took a very small feeler gauge and tried poking it
in between the new gaskets and the metal and there is no gap.

Next, I replaced my 115 low jet with a 130, and opened the low adjuster
screw a couple of turns, just to try flooding it with fuel to make sure it's
getting enough. Now I can get it to idle, but it idles at about 1/4 throttle....
can't get it any lower.

I took off the fuel supply line and checked it to make sure it wasn't clogged.

I switched from ON to RESERVE just to try a different fuel pick-up in
the tank (Kawi has two separate tubes). No change.

I took off the ON/OFF/RESERVE switch that bolts to the top of the
gas tank, to make sure the O-ring in there was intact and the tank is
properly sealed, and it is.

Could bad gas do this? I am using a mix of about 50% brand new gas
and 50% pre-mix from last year that I put stablizer in. I'm tempted to
drain the tank and start with fresh gas to see what that does (if anything).

If THAT doesn't work, I'm stumped. Any other ideas?
 
freestylegeek

freestylegeek

waiting...
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
You may not be able to get a feeler guage in where an air leak would be.
I would suggest getting the motor running again, then spraying the carb-to-manifold gasket with WD-40 or starting fluid and see what it does.
If it slows the idle down a little, you've found your air leak.
Spray it around the manifold-to-case gasket too.
It might be worth your time to pull the carb and possibly the intake manifold as well and take a close look at the gaskets. Then, either replace them, or put a little hylomar on them.

I feel your pain man!
You didn't even do anything to it over the winter!
grrrrrr!!
 
douglee25

douglee25

m3booooy
Location
South Jersey
Just a dumb quesiton... Is there a kink or snag in the throttle cable? I have seen sometimes when the pole is in the upright position that somehow the throttle does not return to the idle position against the thottle stop screw (idle screw)? This sounds really weird?

Doug
 
Jr.

Jr.

Standing Tall
Staff member
Site Supporter
Location
Hot-Lanta
Geek is correct!! a pressure check is the only way to isolate the problem.
I have seen brand new , freshly assmbled motors full of air leaks
 
jetskee

jetskee

Team Not-As-Ugly-Anymore
Location
Newark, Ohio
freestylegeek said:
You may not be able to get a feeler guage in where an air leak would be.
I would suggest getting the motor running again, then spraying the carb-to-manifold gasket with WD-40 or starting fluid and see what it does.
If it slows the idle down a little, you've found your air leak.
Spray it around the manifold-to-case gasket too.
Click to expand...

I can try that...I'm scared to leave it running that long because it
is running so fast.

freestylegeek said:
It might be worth your time to pull the carb and possibly the intake manifold as well and take a close look at the gaskets. Then, either replace them, or put a little hylomar on them.
Click to expand...

Already replaced ALL gaskets on the carb and manifold this morning with
some brand spankin' new ones, and it didn't help.
 
freestylegeek

freestylegeek

waiting...
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
douglee25 said:
Just a dumb quesiton... Is there a kink or snag in the throttle cable? I have seen sometimes when the pole is in the upright position that somehow the throttle does not return to the idle position against the thottle stop screw (idle screw)? This sounds really weird?

Doug
Click to expand...

I didn't think about that.
Can you run it with the throttle cable disconnected?
That would quickly answer that quesition.
 
jetskee

jetskee

Team Not-As-Ugly-Anymore
Location
Newark, Ohio
douglee25 said:
Just a dumb quesiton... Is there a kink or snag in the throttle cable? I have seen sometimes when the pole is in the upright position that somehow the throttle does not return to the idle position against the thottle stop screw (idle screw)? This sounds really weird?

Doug
Click to expand...


Doug, dude, you are $*&@ genius. :hail:
Your "dumb" question just allowed me to fix my ski.

I never tried running it with the throttle cable unhooked (why would I?)

When I unhooked the throttle cable, it allowed the throttle to come back about another 1/4 inch, and now it idles just fine.

It's like my throttle cable shrunk over the winter or something and was
drawn up tighter than last year.

Hot damn! :woot:

But, what a bunch of extra work for a really stupid easy fix!
Well, at least I have new gaskets now. :rolleyes:

Thanks for all the assistance, guys!!!
 
jetskee

jetskee

Team Not-As-Ugly-Anymore
Location
Newark, Ohio
freestylegeek said:
WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!
Good call Doug!!!

GO RIDE now! LOL!
Click to expand...

Well, here's the new problem. I have maxed out my throttle
cable adjustments at both the manifold and the handlebars, and
it still won't relax enough to let the thing idle properly.

I think there are two parts to this problem:

1. Throttle cable is 12 years old....still the original one.

2. That new manifold I put on that I bought from Steve802cc, so
I could adapt the 750 to use a Mikuni carb. The mountpoint for the throttle
cable was a little different, and the original Kawi cable doesn't give much
room for adjustment after mounting it.

If I replace that throttle cable with another OEM Kawi one, I'm still
not sure I would get much of a range of adjustment.

I'll see what I can rig up....might be able to do something different to
make this one work for another season.
 
douglee25

douglee25

m3booooy
Location
South Jersey
Excellent! Glad it was an easy fix. Now for the throttle... It could be snagged or kinked under the pole which is giving you the problems. Try following the cable from when it exits the pole to the carb. Make sure everything makes a nice sweeping bend. If that still doesn't work, either you need to fab up something on the carb bracket to give you more adjustment or a new cable is in order.

Doug
 
jetskee

jetskee

Team Not-As-Ugly-Anymore
Location
Newark, Ohio
I got it adjusted. In double-checking, I didn't have the adjust at the
handlebars out QUITE at max, and I got a bit more out of it, enough to
get it below a steady idle. I even had to turn the idle screw a bit to
bring it up to a steady idle.

I put my original jets back in the carb, hooked everything back up,
and I think I'm good to go. Then it got cold and started raining. :frown:
 
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