MontegoMan's Problematic Water Toys - End of Summer Update

"MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner" (montegoman562)
09/04/2019 at 13:46 • Filed to: Yamaha, Waveraider, WaveRaider760, fanny pack, TheFannyPackDuo, Polaris, POLARIS SLT780, PolarisPWCsAreAPainInTheAss

Here we are at the end of the summer already. To quickly re-cap: I’ve done an insane amount of wrenching on these water vacuums and I definitely know the Yamaha inside and out. The Polaris is an incredibly frustrating machine and I definitely should have held out for 2 Yamahas, but it’s almost fixed .

1996 Yamaha WaveRaider 760

So I did the motor swap on the Yamaha WaveRaider leading into the summer. It ran pretty great through a lot of the summer and it’s a riot when it’s working right. I developed a fuel leak/loss of pressure over Labor Day so that was not fun, but it made it back to the dock un-assisted , and I’m pretty sure I jumped it clean out of the water once or twice - which is what matters. Fuel leak will be a very simple fix, the zip ties I used to reassemble (which is how it was built from the factory) aren’t tight enough. Swapping over to hose clamps. Easy. I may pull off the intake over the winter and replace the Reed Valves. This may help with it randomly stalling. Or it might be a waste of time, I ’ll know in the Spring probably.

1996 Polaris SLT 780

This damn thing. So our first time out we had both skis in the water. It was the break in for the WaveRaider and the death of the Polaris. Full engine swap happened and it has been a huge, epic pain in the ass . Every step of the process is more difficult than the Yamaha. Had to re-wire, had to pull the impeller/pump to get the engine out, etc. I found a formed hose (basically a formed piece of heater hose, but it flows lake water through the exhaust to keep it cool) which isn’t available anywhere except 1 seller on ebay who wants over $100 for it. I had to fabricate a solution with some connectors for that challenge.

So, I got the engine fully installed, got it re-wired, everything done and I was ready for the test fire in the garage about a week and a half ago. Push the starter button - NOTHING. IT DID NOTHING. I’m sitting there going, oh no, what did I wire wrong. I’m going to have to through so many connections.... So I jumped the Starter Solenoid and it tried to run right away. Missed out on the 2nd to last Saturday of summer, but I got a new part in the mail. Hook it up, starter button works! Engine will start with some fuel poured into the 3 carbs, but won’t stay running. Missed the last day on the lake due to the fuel system. Going to do a carb rebuild, replace the fuel lines (maybe the reeds while I’m in there), and possibly the fuel pump before next summer.

Final Recap

So we rode both of them together...one time. I’ve learned a ton about how these things work and pulled off 2 full engine swaps solo over the spring/summer which is pretty awesome giving I ’ve never worked on a PWC or a 2 stroke motor before buying these. I’m proud of my efforts and impressed with myself for taking on the challenge and not quitting (aka dropping it off at a marina to be repaired lol). All in with new motors, new tires and lights on the trailer, buying the skis themselves, and buying accessories (like a new safety key for the yamaha, new life jackets, fire extinguisher, etc) I’ve only spent about $3,000 to $ 3,500. Once I work out the kinks in these, they should be running great for years.. .should be...it’s a thing that goes in the water after all, so it’ll require constant work.

I can tell you I asked my 6.5 year old what his favorite thing about the summer was before he started 1st grade yesterday. His answer was - RIDING THE JET SKIS!!! I definitely agree with him.

DISCUSSION (9)

Michael > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
09/04/2019 at 13:51

I’ve worked for the former and work for the latter. Your results do not surprise me, even though they were “new” 24 years ago.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Michael
09/04/2019 at 14:22

Haha, my buddy warned me about the frustrations of the polaris. It ran pretty good when I got it, I was hoping to get the summer out of it, which unfortunately didn’t happen.

There’s another year next year though so it’s OK. I honestly didn’t expect the Yamaha on the water for most of the year and it was the “reliable” one!

Michael > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
09/04/2019 at 14:24

Yeah Yamaha might not be on the cutting edge of “exciting” features, but when they come out with something it’s well thought out and thoroughly R&D’d for assembly, maintenance, reliability.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Michael
09/04/2019 at 14:59

I love the Yamaha. I almost broke on the Polaris and sold it as an empty hull and returned the new motor. It was real close. A guy about 2 hours away had a 3 seater 96 Yamaha WaveVenture with a 760 in it (just like my Raider) and it sold too fast for me to get it and back out of the Polaris project.

Wife loves this polaris, so it’ll be ok...it’ll get there.

whatisthatsound > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
09/04/2019 at 15:51

there is nothing more fun and dangerous tha n the shallow boat jetskis. We had a ‘96 Kawasaki that would skip like rocks and throw everyone off. This was the most fun thing in the world, and when we got a deep haul ‘07 Kawasaki the most disappointing thing was how safe it was. At no point did you think you would skid off the lake into someones yard and die there. It just dug into the water and stayed there.

Tubing off a shallow hull 3 person ski was amazing because if the person was very big boned you never knew what was going to pull and slide the tube the jetski.

TrickJos > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
09/04/2019 at 16:06

I owned a 1994 SeaDoo XP for a few years. I was always working on that thing. Did almost everything short of swapping the motor. ( The previous owner put a rebuilt engine in it. ) I even had to get a tow back to the dock a few times. It was simultaneously the most frustration and the most fun I have ever had.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > whatisthatsound
09/05/2019 at 11:53

Hahaha, I can’t wait to get some tubing going behind the Polaris when it’s running right, it’s a 3 seater so it can tow legally.

The Raider has a reputation of a specific angle around 40 mph you hit a wave and no matter what you do - you launch off of it. It’s a silly maniac that sucks at turning unless you can trust the throttle to launch you out of it....which it’s still stalling some (i suspect the reeds or some carb tuning will solve that).

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > TrickJos
09/05/2019 at 12:07

I have heard SeaDoos are the absolute worst on reliability and ease of repair/maintenance.

After working on this pain in the ass Polaris, I find it hard to believe they’re worse lol. I mean, to take out an exhaust bolt the only way to do it is for it to grind into the hull. Insane. There was no other way to take it off!

TrickJos > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
09/05/2019 at 12:32

It didn’t seem all that difficult to work on or get parts for, but it was broken a lot. It was pretty rough when I bought it (I didn’t pay much for it) so I don’t know if I would judge all SeaDoos based on the one I had. It was originally sold by a marina on Lake Erie, so I imagine it had a ton of hours on it.

That is completely insan e that you can’t remove an exhaust bolt without grinding the hull. I didn’t run into anything like that.

I found a picture! Yellow XP on the right . My cousin bought the purple one (GTS I think) and we had a blast for a few summers. I hope to have another one someday .

Kinja'd!!!