1987 Kawasaki JS550 Questions

Hi all,
So I am greatly new to jet skiing and recently purchased an '87 js550 that had been sitting for about a year. It didn't start right away and still had gas left in. I really had no idea what I was doing but was determined to get her started. Put the new battery in and some gas/oil and she started right up. We rode for about 2 hours and it seems as if the battery died and also when we lifted the hood, the spark plugs were incredibly loose. It only made a clicking noise when trying to start. I charged the battery the second day and put some seafoam in it and now it starts again just like it was but died again after 2 hours about. Any help would be appreciated to get it running more than 2 hours at a time. Another thing is that the steering seems to be off. It turns left easily but when you try and turn right it just wants to go left again. So if there are any suggestions I would love it.
Thanks.
Jonas

Tighten those plugs down good, check all your wire connections for something loose. Not sure on the steering, look for cracks in your cable or something binding someplace maybe.

So today me and a buddy rode for not much longer than an hour and it died again but when connected to the battery charger it starts. Another thing it seems as if it depends on the choke to start up each time. Another thing my friend wants to know if it has a alternator. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Once again it is still running on a mixture of gas and oil from over a year ago and gas I put in 3 days ago. I really would like to know what is happening to make the battery die so quick.

please help!!!

If the ski's stock, it should charge the battery (unless the battery itself is bad).

Charge the battery, Get the ski running, Check voltage - should be 13 or better in order to charge the battery. If this is the case, your charging system is fine.

Once you get this problem ironed out, you should work on the carb settings. Just try to fix one problem at a time or you'll never figure out what worked...

Good luck,

So today I was riding and it wasn't starting right up but it was still relying on the choke. Sometimes it would even start right up after falling but now it seems as if it isn't getting enough gas and it would go fast w/ throttle down and then go slow and back and forth. I have no idea but I'm thinking this could be because of the old gas and i'm trying to run it all the way down and then put new gas, oil and seafoam in it see if this helps. Please help me!!! and let me know what I should be doing.

Lots of things to check. I don't know what seafoam is - is it a fuel stabilizer?

You seem focused on carbueration so let's start there. Pull each fuel line and blow it out - put it back in the same place you removed it from before you pull another. While you have the fuel line out, check it for cracks or leaks. My guess is your pulse line - the one from the bottom of the engine to the carb is cracked...

Check to see if the carb is bolted down sufficiently.

Check to see if your throttle cable is loose.

Check your air mixture settings. I don't know which carb is on the ski so don't know what to tell you right off. Look at the carb and tell me if the front (side facing you) is round or square. Also tell me how many bolts are holding the flame arrestor on to the carb.

Your air mixture screws should have an H and an L for high and low screws. Once you tell me what you have, we'll monkey around with them. Since the ski runs fine (when it's running) I really wouldn't monkey with the carb too much.

Check to see if there's water in your water separator.

Check to see if the spark plug wires are not worn through. Check to see if the plugs are tight on the wires. Pull the plugs and tell me what color the tips are (better yet post pictures of everything you look at).

Check to see that all your electrical wires are not corroded - your ground (-) to the engine especially.

Thanks for all the help djb, I am planning to do all this. How should I go about blowing them out?

You should drain all the gas out and start fresh. That would prob help alot. Your carb sounds a little gummed up. From what you posted it sounds like it dies when you falll off? It should stay running unless you have a real bad getoff. The ski does have a charging system,if the battery is charged,the ski should be able to keep it charged during the day. I have found the charging system does not seem to be able to charge a dead battery though.
To blow out the lines,just take each one off one at a time and blow through them.Also take the fuel filter apart that is right next to the carb and clean it out. It just unscrews and has a stainless screen in it. You can clean it with carb cleaner.djb1349,it either has a 38or44mmcarb with a round pump.prob the 44 with 4 bolts holding the flame arrester on.I think you should unscrew all the mixture screws and blow some carb cleaner through it. Make sure to count the # of turns out the screws are before you take them out and then put them back to the same settings.

Alright, I sprayed carb cleaner and emptied all the gas. So today I am going to put some seafoam, new oil, and new gas and see how she starts and rides today. I will keep you posted and thank you guys for all the help. Hopefully it'll be alright today.

it works great!!!

So it was running great for about the last week and just last night it just stopped working. When you hit the start button it just clicks. It seems as if this happened before and when the battery charged it worked again but it has been charging over night and still makes the clicking noise. Plese help me diagnose this!!! All the other replies to my questions have been so helpful.

I would first pull the plugs and see if it will turn over - also see if you didn't flood the engine.

Alright I will try this. Thank you and am willing to listen to any other suggestions. PS i'm located right on the other side of Madison Beach on Lake Washington.

Cool - another local standup rider!

I ride around Camano mostly, some stints over to Lk Goodwin. One of these days, we'll have to meet up at the Magnuson Park rides...

My 550 did the same thing yours did and it took me forever to find the problem but after about a month I finally concluded that it was a bad starter. if not that maybe your strator is not charging your battery?