Got Tanked

[Blue 182]

While I'm working to sort out my Ultra which remains my ski of choice, I decided to pull my SD 04 GTX SC out of storage/consignment. I had a concern about the engine status (not fired in about 8 months) and wanted to know what ski was worth in trade.

Took ski to local BRP dealer. They picked up ski in a forklift, dropped her into a water tank, and took her through some paces. This is probably old hat for many of you guys but Id not seen this done before and I thought it was great. I could observe full power operation at eye and water level.

They said ski was fine and would do a trade but math didnt add up for me so I had to walk. Couple of questions though:

I thought ski was blowing a lot of smoke but mechanic said no. Some fogging oil and he said part of what I saw was steam. Seats were off but no water splashing onto exhaust or engine. I had my doubts but had no reason to argue. Can you generate steam off anything on the ultra other than through water penetration into engine compartment?

I sure would like to pop my Ultra into that tank for testing. Wouldnt KDS likely be more revealing if data is generated while engine is actually under full load? That test tank is just down the block from Kawi shop but negotiations for use could be sticky. Is it worth the trouble?

[STX-15FER]

While I'm working to sort out my Ultra which remains my ski of choice, I decided to pull my SD 04 GTX SC out of storage/consignment. I had a concern about the engine status (not fired in about 8 months) and wanted to know what ski was worth in trade.

Took ski to local BRP dealer. They picked up ski in a forklift, dropped her into a water tank, and took her through some paces. This is probably old hat for many of you guys but Id not seen this done before and I thought it was great. I could observe full power operation at eye and water level.

They said ski was fine and would do a trade but math didnt add up for me so I had to walk. Couple of questions though:

I thought ski was blowing a lot of smoke but mechanic said no. Some fogging oil and he said part of what I saw was steam. Seats were off but no water splashing onto exhaust or engine. I had my doubts but had no reason to argue. Can you generate steam off anything on the ultra other than through water penetration into engine compartment?

I sure would like to pop my Ultra into that tank for testing. Wouldnt KDS likely be more revealing if data is generated while engine is actually under full load? That test tank is just down the block from Kawi shop but negotiations for use could be sticky. Is it worth the trouble?

you can try, talk to the kawi dealership and see if they have access to the tank. They might have a better idea about takning it. I had a SD that did the same thing with the exception if it being supercharged. Mine was a 03 gtx. After a hard run you could notice steam coming from the exhaust, the tech said it was normal operation

[Blue 182]

you can try, talk to the kawi dealership and see if they have access to the tank. They might have a better idea about takning it. I had a SD that did the same thing with the exception if it being supercharged. Mine was a 03 gtx. After a hard run you could notice steam coming from the exhaust, the tech said it was normal operation

Thanks STX. My gtx is also supercharged. I began to wonder whether I was mistaking some steam for exhaust on Ultra too. I know its bluish exhaust vs whitish steam but it was not that easy to distinguish the two with untrained eye.

Initial dealer impression is that doing KDS in test tank wont make that much difference. I just thought real time sensor data under full throttle (and during misfire) would be revealing but I may have been overestimating value of KDS all along.