98 Kawasaki 1100 ZXI not starting?

[07DieselFORD]

Hello all I am new to the jetski world. I bought two 98 Kawasaki 1100 zxi skis a week ago. My wife and I were out riding and hers started smoking then cut off. The water was rough but the ski was running fine before this. Upon getting the skis back home I saw hers had some water in it so I pulled the drain plug in the back tilted the trailer back and let it drain out. I also saw there was a tube that came out of the muffler I did connect this back so I am assuming this could account for the smoke she saw. I tried to start it today after letting everything dry out since yesterday and it will not start. It does turn over but it sounds different than the other ski does when cranking. It is almost like you don't hear the impeller spinning. Any idea as what it could be? Could the ski sucked sand up something like that? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!!

[btldigger]

Sounds like you blew an exhaust hose off. You may want to check the compression and change plugs also

[07DieselFORD]

Cool thanks will do that tonight and post back up if any more questions.

[07DieselFORD]

ok I changed the plugs and checked the compression. Got some bad news on the compression. The front cylinder held about 50 psi. The middle cylinder held no pressure and the back cylinder held about 25 psi. I am thinking the hose that came off pressurized the oil to push it through the engine. When that hose came off it lost oil pressure. I am going to pull the head tomorrow maybe I will be lucky and it is just the head gasket but I don't have a good feeling. Any thoughts? What kind of price on a new engine or to get this one rebuilt? Any good sites we can order one from?

[btldigger]

Are you sure you checked that rite? with #s that low im suprised it ran at all.

[07DieselFORD]

pretty sure I am checking it right. All there is to it is screw the adaptor into the engine crank the engine a couple of times and watch the pressure.

[07DieselFORD]

Took the head off yesterday looks like the two back pistons are toast. Gonna order a SBT engine in a couple of days. Any thoughts on those? Also is there a write up on how to convert the engine so you can mix the oil with the gas thereby eliminating this kind of mishap in the future of no oil pressure? Also I checked all three cylinders on the other ski and they are right around 105 each...

[btldigger]

If you are going to go sbt get the no fault warranty. Most times the oil pump doesnt fail the oil lines crack. If the cylinders arnt too bad you could just get them bored and throw in a new set of pistons. That would be way cheaper than sbt.