I first want to start by saying that I'm a noob. I just purchased a '98 900stx when i went to take it out for it's first run the following happened. When i left the dock the ski ran fine no problems that i can tell. after about 1 hour of riding it started to bogg out and it would just idle. I first started to think that it was something to do with the gas so i started back to the dock. the ski would only go about 5 mph no faster and it was blowing a lot of smoke. You can tell that it was running rich. when i got back to the dock i noticed that the pulse line from the carb to the engine had craked. the next day I went ahead and changed the hose and changed out the spark plugs. when changing out the plugs they where filled with a lite chocolate looking mix. after trying to start the ski again it took a while but i cranked. now when i try and acc. the ski it still boggs. Any clue on what my problem can be? did some else happen to the ski that i missed? thanks for all the info.

-alex

 

Welcome to the forums....

Does sound like you are running rich with the plug color. There are three carbs on that right? Have you checked the air fuel screws to make sure they are correct?

 

yes it has three carbs. but I didn't notice a problem with the smoke tilll after i was returning to the dock. before that it was running fine.

 

well i couldn't wait any longer so i took it in to a kawasaki dealer and I almost died when i got the bill. none the less they went and flushed out the engine, they said that it appered to have flipped and never got flushed correctly, also since it was sitting for a while they also never followed the correct way to set a ski up for storage so the carbs had to be cleaned and just to be on the safe side they went ahead and changed all the oils and gas. I have to say that when i got there the next morning the ski truned on like a charm. I hope this helps anyone that is having the same problem.

 

Nice man...Thanks for the follow up.

 

98900STX
A few questions...
Who flipped it over, the previous owner? What did REALLY cause the engine bogging? It couldn't be just water in engine or carb related because the ski just ran fine for an hour - that's a long time to run fine with water injested engine. To me, there are some mysteries about the problem you had and what the dealer is telling you. It could have been just bad gas, like old/staled and/or contaminated/water mixed.