98 XL 1200 waverunner engine rebuild

[old boat 54]

I have a 98 xl 1200. #1 cylinder went out. Mechanic did top end tear down and said oil was good to bearings, and does not look like it went lean, but mechanical failure on piston ring.
Head would be bored ( all three cylinders) with new rings, gaskets. remove crank, clean up and check lower unit for small metal shavings from piston. Piston in one piece but beat up.
Looking at $1800.00 to fix, but said crank could be worn. Will not stand behind crank. Crank is another 800.00. The 1800.00 alone is reaching the value of boat, I think. Boat is good shape but normal wear and small dings. approx 260 hours. I am 2nd owner. took care of and winterized properly.
Looking for opinion: Is this worth fixing, or put money towards ne 4-stroke. do not want to put the crank money in it. Not sure if it really needs it.
Any rebuild guys out there, need your help. I could do the work, but would take me a while, as busy with work. Then labor cost wont be issue.
Thanks for any help. I need to make decision fast.

 

[ajaxcycle]

Re: 98 XL 1200 waverunner engine rebuild

http://www.shopsbt.com/ Short Block Technologies, sells complete motors - the standard (one-year, fault-free warranty) for your boat is $945.00 with exchange and the Premium (two-year, fault-free warranty) at $1295.00. I have used these motors for the last 7 years with no complaint. SBT even warrantied a motor, that SBT determined the customer had hydro locked during flushing, at no cost to the customer. If you want to keep the ski I would look at this option.

 

[old boat 54]

Re: 98 XL 1200 waverunner engine rebuild

ajaxcycle
Thanks for the info. Engine replacement looks like the best way to go.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: 98 XL 1200 waverunner engine rebuild

I just rebuilt my 760 engine after I had a crank bearing seize on me. I replaced my crank, pistons and rings, and had my cylinders honed for about $550. I didn't what to go the rebuild route because I wanted to use my own block and head, wanted to pick my own parts, and know how it was done. It took me one weekend to pull it, and one weekend to reassemble and reinstall.

I put all new gaskets in and totally tore down the carbs and did the leak down tests and the popoff tests to ensure everything was in spec.

You may be able to get away with replacing the crank with a rebuilt one (if you feel any roughness in the bearings), and honing an replacing the piston in one cylinder. Thats the cheap way. You would obviously clean the casings real good, replace all gaskets and seals, and do the carbs.

I am assuming your 1200 is not that more complexx than my 760 (another cylinder).

 

[old boat 54]

Re: 98 XL 1200 waverunner engine rebuild

Rogerwa,
Thanks for reply. Was not on forum for a while, busy with work. This working for a living is getting old. : )
I am going to do my own labor on it. The heads were damaged a little from the piston beating it up. The cylinder walls look ok, not any big scratches, but a small piece broke off at the exhaust or intake porting. I thought machining work might cost more then short block. Not sure about crank bearings yet.
Thats a good price for those parts plus the honing of cylinders. By the way, where did you purchase parts from ? Did you hone cyinders yourself, or send out ? Never pulled engine out before ; how did that go ?
Thanks for any info.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: 98 XL 1200 waverunner engine rebuild

Your pricing will be different bacuase you are dealing with 3 cyl as opposed to my two cylinder. All my reference is based on my 760, but engine removal is very easy. The hardest part is removing the exhaust. I had become good at this because I had replaced the starter just a few weeks earlier. Other than that, it was four mounting bolts and out it came. It was light enough for me just to lift out. I did take off the flywheel cover so I could leave all the electronics in the hull.

In my view if I was going to the trouble of pulling the motor I would do a complete rebuild. I would do new pistons, rings, gaskets, crank seals, and would install a rebuilt crank. If yours is like mine the crank is assembled around the bearings so you would get all new crank bearings as well. Since I had good compression before my crank bearing froze, I was able to get away with standard sized pistons and just a honing of the cyliders to give it the crosshatched surface for the rings to surface. I just took my cylinders to the napa machine shop. The cleaned the cylinders and did the honing for $50. You could take the whole block there to have it cleaned real good, that will cost you more but save you time.

Ensure you pressure test the case and do a complete rebuild on the carbs with genuine Mikuni carb kits. You have to look closely on the last point to ensure they are genuine Mikuni.

I also replaced the bendix as it was fairly cheap and was a matter of convenience.

Send me a PM and I will share where I got my parts. I don't want to post any competitors here..