1995 Waveraider 701 skipping at full throttle (long and detailed)

[YaMADa]

I have a Waveraider with the 701. Here is what happened before it all started. Please bare with the long bible story I have written, I am just trying to be as detailed as possible:

So I have been having some issues with my jetski bogging on on throttle. It wasn't a bad bog, its a hiccup and would pick up and go if I suddenly hit the throttle. If I worked into the throttle, then it would be pretty smooth getting up to top speed. Well I was out on the lake and I had a little bit of that nasty good for nothing ethanol gas in it and I had found a gas station that was ethanol free so I ran the tank down to until "ON" was empty. I figured that would be good enough as far as running it out is concerned, switched it to reserve, and it ran like a boss until I got to shore.

What happens next will surprise you. So as I come up to the landing, the dock was full of people loading up on their boats so I decided to just run up on the shore and go grab the car and get it loaded up. As I pushed it off the shore (makeing sure I didn't suck up any sand or bs) I fired it up and was trying to make my way to the trailer. I goosed it one time to free up any sand that may have been trapped in the pump or whatever and it sounds like the prop was going to fly off. All it done was make a whole lot of noise but not go anywhere. I was able to get to my trailer and got it out the water. As soon as I get out the car to see what was causing the problem, I find a small piece of rag that didn't get to escape. I pull it out and think nothing else of it. I cranked it up and pulsed the throttle to get any water out of the pump and exhaust and went on my merry little way. Mind you, it was NOT skipping before all of this happened.

So while it was out of the water and at my house I decided, "hmf, im going to be a jackass and hook up that rooster tail the previous owner undone." I was also having a problem with the ski wanting to lean to the left while in motion. The rooster tail pump was shooting towards my right, so I though it would cure that issue in which it did somehow. I know this may not be beneficial, but I figured I would put this in.

After this I am DYING to get back out on the lake and try out my new rooster tail and GET WET! My soul purpose of this trip was to putt out into the middle of the cove where I put in and test the ski and let the old lady jump in and putt back to the dock. Well before I got to the lake I put $15 in the tank at an ethanol free station. So Im like wooooottt Im ethanol free lets get to the lake NOWWW!! I also added some of that ethanol enzyme to run through it. It was the tiniest splash if that stuff, maybe a cap full. It was a blue bottle, but can't remember the name. So I get out and to my demise its skipping! It took forever to get it fired up which I am sure is because I ran it empty and eventually got it started up. I got out of the wake zone and baaaaaaaababaabaababaaaaaa....ITS SKIPPING!!! WTF It did NOT do this when I took it out of the water the previous 2 days before! So I let the old lady jump in the lake, then took it back home.

So I get back home and take the spark plugs out. They are wet (I don't know how unusual this is) and I figured it was due to the fact I idled most of the day and it was pouring oil into the cylinders causing them to be wet. It was a very oil mixture so I wasn't too concerned. I got it to crank the first time and it ran pretty good out of the water. The color of the plugs were brown, but a little dark brown. At this time I noticed that the hull around the jet was black with a suety film. So I run to West Marine and pick up 2 spark plugs. No big deal they are cheap and oil was on sale so I got some of that too. Replaced spark plugs, set the carbs to the setting according to the Yamaha service manual, and went to the lake.

So I get to the lake and WOW it starts much easier from what I guess is the adjustments I made. Go me right? I get out of the wake zone and it picks right up, however it starts skipping IMMEDIATELY. Not after a minute, immediately. It never stumbled or anything like it was doing before however which again I assume are from the adjustments. I did get to a point where it didn't skip but as I said "yaayy" it started skipping again. I ran the gas out until the gas light started flashing and took it out. I observed a jet ski at the dock was getting gas put in it. I happened to ask what gas station they got their gas from and they said the same station I got mine from. As I was getting mine on the trailer, they got theirs started up. Mind you again, I saw these people out earlier and their Sea Doo was running like a boss. I was a little jealous. They got the gas in, SKIPPING. Now I thought that maybe just maybe it was because they ran out of gas and the lines had bubbles in them causing their problem. At the time I didn't think nothing of if.

I get out the water, do my usual flush the water out the pump and exhaust, and pop the gas cap. It has this weird smell. I smell the gas in my car, smell the enzyme, and smell the gas in the jet ski. 3 completely different smells. I have premium in my Accord (H22 swap, gotta have it or it skips) which I know is different from the regular that I put into the ski. The ski had this smell of just watered down carb cleaner but it was a little different than that. It also didn't "psssshhhh" when I was done riding which was enough alarm at the time.

So here is the question, do I have bad gas? I have checked the gas tank for trash and there is none. A little tarnished, but no trash. Filter looks good, and overall it runs ok as long as you don't hit full throttle. I could not find any thread about a 701 skipping. Like I said, it was running AWESOME (beside the hesitation before getting on plane) and NEVER skipped. After I did all the mods and gas fill, it started.

On my to-do list for tomorrow:

Check color on spark plugs
Check compression
Take out gas and put it into a car or something and install e-10 I guess.


Also, this thing SMOKES like crazy! Since I do alot of idling (yea, Im scared shitless of the damn thing and I just like to putt around) would it be better to just simply run a pre-mix? I would hate to mess up a good thing but I also noticed that I go through a half tank of oil on each full tank. I find that to be alot but what do I know? Im new to all of this 2 stroke stuff and jet skis but I not motor stupid. I need help before the weekend so I can be back riding like a boss again.
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[YaMADa]

So I siphoned the gas out today and installed fresh premium e10. It had the skip from the left over gas in the lines, but as soon as it picked up that new gas, it just about slung me off. However, it still has the skip in it but Im sure thats because it still has about a gallon of the old crap still left in it. But its no where NEAR as bad as it was. The pickup is back and its running at top speed now. I am still leaving this case open until the skip is completely gone.

I also noticed that it didn't smoke as bad today. It smoked pretty bad on the days it had good gas in it. I am starting to worry that the pump isn't working as it should but who knows. I do know that is using oil like it should.