Welcoming The 2021 riding season

Spring time is right around the corner (kind of). We hope everyone had a great holiday season and a great start to their 2021 season! To start the New Year off let’s get into prepping your ski for this upcoming season!

First things first, service your ski. Whether it be a Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, or Sea-Doo, service it! A new set of spark plugs, oil, oil filter, and an air filter (where applicable) will keep your machine running at tip top shape. Most services are easy and can be done at home even if you’re only slightly mechanically inclined. Here at Jet Skis International we provide all of your maintenance needs to make sure you can get the job done.

The first tool that makes servicing your ski a snap is an oil extractor. Unlike a car, motorcycle, or ATV jet skis do not have a drain plug to drain the oil from the engine. An oil extractor does exactly what it sounds like, it extracts the oil from your machine! There are multiple different designs and options. The most common is ball shaped and has a hand pump on top. A long tube runs down into the engine normally where oil is put into the machine and then the ball is pumped up. This creates a negative pressure in the ball and oil is then transferred from the engine to the ball. The most common misconception with the ball is that once it creates the suction it will suck all oil out in one shot. This is not true as the ball needs to be pumped up periodically to keep the pressure negative to create the suction. Refer to the owners manual for oil capacity. This will help when extracting oil so you know exactly how much should come out of the ski as well as when refilling the oil so you know how much to put in!

Once the oil is extracted you can go on and change your oil filter. Here at Jet Skis International we always write the date on the top of the oil filter (as long as it is an external filter) just to keep track of when we last changed the oil in the machine. It’s always a good practice to change your oil at least once a year, normally at the beginning of the season is the most convenient. Even if you only put 5 hours on your ski the year before, CHANGE YOUR OIL. Oil breaks down over time, even while sedentary. Though it may not be “bad” it’s a high performance machine. These skis are ran at wide open throttle most of the time and abused unlike your car that is at a comfortable RPM most of its life. Most manufacturers recommend an oil change every 50 hours, but the more changes you do the longer the life of the engine will be.

Check the air filter! Most people think because you’re on the water there is no dust, debris, or contaminants. We’ve had air filters come through here that look worse than an ATV that was ran through a mud bog. If the air filter was upgraded to a cleanable filter, clean it with the proper products and put the tacky spray or liquid back on it. The tacky spray or liquid is important as this helps trap dust and debris. If the ski is still equipped with a paper filter and it looks dirty, replace it! Using compressed air to blow these out can cause larger holes to appear in the filter which allows the dust and debris that the air filter is supposed to collect go straight into the engine. This could cause a catastrophic failure.

Change the spark plugs as well, especially on the Honda skis! The Hondas are notorious for running through spark plugs. ALWAYS run the NGK IMR9D-9H iridium spark plugs with the Honda. They tend to run poorly on anything else. With the other manufacturers, normally the same plug that came out of the ski can be put back into the ski. Spark plugs are relatively inexpensive and keep the ski performing at its peak. We recommend staying with NGK as the brand as they are the top spark plug supplier in all power sports. The Autolite, Champion, AC Delco, Bosch, etc. plugs just don’t have the same performance as NGK when it comes to power sports.

Test the Battery. Nothing is worse than getting the Jet Ski all the way to the water and the ski will not start. We've all been there, and we've all seen it happen to someone else. You and your buddies get to the riding spot for the day. You get the ski unloaded, park the vehicle, come back and jump on your ski. Everyone starts their ski and you're left with a buzzing noise, or even worse, no power at all! Solve this problem before it even happens. Run a voltage test on the battery before heading out. The battery voltage without the ski running should be around 12.3 volts. An even better test is to run a voltage test. Hook a volt meter up to the battery, put the lanyard in and press the starter button. The voltage should not go below around 11 volts. Start the ski and keep it running, leave the volt meter hooked up to the battery, and watch the voltage. The voltage should stay at a steady 12~13.5 volts throughout the RPM range. If the battery is failing these tests, get a new battery! We recommend going with Yuasa batteries. The batteries that can be picked up at Walmart or other auto parts stores just don't cut it. The amount of times we've heard "It is a brand new battery" when we've diagnosed a ski with a bad battery is mind blowing. Everytime we replace the battery with a Yuasa and the problems disappear. Yuasa batteries cost roughly around the same amount as the batteries that can be purchased at auto parts stores so it is a great value! Also, a Yuasa standard maintenance free battery comes with a 1 year manufacturers warranty! Check out the link below if you're needing a battery this year!

Jet Skis International offers a maintenance kit for almost every ski. Sea Doo, Yamaha, Honda, and Kawasaki maintenance kits can all be purchased directly on our website and shipped to your door in days! What better way to stay safe this year with COVID-19 than to do all of the maintenance shopping in one place and have the items shipped right to your door? We make it as convenient as possible to get the items you need and not oversell the items not needed.

Give the ski a good once over. Check the jet pump for any excessive wear. Check the hull for any damage that may not have been caught last year. Check that all cables are working properly and don’t have any binding. Check the cable nuts! Make sure they are not damaged or broken. A broken cable nut can cause a major headache on the water.

And lastly, INSPECT THE TRAILER. Make sure the tires are not excessively worn. Check the air pressure in the tires. Make sure the tires spin freely without binding or any grinding noises. If the trailer has been parked in the same spot for months sometimes tires can develop flat spots. Be sure to check the tires for any flat spots. Make sure all straps that are holding the ski down are not ripped, torn, or fraying. Make sure all of the lights are in working order.

Below we’ve provided some links to the maintenance kits we offer, any tools and accessories to help with the maintenance of your jet ski, and a link to trailer parts we have to offer. If the links below do not provide the answers or items you may be looking for, don’t hesitate to contact us! We are happy to help with any questions that you may have. We can be reached at 813-413-7544, our toll free number 1-855-538-7544, or by email at [email protected]. You can view all of our products at www.JetSkisInt.com.

From all of us at Jet Skis International, we hope you have a great riding season filled with lots of fun and memories!