No one will work on my Yamaha 2 stroke - Twin Cities MN

[MNYBoat]

First post on this site, so please forgive me if I'm missing any rules.
Last May 2020, I bought a Yamaha LS2000 '00 privately that is in really good condition. We used it just about every weekend over last summer and love it.
The only problem I had with it was one of the two engines runs a little rougher than the other and would bog down and die when opening up the throttle, especially when trying to get skiers out of the water. We were able to get by as we don't ski that often and planned on getting it tuned up before next season. I had it winterized last fall by a company but have not started it up yet this year.

Over the last week or so, I've probably called around 20 plus marine shops, trying to get anyone to take a look at it. Either they won't touch jet boats, or they won't touch the 2 strokes. Even the Yamaha certified places won't work on them. This has me panicking that I've paid for a 20 year old boat and it's only a matter of time before something happens to one of the engines and I won't be able to find a place that will fix it, let alone tune it up.

I'm not super mechanically inclined, and even if I was between family life and work I'm strapped for time. I'd also be worried that I'd do more damage than good and be in a position where I can't find a place to fix a mistake I might make.

Does anyone know of a place near the Twin Cities that would work on the older Yamaha 2 strokes? I've called so many places now I'm getting discouraged. Are other people with older boats having this same problem?

 

[Brad_Ct]

I had the same problem when I owned my Exciter, local dealer said it was to old. Sounds to me like the carbs. probably need to be rebuilt. Have you tried a jet ski shop?

 

[MNYBoat]

I was able to get one jet ski shop to consider a tune up, but they wanted it in and out the same day. They don't have the shop space for a full size boat to sit for over a day. I'm still waiting for them to reach back out to talk specifics since I don't know if a carb rebuild would fall under tune up. What'd you end up doing for service with the Exciter?

 

[Scottintexas]

so a company was qualified enough to take your money to winterize it but not work on it,

makes me curious as to what their "winterization" was,

I agree with Brad and your best chance is probably going to be a jet ski shop and I would start out by telling them you had a 2-stroke Yamaha, whatever cc engine to be tuned up,

If you start out with " I have a boat" they may immediately say they don't handle it not understanding it's not an inboard/outboard,

 

[Shady28]

No luck with River Valley? If not, I'd be extremely disappointed given they claim to be the biggest Yamaha boat dealer in the nation and not providing comprehensive service for a primary product line. It would be like your local GMC dealership/shop refusing to work on a 2000 Yukon.

Lake Minnetonka Marine - River Valley Marine

www.rivervalleymarine.com

 

[Scottintexas]

and another really important point for all 2 stroke boat owners,

Do you still have your original oil lines or is it converted to pre-mix with the gas ?

Original oil lines have a bad history of failing and causing you to burn up an engine,


.

 

[MNYBoat]

so a company was qualified enough to take your money to winterize it but not work on it,

makes me curious as to what their "winterization" was,

I agree with Brad and your best chance is probably going to be a jet ski shop and I would start out by telling them you had a 2-stroke Yamaha, whatever cc engine to be tuned up,

If you start out with " I have a boat" they may immediately say they don't handle it not understanding it's not an inboard/outboard,

This company does mobile winterization only and for the price I wasn't complaining. They fogged the engines, ran anti-freeze through, greased the trailer wheels, took the battery out. All stuff I feel comfortable doing now, but for the first year of owning it I wanted to pay to have it done so I could watch the process.

 

[MNYBoat]

No luck with River Valley? If not, I'd be extremely disappointed given they claim to be the biggest Yamaha boat dealer in the nation and not providing comprehensive service for a primary product line. It would be like your local GMC dealership/shop refusing to work on a 2000 Yukon.

Lake Minnetonka Marine - River Valley Marine

www.rivervalleymarine.com

Nope, I tried both their Minnetonka and Red Wing locations. Rochester is pretty far for me but I'm assuming they will give me the same spiel. The last guy told me too many people were leaving their boats there after they got the bill back so they drew a line and won't work on the 2 strokes at all. I asked if they made exceptions and he said no.

 

[MNYBoat]

and another really important point for all 2 stroke boat owners,

Do you still have your original oil lines or is it converted to pre-mix with the gas ?

Original oil lines have a bad history of failing and causing you to burn up an engine,


.

It is not pre-mix, but I'm not quite sure how to tell if it has the original oil lines. I asked the seller when I bought it and he wasn't sure either. Do you know how to check or what to look for?

 

[CaptainBarker]

Well you have a few things going on there...(I worked as a tech for 15 years for dealerships)
Most dealerships have a 10ish year cap on what they take in, mainly bc manufacturers only have to make parts available for their models for 10 years so sometimes it becomes a real hassel to find some of the parts. Also I went through yamaha and seadoo training at their factory schools, there are older 2 stroke engines there but I didn't have to do any courses on them it was all fuel injected models. In fact when I went back through yamaha the TR-1 engine had just released and we were only allowed to look at it there were no diag simulations setup. So alot of the new techs coming through don't really get a chance to mess with them. Your giving literature on them but nothing hands on. It has even become harder to even program older seadoo keys with the new software seadoo has. We would have to tell the customer it's a 50/50 shot the programming would even work and I got out about 5 years ago...this might not be the case for all dealers and techs but that's my experience on it.

 

[CaptainBarker]

This is pretty much how everything is setup. They have all kinds of booby trapped models and engines for you to diag and figure out..

 

[Scottintexas]

https://jetboaters.net/threads/oil-lines.1198/

this is the best I could come up with, apparently our FAQ at the top of the page never got a "how-to" for oil lines,

are you adding oil directly to the gas tank or do you have a separate reservoir that you fill with 2-stroke oil ?

if you add oil to the gas tank than you're already swapped to pre-mix

if you add oil to a reservoir you need to check the hose and zip ties to make sure they are in good condition, they will get brittle and crack,



.

 

[MNYBoat]

https://jetboaters.net/threads/oil-lines.1198/

this is the best I could come up with, apparently our FAQ at the top of the page never got a "how-to" for oil lines,

are you adding oil directly to the gas tank or do you have a separate reservoir that you fill with 2-stroke oil ?

if you add oil to the gas tank than you're already swapped to pre-mix

if you add oil to a reservoir you need to check the hose and zip ties to make sure they are in good condition, they will get brittle and crack,



.

Thanks for digging that up. It is not pre-mixed and I did check the lines quite often last year to make sure they were still intact and in decent condition. That being said, they are held on by zip ties, so I think that means they are the originals.

 

[AZMark]

I would honestly recommend learning to rebuild your own carbs and only use OEM (Mikuni or keihin or whatever) rebuild kits. They’re pretty simple when you start pulling them apart, just take pictures of every piece you remove the first time so you don’t forget how it goes back.
Modern fuel is terrible on carbs & you’re going to need to rebuild them every few years to keep it running smooth.
You said you’re limited on time but I’ll rebuild carbs on a mat in the kitchen while I’m hanging out with the family, might take a few nights but saves a lot of money and I know it’s done right.
I’d switch to premix too, just safer.

 

[AZMark]

Also, you might have better luck at an independent shop that works on big 2 strokes (bikes, skis, snowmobiles). They might not have worked on an LS2000 but the concepts in the engines are the same so they should be able to diagnose.
If it’s not your carbs it could be a bad seal in the engine that’s bogging. Air leaks create all kind of problems on 2 strokes and that’s a fairly easy diagnosis with a leakdown test that any 2 stroke shop should be able to perform.

 

[Bruce]

I expect that most two stroke owners would not want to pay dealer rates for maintenance.

You need to find a mobile ski mechanic and let him check the engines at your home / slip.

My family enjoyed an LX210 for a year. Occasionally an engine would die when throttling up rapidly. I started adding a can of seafoam to every tank and the problem went away. I considered rebuilding the carbs myself or sending them out. I was glad when seafoam eliminated that need. No idea if will work you but if it does it will save a lot compared to the carb work.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/seafoam-worked-for-me.45/

 

[RightStuff]

I only know of one shop and appears that they do all kinds of skis based on what I see when I drive by the shop.
You probably have already talked to them, but just in case:
All Powersports
Victoria, MN
(952) 443-3887
Home All Powersports Racing Victoria, MN (952) 443-3887

 

[the MfM]

Thanks for digging that up. It is not pre-mixed and I did check the lines quite often last year to make sure they were still intact and in decent condition. That being said, they are held on by zip ties, so I think that means they are the originals.

The zip ties are what typically fail...they get brittle and break. Then the oil lines fall off. If the oil lines are in good shape (still flexible with out feeling too soft or gummy) then you might get away with just putting on oetiker clamps in place of the zip ties.

Jet ski solutions has a good reputation for rebuilding the carb racks. It’s pretty easy to pull them off and send them in to be rebuilt. If your engines don’t start easily then it’s time to rebuild the carbs.

Carburetor Restoration Services / Parts - Yamaha Exciter LS 2000 AR210 66H GP1200 65U Mikuni 44mm SBN type - Jet Ski Solutions

Yamaha Exciter LS 2000 AR210 66H GP1200 65U Mikuni 44mm SBN type Precision carb rebuilding and restoration service performed to the highest quality level.

www.jetskisolutions.com

 

[the MfM]

And yes two strokes have become pretty much DIY unless you can find a guy that’s willing to do some side work out of his garage.

 

[tdonoughue]

And, I have learned, @the MfM is one of the 2-stroke experts around here. Listen to him.

Additional two bits of advice:
1) Take @Bruce 's advice this season and throw SeaFoam in it and see if things improve. At the least it should let you run the boat this season.
2) I used to be afraid of the words 'carb rebuild' until I did my first. Then it was a matter of 'what was the big deal'? I hear that your time is short. But if you run it this year (per 1), then pull the carb before you lay it up for the winter, you can have all winter to take your time rebuilding the carb (and @the MfM will correct me, but I think while you do one, you do two...). Pop them back on at the beginning of next season, tune them up, and go.

I think you will be glad you did. And, when you do it yourself, you know exactly how it was done and how clean everything got along the way.