? on SPI T-Molly Series Pistons, The Teflon coated ones.

[lofsfire]

So I bought the SPI T-Molly Series Pistons when I did my rebuild (that did not go so well should have the story in a few weeks, waiting to see how warranties are handle)

So is the Teflon coating made to wear off after break-in? or should is stay on? Need opinions ASAP.


Here are the same pistons with 5 miles on them and about 1/2hr to 45min of stand run time.

And yes I had lots of oil in the engine and gas!

The piston are not the reason for problems. I'll explain more when I can.
Thanks
LOFSFIRE

 

[jimfsr]

I have seen them wear the teflon off. its very thin. it helps with break in. It might be a little pre-mature after a few miles. It looks as thought the bore might be a little tight for the piston diam. Was this oversized? if not, the piston to cyl clearance should be checked. Need about .002-.003 clearance (wiesco (forged) may need more for larger sizes)

 

[ezra]

also looks like a small stress crack on top 1/4 of left piston and no the coating should last I know of a few with over 2k on spi pistons

 

[likinit2]

From My experience with spi pistons it comes off pretty fast so they look pretty normal. I had a couple of pistons I just threw away that had about 5 miles and 10 miles on them and they were pretty wore off. I even heat cycled them twice. Now the stock polaris pistons that had 8000 miles on them still had most of their coating left but that is a grafal coating and not teflon. I have had really good luck with the spi pistons. The reasons for the replacements had nothing to do with the pistons.

 

[poo_boy]

The coating wears off very fast. Fuel will wash it off. It is made to come off and help a little on break-in. I am not sure how much it helps or is it just hype? Either way, It isn't going to hurt anything and it will come off.

 

[snowfish]

Pistons were snug rotating on the rod, right? I should pull the pipes, on mine, and see what they look like after 400 miles since rebuild. I'm interested in hearing the rest of the story as to why you're back to square one.

 

[lofsfire]

Pistons were snug rotating on the rod, right? I should pull the pipes, on mine, and see what they look like after 400 miles since rebuild. I'm interested in hearing the rest of the story as to why you're back to square one.

Ok guess I can give you guys the rest of the story now.

So as most of you know I rebuild my engine about a month ago. http://www.johndee.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=15664 and I just went back to Caddy 2 weekends ago to try it out. I had a mechanic friend from a local dealership that I trust rebuild my engine and I did the rest of the work. I tried to put parts in it that I thought would give me the longest life out of the sled b/c I do not see a new one in the near future. One of the part I put in was the rebuilt crankshaft form Sea-Doo Clinic.

Boy, doesn't that look nice! I bought a crank with sealed bearings and their Fatty Bearing on the PTO side.
Well after 5 miles and about 1/2hr to 45min of stand run time.
this was my mag side bearing

Needless to say I was not happy!
So the weekend was either done or I need a rental. I was able to find a rental for Friday and Saturday for $371 from Lost Pines.
As you can see the cost of my weekend went up by quite a bit. The part that real sucks, is that the whole reason for fixing my sled was to not have to barrow one of my friends sleds that would have been FREE!

So last Tuesday I pulled it apart only to find the mess above and the problem to be a bearing on my "new and better" part.

Wednesday I made a call to Sea-Doo Clinic, I talked to Mark the owner and he told me to bring the sled to him and he would take care of the rest and we could "talk" about my rental. I drop off my sled Saturday and which was about an 2.5hr drive one way and "talked" to Mark.

This was the out come.
He is replacing the rebuild crankshaft with a New Skidoo one (new from Doo that is about $1,400)
Plus he is going to install the reassemble everything and test drive for about 20-30miles.

He then told me that my cylinder were honed to much and they could work but he would suggest new. Which he would give me at cost. $150 per cylinder, that seamed fair I know they sell normal for $250.

We then "talked" about the rental which basically consisted of him telling me why he could not pay for the rental. The bad part is if it where my business I would agree with him but at the same time I feel like I'm still getting the shaft.

So it looks like at the end of the day I will have a sled set up by Sea-Doo Clinic with the following NEW parts:
2 cylinder
2 pistons
a ski-doo Crank shaft
and it will cost me another $300

So total rebuild:

January Rebuild
Shipping $40
Sea Doo clinic w/fatty bearing $650
2-SPI T-Moly Pistons $130
Winderosa full gasket kit $75
2 cage bearings $30
Total $925

February Rebuild
Shipping - My gas and time twice (Have to go back this Saturday)
2-Cylinder $150 ec. ($300)
2-SPI T-Moly Pistons $0
New Ski-Doo Crankshaft $0
Full Professional Rebuild $0 w/warranty till end of next season.
Total $300

Rental $371

Grand Total and 105 Mile on the sled for the year= $1,596

Maybe I should have just parted it, but no going back now it's mine for a long time now!

What do you think I don't want to bad mouth the guy or his business. Just want it to be fair on both sides. Oh by the way He told me he had 12 other cranks with bad bearings this year. He says that the bearing manufacture sent them bad bearings and are not covering any of the cost that he is incurring due to replacements.

 

[lofsfire]

also looks like a small stress crack on top 1/4 of left piston and no the coating should last I know of a few with over 2k on spi pistons

By the way thanks I all most missed that. And I used that a leverage for 2 new pistons.

 

[lofsfire]

So my rebuild only get better apparently one cylinder is junk and will not be covered under my warranty, It must have had existing damage or something. Now one cylinder is junk and will be $300. I do trust what they are telling me, their even sending me the part to see for myself.

If anyone has a junk cylinder that is rebuild-able for my 2000 Ski-Doo MXZ 700 I could be interested in it. I need it for a core. The numbers stamped in it are 92392.

PM me if you have one.
Thanks

 

[lofsfire]

So here was the final out come of my rebuild.

Two round trips to Coldwater, Mi (2.5 hr one way)

1-Cylinder $150
1-Cylinder $200 ($150 for re-manufactured cylinder and $50 for a one to use as a core)
2-SPI T-Moly Pistons $0
New Ski-Doo Crankshaft $0
Full Professional Rebuild $0 w/warranty till end of next season.
Mark also said they did some extra clean up work on the head.
Total $350

So now it's all said and done hopefully I will not need the warranty next season b/c that just means more down time.

 

[indy_500]

how much overall have you spent?

 

[lofsfire]

January Rebuild
Shipping $40
Forgot the rebuild cost $120
Sea Doo clinic w/fatty bearing $650
2-SPI T-Moly Pistons $130
Winderosa full gasket kit $75
2 cage bearings $30
Total $1045

February Rebuild
1-Cylinder $150
1-Cylinder $200 ($150 for re-manufactured cylinder and $50 for a one to use as a core)
2-SPI T-Moly Pistons $0
New Ski-Doo Crankshaft $0
Full Professional Rebuild $0 w/warranty till end of next season.
Mark also said they did some extra clean up work on the head.
Total $350

Rental $371

Grand Total and 105 Mile on the sled for the year= $1,766
Plus my gas with the back and forth to Coldwater. Gota be around $160 in gas. And not to mention just general frustration on my only two trip this year. But I have to say I'm glad this did not happen last year b/c my second to last trip was to the UP.

 

[ezra]

1176 you got off cheep worst was not putting full coverage on one 20 mi in to it totaled 6500 never again will I buy a sled on the way up north and figure I will just call the agent when I get home

 

[lofsfire]

That real sucks! After hearing another story on here where the guys insurance picked up a rebuild. I was kinda pissed b/c this was the first year I did not have full coverage on the sled.

 

[dab102999]

You can think of it this way also, it would have been close to that the first time to take it to a dealer and get a warentee also. I know that is not what you wanted to do but that is snowmobiling sometimes....as far as the guy getting insurance to pay for a re-build, I have never heard of that before. That would be a nice option for sure but I would think your rates would be a lot higher.