Well first of all the level of damage if any caused by not winterizing a jet ski depends on a few factors. Where is the jet ski stored during the winter? How cold does it get during the winter at your home? Is there still water in the exhaust or hull?? If you keep your jet ski in a warm well insulated garage then the damage is actually very little and possibly none at all. On the other hand if you store the jet ski outside and the temps get below 32 degrees your pretty much guaranteed to sustain damage to your beloved jet ski. Is the damage considered serious as the question describes? Yes it can be very serious. I have seen engine cases and even cylinders of the engine cracked and ruined beyond repair. A new engine by itself can be very expensive plus expensive labor to remove and reinstall unless you have the knowledge of how to do such a task. Another part of the jet ski that can be damaged is the fuel system. Even if you store your ski in a nice warm garage I would still at least take the time to do two simple tasks to ensure your fuel system is in good shape for the next season. First fill your fuel tank up with good high quality fuel with NO ETHANOL!!!! Next purchase a product called STA-BIl fuel treatment. They even sell a Marine formula in this product. There are other brands but I have had the best luck with this product. The bottle will have instructions telling you how much to add to your fuel tank. Properly treating your fuel system will ensure that your jet ski will start and run the next season. Of course I say that with the following things in mind. Number one your carbs are already in good condition. Number two- your fuel lines are in good shape, including the pick up lines that are in your fuel tank. And number three the fuel selector is properly maintained. Even if your fuel lines look good they may not be good. If your ski has a water separator bowl look inside it for black flakes. Those little flakes could indicate that your fuel lines are deteriorating from the inside out. If that is the case your carbs probably at the minimum need a good cleaning and possibly even rebuilding. For sure replace all your fuel lines. New fuel line can be purchased inexpensively on eBay or even at a local auto parts retailer. I personally like the transparent fuel line that comes in different colors. I buy it from a seller on eBay that goes by the name of Fuellineguy. I would buy plenty so you have enough to redo every fuel line on the ski. Only do one line at a time to avoid routing the lines the wrong way. I usually take one end of a line off and put the new line on and then pull the other end of the old line off and replace it with the other end of the new line. Doing the job in this manner ensures correct placement of the lines and zero trouble at start up. Back to winterizing- if you want specific instructions on how to winterize your exact jet ski there a couple of Excellent forums on the net that offer very good instructions. One is www.Greenhulk.net. The other one is www.pwctoday.com. I like both of these forums because they each offer different things that I like. I have learned allot from the members of these forums and have also helped a few people myself. Working on your own jet ski can be very rewarding and also save you time and money. If you have ever taken your jet ski to a shop in the summer you know that sometimes it can be a long wait to get your ski back. And the expense for even something as simple as winterization or dewinterizing a ski can be pretty high. A simple down and dirty method of winterizing is as follows- first wash your ski top to bottom with good car soap or boat wash to remove any dirt or nasty stuff you may have picked up the last time you took you ski out. Follow this up with a good towel dry and maybe even a coat of wax if you have time. Next fill your fuel tank with good quality fuel that does not contain ethanol. After filling your tank add the STA-BIL fuel stabilizer I mentioned earlier. Hopefully the last time you went to the lake you ran your ski for a minute or so after you pulled it out of the water to get the water out of the exhaust. Next pull your spark plugs a spray some fogger oil in. Fogger can most likely be purchased at your local boat shop. If not you can find it online. In a pinch you can dribble some two cycle oil in the cylinders. Crank your motor over a few times to work it in. Replace your plugs with new plugs and tighten them snugly. After this a good thing to do would be to use a wet dry vac to vac out the bottom of your hull inside to remove any sitting water. This about wraps it up other than installing your cover if you have one. A good cover is definitely something worth having. If you keep your ski outside a good cover can keep the paint shiny and nice looking and protect other outside components as well. Even if storing your ski in the garage a cover can keep it dust free and looking nice for next season. Before you put the cover on go over the ski and note any damage or repairs that need to be done before next season. It's much better to have your ski at the shop during the winter than in the summer when you would rather be on the water than waiting for your ski to be repaired.
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