12 volt warning then battery dies 2004 gtx sc

[zach levine]

My 2004 gtx sc gave a low 12 volt warning then ran out of battery. I replaced the battery then got the warning a couple hours later, then battery died a bit later. Any ideas on what this could be? Wiring appears to have little or no corrosion around it.

 

[themk]

Likely something to do with the magneto. Could also be the rectifier but most likely the magneto. Check the shop manual for details on how to test it.

 

[skiasylum]

Corroded wiring and connections will definitely cause this, if it appears you have corroded wiring it’s probably much worse than you can see.

 

[BGS]

Like The MK said, shop manual has testing procedures.

 

[amigo32]

First thing i would do is to grab a low volt meter and connect one lead to negative the other one to positive terminal on the battery , Then start the jet ski and see if you are getting a reading less than 13 volts = Bad Rectifier ,bad magneto. Or bad cable connection, Follow the 3 yellow wires from your rectifier to the triple connector coming from the engine (Magneto) if it checks out good, Do a search on how to check a rectifier , Much easier buy el cheapo from flebay and see if that work !! If it does discarded and buy OEM from this site or any other site but make sure its OEM.
PS..check charging 30A fuse on fuse box.

 

[zach levine]

First thing i would do is to grab a low volt meter and connect one lead to negative the other one to positive terminal on the battery , Then start the jet ski and see if you are getting a reading less than 13 volts = Bad Rectifier ,bad magneto. Or bad cable connection, Follow the 3 yellow wires from your rectifier to the triple connector coming from the engine (Magneto) if it checks out good, Do a search on how to check a rectifier , Much easier buy el cheapo from flebay and see if that work !! If it does discarded and buy OEM from this site or any other site but make sure its OEM.
PS..check charging 30A fuse on fuse box.

Thanks amigo going to give it shot and hopefully figure it out. Not super familiar with electrical, but does the fact that the battery doesn’t drain when not turned on indicate that there’s no damaged wires and it’s likely the rectifier?

 

[skiasylum]

Not really it just means you have a good battery, if nothing wants power the electricity won’t go anywhere it just stays in the battery. Corrosion causes resistance in any conductor and decreases flow. Resistance of a wire can easily be checked with a multi meter between any two points.

 

[amigo32]

If you charged the battery and are able to ride your boat for an hour or so before it gives you a low voltage warning more than likely your battery is good
get or ask a friend who can connect a digital volt meter to your battery Red and Black terminal start the engine rev to 3000 to 4000 RPM if you get from 13.5 up to 14volts your rectifier is good , 15 or more volts your Magneto is bad in that case you will get a high voltage warning.

 

[zach levine]

If you charged the battery and are able to ride your boat for an hour or so before it gives you a low voltage warning more than likely your battery is good
get or ask a friend who can connect a digital volt meter to your battery Red and Black terminal start the engine rev to 3000 to 4000 RPM if you get from 13.5 up to 14volts your rectifier is good , 15 or more volts your Magneto is bad in that case you will get a high voltage warning.

Thank you I’ll give it a go!

 

[skiasylum]

Amigo 32, have to disagree on one point. “15 or more volts your Magneto is bad”. The magneto is the primary source of electrical energy. It should be sending unregulated 3 phase, 25 vac per phase to the regulator/rectifier. The rectifier converts the a/c to d/c and the voltage regulator in the same unit as the rectifier regulates that d/c voltage between 14.4 and 14.8 vdc. Pretty sure if you see over 14.8vdc it’s a regulator/ rectifier problem.

 

[zach levine]

Just charged the battery and plugged it in. Tried turning the display on that wouldn’t even work. When I tested the volts I got about 14. Is this a pretty good indicator that the red or black wires are corroded?

 

[skiasylum]

Not necessarily it just means your charging system is supplying 14v to the battery at whatever RPM you tested it at. First step whenever troubleshooting your charging system is to absolutely make sure your battery is good. It needs to be removed from the ski and bench tested at your local auto parts store. If it’s over 4 years old or not maintained properly it’s probably bad. A bad battery can still be charged and hold its charge but will fail to discharge proper volts or amps under load.

 

[zach levine]

Replaced the rectifier and took the ski out for a bit, and after about 10 minutes I got a low 12v warning. The battery was not fully charged but it’s a good sign that it isn’t getting charged when the ski is on. Had the battery tested and it’s good. Does this mean that it is the magneto, if so what is a good way to test that?

 

[skiasylum]

Not necessarily, corroded wires or connections can cause same symptoms as a bad magneto. As stated earlier time to download a service manual. The charging system is a whole chapter in the manual. The magneto in our Sea-Doo’s are pretty reliable. A little visible corrosion is still my guess.

 

[zach levine]

Thanks as always! Would you say that the two connected to the battery are the most likely? And also because there is no low 12v warning when the battery is charged could this still be the wires corrosion?

 

[skiasylum]

 

[skiasylum]

 

[skiasylum]

 

[skiasylum]

Any wire or connector in the above diagram needs to be checked for loose or bad connections including corrosion. Be especially diligent of all grounds.

 

[zach levine]

was looking through the wiring and it looks like the 30A wires had some corrosion in it. Im going to assume that this is the problem, but I cannot find good instruction on how to fix/ replace it. Any suggestions, and is this the likely source of the problem? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[skiasylum]

Yep the fuse holder needs to be replaced, very likely the source of your problem. Search melted fuse holder on the web for solutions. There are OEM fuse holders available and aftermarket kits.