Hello everyone, I am having an electrical issue on my 1990 seadoo sp. To give some context i purchased this seadoo last year and fixed a few mechanical things to get it working. I have enjoyed using it all summer and right after I was riding it a week or two ago i went to start it again and all i hear is a clicking sound. The clicking sound is coming from the starter solenoid in the electrical box. I replaced the starter last year with a brand new one and I have jumped the starter by hooking it directly up to the battery with jumper cables and it works fine. I know the solenoid is operational because I purchased a brand new one and it is still clicking. I also purchased three new wires, one of them is a new cable going from the positive terminal on the battery to the solenoid, the other is going from the negative terminal on the battery to the ground, and the last one is going from the solenoid to the starter. I have tried a few different ground locations and that doesn't seem to make a difference. The very odd time the starter will turn over. The engine is definitely not seized, i am able to turn it over by hand. I would really appreciate it if anyone has any ideas. Thank you!
1990 Seadoo sp electrical issue
- Thread starter jgibson
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artr
Well-Known Member
Try jumpering across the starter solenoid with a screwdriver with an insulated handle. If the starter cranks, then the solenoid is defective, even though it is new. It may click but not conduct the high current needed by the starter usually due to corrosion or carbon buildup on the internal contacts.
Thanks for your response. I have tried that and it still will not crank over.
Here is some more information for when i try that. When i put a screwdriver across it blows a fuse, so to further test i unscrewed the two cables going into the electrical box and manually crossed them. One of the wires was the wire coming from the positive terminal of the battery into the electrical box attaching to the solenoid and the other wire was the one leaving the electrical box also attached the solenoid which eventually goes to the starter.
artr
Well-Known Member
From your descriptions (blows fuse if short across solenoid with screwdriver or remove battery and starter cables from solenoid and manually connect them) it seems there is a short in the starter or in the red cable going to the starter. You can try measuring with an ohm meter from the solenoid side where the starter cable connects to battery ground to see if it shows a short. When you say you tested the starter by directly jumpering it to the battery, when was the last time you tried that and was the starter installed in the ski when you did that?
I got a near zero ohm reading when i measured the resistance on the cable going from the solenoid to the starter. I tried jumping the starter yesterday so less than 24 hours ago and i had removed the starter from the ski. For all of my tests the stater has been removed. It is a new starter as of last year. I agree with what you are saying though because i believe the issue has to lie after the solenoid. I am unfortunately out of ideas. I have a feeling the problem may lie in the starter, but it is odd that I am able to jump it and it works completely fine.
AKnarrowback
Well-Known Member
The one thing that stands out in all of this is you say you bought a "brand new" starter.
Did you buy a brand new OEM starter or an aftermarket starter?
Aftermarket starters are junk.
Go on ebay and find an OEM Denso starter that looks like it's not a ball of rust. Order up a brush kit. Rebuild the starter, clean the commutator, brake clean the insides, make it shine, put the new brushes in and see if this helps.
Right now you can be creating more problems by ripping the rest of the machine apart trying to find the problem. Start by getting a good starter in place.
Did you buy a brand new OEM starter or an aftermarket starter?
Aftermarket starters are junk.
Go on ebay and find an OEM Denso starter that looks like it's not a ball of rust. Order up a brush kit. Rebuild the starter, clean the commutator, brake clean the insides, make it shine, put the new brushes in and see if this helps.
Right now you can be creating more problems by ripping the rest of the machine apart trying to find the problem. Start by getting a good starter in place.
artr
Well-Known Member
If you are using an aftermarket starter I have read in the forum that they are not very reliable and basically last about a year. You would be much better off better off with the original seadoo starter If you kept it when you replaced it with this one. Usually it is the brushes that fail and can can be replaced with a kit for less than $20. I do not know what the spec is for resistance of the windings on your starter, but I think that that it should be at least a few ohms. When the starter is out of the ski, it may be drawing too much current but because you probably only ran it for a second or two to check it nothing happened. In the ski that could be the cause of the fuse blowing.
That’s very interesting. I think my starter is aftermarket. It’s definitely not OEM. I’ll try and find a good one on eBay. Only thing is that I’m in Canada so supply is limited. I’m hoping I didn’t throw my old one out. I just find it weird that the starter works when it’s not going through the electrical, but the second you hook everything up it doesn’t work. Thanks for all of your help, I hope the starter fixes it.
AKnarrowback
Well-Known Member
Don't buy a starter yet. I was just giving you a heads up on the starter issue because it happens a bunch.
If the starter spins then the problem is elsewhere in the machine.
If the starter spins then the problem is elsewhere in the machine.
artr
Well-Known Member
I think you can perform one last test to convince yourself if it is the starter or something else. The starter should be installed but the red cable removed or at least disconnected from the solenoid and not touching anything. Disconnect the battery and take it out of the engine compartment. Take a set of jumper cables and carefully clamp the positive to the positive post on the starter and the negative to one of the clean bolts that holds the starter to the motor (that is probably where your black battery cable should have been connected). Make sure the engine compartment is open and ventilated and you do not smell a lot of gas fumes. With the battery out and away from the engine compartment, connect the positive jumper to battery positive and then use the negative jumper to momentarily connect to battery negative. If the engine cranks, then like AKnarrowback said the problem is somewhere else. If it does not crank, I would try it for only a few seconds and feel the starter to see if it is stalled and getting warm. If you think it's stalled I would ask if you had verified the operation of the bendix when you had the starter out of the ski and jumped it (did it extend and then retract).
Thanks for the reply. I tried that and I was able to get the engine to turn over. So I guess its not the starter. What would it mean if the starter was getting warm? I didn’t realize it was getting to warm, but I’m curious what it could mean. Does anyone else have any ideas on what to try next?
Since the starter is good, then either you are not getting 12V to the starter from selenoid or the starter isnt grounded. Do you get 12v from selenoid when pressing start and hearing the selenoid click? Do you have a cable going from the starter bolts on engine to the negative terminal on the battery? Check ground of starter where it bolts to case. Use the negative terminal on the battery for the ground for voltage all testing..
ChrisCullum
New Member
Where else would this be? Having the exact same issue. I put 12V to the starter and it turns over.
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