1996 GTX was starting after tune-up but now won't start

[dannyjanmiller]

I just purchased a 1996 GTX that would crank but was not sparking. Took it to marine repair shop. They replaced plugs, new battery, and fuel pump. They also cleaned up some corrosion on connectors and got it running. Before heading out on vacation this week I dry started the ski and it started fine. I arrived at the lake and now it won't start although a couple of times it did attempt to. I use the full choke. I have been careful to allow plenty of time between start attempts. I purchased a trickle charger to make sure the battery remains fully charged. I've pulled the plugs and see that their is a light film of fuel/oil on the plugs and smell gas after start attempts.

It seems to be either spark or fuel. I have more reason to believe it is fuel than spark. Don't have much in the way of tools with me. Wondering if the work that was performed could have left an air bubble in the fuel line or some other source of a vapor lock. Stuck at the lake with a non-working machine and realize it is doubtful I will get it going but wanted to reach out for any suggestions. Thanks

 

[skiasylum]

Pretty sure the older skis with the MPEM’s can fail when a trickle charger is used when the battery is not disconnected from the ski. The Seadoo operators manual states don’t charge the battery when it’s in the ski but most op’s just disconnect a battery cable before charging.

 

[POPPS]

Is it charging?,,,you can have a new battery, but if the charging system (stator and rectifier) is not working the battery will “run” dry,,,
Go into the rear Ebox,,,remove the white pulse connector at the coil that comes from the cdi..put a test light on,,,turn the motor over,,,see if the light pulses,,,if yes,,,that’s great,,.means the trigger pickup, and cdi are working…if not,,,then you have issues “upstream”
And as always,,,load test the battery before anything else.

 

[Lothsahn]

Pretty sure the older skis with the MPEM’s can fail when a trickle charger is used when the battery is not disconnected from the ski. The Seadoo operators manual states don’t charge the battery when it’s in the ski but most op’s just disconnect a battery cable before charging.

The manual does say this, and I'm sure it can happen, but I wouldn't assume that and scare the OP. I used a trickle charger for 2 years with no damage to my MPEM.

skiasylum is correct that a battery charger *can* damage the MPEM (main computer). You should always disconnect the battery from the ski before charging in the future.

@dannyjanmiller, you mentioned that the repair shop replaced the fuel pump. Did they rebuild the carbs with genuine mikuni parts? If that hasn't been done, it really needs to be. Carb parts get old and cause all sorts of problems. Unless you know that the carbs have been rebuilt recently (again, with Genuine Mikuni parts--do NOT buy parts from Amazon), you may be fighting no end of problems with that ski.

Also, it's weird that they said they replaced the fuel pump. The 1996 GTX doesn't *have* a separate fuel pump--it's part of one of the 2 carbureators. So I'm hoping that meant that they rebuilt the carbs.

If you look at the fuel lines in the sea doo, are they grey or black? if the fuel lines are grey, they all need to be replaced. They corrode inside and turn to goo, which clogs up the carbureators and can destroy the engine.

Vapor lock isn't really an issue on these that I've seen. Does it have an inline fuel filter that the previous owner added? If so, make sure you remove that. It should only have the OEM water separator--additional fuel filters in the fuel line just create problems.