1996 GTX won't turn over

[JWisco]

I just bought a 1996 GTX on Sunday from a family member. He started it when I picked it up and it fired up just fine, but he said the battery was dead (he had just charged it) so I was going to need to buy a new one. I bought a new one yesterday, and the multimeter says it's fully charged.
When I plug in the lanyard, the machine beeps and the dash lights turn on. However, when I pull out the choke and press start, it just tries one time. So there is just a single *chug* in the engine and then nothing.
I would expect with a fully charged battery it was at least turn over a few times trying to get started? Do I just have a bad battery? If I was out of fuel would it still turn over with the battery?

 

[GGuillot]

I bought a new one yesterday, and the multimeter says it's fully charged

You can't go by that, fully charge the battery then reconnect and try again. Sometimes when you get a new battery it's not fully charged and doesn't have enough current to turn over the engine.

 

[dr00andrew]

sounds like a weak battery. i recently bought a battery for the same ski. i was cheap with mine and had to fill it with acid and then charge it before using it. charge the battery and while its on a charge, take its reading. mine said it should be about 13.75 on a charge. when you take it off should be around 12.7. i only get a chance to ride mine about 1-2 times a week. i take my battery off the ski and leave it on a maintainer. dont quote me on this but there is a very slow drain on your battery should you leave it hooked up. it takes less than a minute to install/remove a battery, so i always like to know its at 12.7 volts when i put it in the ski.

" Do I just have a bad battery? If I was out of fuel would it still turn over with the battery? "

yes, if any machine is out of fuel, it will still turn over so long as the battery is good. If you have an engine that turns over but wont start, your issues are likely with the carburetion/intake. if it straight up won't turn over, its an electrical/ignition problem

 

[JWisco]

Yeah the battery I just bought was one I had to fill myself. I’ll try charging it again today to see if that helps. The battery instructions said to use a trickle charger but I only have a 2/10 automatic charger so I left it on the 2 automatic setting on took it off when the charger indicated it was full.
These batteries seem hard to find already filled.

 

[dr00andrew]

Yeah the battery I just bought was one I had to fill myself. I’ll try charging it again today to see if that helps. The battery instructions said to use a trickle charger but I only have a 2/10 automatic charger so I left it on the 2 automatic setting on took it off when the charger indicated it was full.
These batteries seem hard to find already filled.

just take a multimeter and see what its reading hooked up to the charger. like i said should be around 13.75 volts and when its off the charger it should be 12.7. also double check your acid in the cells is up to the minimum line. if not take some distilled water and top them off.

 

[Ckrawiec]

Yeah the battery I just bought was one I had to fill myself. I’ll try charging it again today to see if that helps. The battery instructions said to use a trickle charger but I only have a 2/10 automatic charger so I left it on the 2 automatic setting on took it off when the charger indicated it was full.
These batteries seem hard to find already filled.

I just bought a new battery for my '96 GTX at WalMart (last month). Sealed battery (already filled and ready to go), dropped it in the ski and it's been working fine for over a month now. BTW...the ski sits in the water waiting for me (I'm 150 miles away from it and only ride it on weekends, when I have a chance to)......it has started everytime though....a little finicky after sitting alone for a week but a few seconds and a little choke and away I go.

A sitting ski should NOT drain the battery.....there should not be any electrical drain on the system in a sitting state (at least to my knowledge). There are no components that should be drawing electric from the battery while the ski is just sitting unless you installed something that is calling for power....like an ammeter or something else, USB port with an LED light or such.

OK, so when you re-installed the new battery...you connected the big RED wire to the + post and the big black wire AND the little black wire to the battery - post...correct?

BTW: Check your battery acid level......it takes a while for the battery to completely settle & fill, etc.....I used one of those batteries a couple years ago, filled it, followed all the directions (rare for me - haha), charged it, installed it.....had power troubles. Pulled the battery the next day and I could see through the case that not all the cells were completely filled......I burped the battery (squeeze it to get any air out) and put more acid in until it was completely filled....charged it again....worked much better the second time around.

Make sure to connect the battery vent tube to the battery.....there should be a not connected vent line laying in the ski somewhere....the vent usually goes from the battery area towards the front of the ski and vents out through the side of the hull (starboard side under the rub rail, same place as the fuel tank vent - should be 2 little vent ports there).

 

[NickCawks]

My ski did something similar when the ignition coil was on it's way out but still intermittently would be ok.

Obviously check the battery first but if all checks out maybe try jumping the coil and see what results you get

 

[Ckrawiec]

My ski did something similar when the ignition coil was on it's way out but still intermittently would be ok.

Obviously check the battery first but if all checks out maybe try jumping the coil and see what results you get

Nick -> Did you mean the jumping the SOLENOID? You can jump the solenoid posts......the ignition coil is not a jumpable coil.

 

[JWisco]

OK, so when you re-installed the new battery...you connected the big RED wire to the + post and the big black wire AND the little black wire to the battery - post...correct?

BTW: Check your battery acid level......it takes a while for the battery to completely settle & fill, etc.....I used one of those batteries a couple years ago, filled it, followed all the directions (rare for me - haha), charged it, installed it.....had power troubles. Pulled the battery the next day and I could see through the case that not all the cells were completely filled......I burped the battery (squeeze it to get any air out) and put more acid in until it was completely filled....charged it again....worked much better the second time around.

Make sure to connect the battery vent tube to the battery.....there should be a not connected vent line laying in the ski somewhere....the vent usually goes from the battery area towards the front of the ski and vents out through the side of the hull (starboard side under the rub rail, same place as the fuel tank vent - should be 2 little vent ports there).

Yup. Black to (-) with the additional black wire and Red to (+). I will pull the battery out though and check the acid level. I was surprised when it was full and how much was left in the bottle, so good point to check that now that it has been settled over night. And yes, I have the battery vent tube hooked up as well.
Luckily the guy I bought it from went over it with me in super detail, so he explained a lot of that which was nice. He took really good care of it the last 20+ years!

 

[JWisco]

To test if it's the battery, can I jump it from my truck batter? (with the truck off I would imagine.)
If so, any recommended approach to hooking that up and testing it?

 

[Ckrawiec]

To test if it's the battery, can I jump it from my truck batter? (with the truck off I would imagine.)
If so, any recommended approach to hooking that up and testing it?

The GENERAL rule of thumb is "Don't jump ski batteries", especially don't EVER jump a jump ski battery from a running vehicle. You can certainly take the ski battery out and connect a different battery to the ski leads but don't supply excess juice to the ski (could fry the mpem and that's a PITA) with the ski battery installed.

Best practice is to just get a good battery into the ski and work with that.

Personally, and my situation at the time dictated a non-conventional approach, but I've started my ski off a battery charger with battery installed.....it was a risk but I had no options at the time. I wouldn't normally have done it that way.

 

[JWisco]

The GENERAL rule of thumb is "Don't jump ski batteries", especially don't EVER jump a jump ski battery from a running vehicle. You can certainly take the ski battery out and connect a different battery to the ski leads but don't supply excess juice to the ski (could fry the mpem and that's a PITA) with the ski battery installed.

Best practice is to just get a good battery into the ski and work with that.

Personally, and my situation at the time dictated a non-conventional approach, but I've started my ski off a battery charger with battery installed.....it was a risk but I had no options at the time. I wouldn't normally have done it that way.

Thanks for the guidance! If this battery doesn't work, I will just go buy a new one instead of taking the risk.

 

[Ckrawiec]

Thanks for the guidance! If this battery doesn't work, I will just go buy a new one instead of taking the risk.

FWIW.....WalMart usually has the right size (usually in stock)....just look up your size based on the ski.....not a bad battery for a fair price.....sealed battery too, so no screwing around with acid fill ups....

 

[JWisco]

The picture is the battery that I have.
My battery charger was hooked up all morning again and it says the battery is full. I tested with a meter and it says "13.18" just testing on the batter. Once I hooked it back up (with both black cables and the one red cable), it read 13.10. I tried starting it and just a single "chug". I tested the battery again and it said 12.56.

I assume I just hold the start button and I don't press it repeatedly?

Should I just go to Walmart and try to find an already filled battery?

 

[Ckrawiec]

The picture is the battery that I have.
My battery charger was hooked up all morning again and it says the battery is full. I tested with a meter and it says "13.18" just testing on the batter. Once I hooked it back up (with both black cables and the one red cable), it read 13.10. I tried starting it and just a single "chug". I tested the battery again and it said 12.56.

I assume I just hold the start button and I don't press it repeatedly?

Should I just go to Walmart and try to find an already filled battery?

That battery looks as good as any other.

Try this.....take out the spark plugs and try to start the ski.....does that help? Does the starter try to turn over the engine with any/more force?

If that doesn't help...then it's starting to sound like your starter might be / have crapped the bed. A rebuilt OEM starter (assuming yours is OEM) is better than any aftermarket starter any day of the week. Its usually the starter brushes that have just worn down and are not making good contact with the comminuter of the starter motor OR the copper bars on the comminuter are carboned over......you can try taking it apart and polishing the comminuter bars (and check to make sure your carbon brushes have any meat left on them)....

You'll want to pull the carbs off to see what you are doing down in there to pull the starter.....it can be done without pulling the carbs but BOY it's a pain.....

 

[JWisco]

Well, I got it started!
Ckrawiec’s tip I think helped. I pulled out the spark plugs, tried to start it and it turned over just fine. While the plugs were out, even though they looked good, I replaced them. With the new spark plugs in, the first time I pushed the button it did only *chug* once. But I pushed the second time and then it sounded normal and then started right up.
One thought is that the button itself is a bit dodgy. Maybe I was pushing on the edge of the “Start” button and it just wasn’t keeping contact.
Either way, it’s working!

Thanks to everyone for the help! I’m glad I joined the forum. Looking forward to taking them out on Wisconsin lakes this weekend.

 

[Ckrawiec]

Glad to hear it....YES, we also sometimes tend to "focus" on the bigger issues....but I too have noticed that the Start button sometimes needs to be pressed in just the right spot to make that connection.....maybe the switch is "iffy" but if it works and now you know what to do....have a blast!

 

[NickCawks]

Nick -> Did you mean the jumping the SOLENOID? You can jump the solenoid posts......the ignition coil is not a jumpable coil.

Lol yes. That's what I get for trying to think at 730 in the morning! Been working on a 4 wheeler that needs an ignition coil. I'm getting old!

Glad you guys got it figured out though!