1998 Seadoo GSX Limited - 15A Main Batt fuse blown instantly (wont start)

[sleepysmurf]

Hey there, I am a newb here and a newb to the Seadoo verse in general so please take it easy on me.

I have two 98 GSX Ltd, today took them out on the lake and after approx 20 mins one of them just turns off. Normally we find its a key issue, where the key is not seated properly so she wont fire up, this time was different. It wont turn over, nothing, just completely dead. After trying 10 mins moving the key around I realized something else was wrong, so luckily we had the other ski out there to tow this one back in.

Brought her home and checked the battery connections, all is fine. (Something to note though, I was just charging up the batteries earlier in the day..). I checked the fuses in the front of the hull on the right, and sure enough the 15Amp fuse with the label "BATT" beside it is blown. I took the 15A fuse out of the good ski and put it in the blown skis spot, and right away POP! the fuse blows. So I saw some 15Amp fuses in the SPARE spot, so I moved one from the spare to the BATT spot and again insta POP, and the fuse is blown.

I am wondering if anyone else has run into this? Why is the 15A fuse (labeled battery) popping as soon as the fuse is plugged in? Even when we are not trying to start the ski. I am reading online that this could be a rectifier issue, but reading further it sounds like the rectifier is part of the MPEM, which does not sound like a good problem to have., any advice or help for a newb here would be appreciated. I am wondering if I overcharged the battery somehow and that messed things up? But then why would it start just fine and run for 20 mins and then just shut off out there in the middle of the lake? Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[POPPS]

Actually,,,i have an XP LTD in the shop,right now,,same symptoms,,,,the same 15 amp fuse blowing, if you pull the front plug,,,and see that the fuse does not blow,,,your problem is the stator shorting out,,,its a stupid manufacturing defect of some kind,,,tiny bits of metal on the tip exterior of the bendix,,break off and become lodged between the stator ring and outer edge if the stator windings shorting it out,,,
You are in for a pita,,,job,,
But,,we can help you through it.

 

[sleepysmurf]

hey thanks for reaching out so quickly.. been having a bad day thinking about this all day now. What do you mean by pull the front plug? This machine in question already has the main hood wire removed (none of the gauges work). Is this the plug your speaking of? Yes I have been reading all day about the stator issues as well.. does not sound like fun to get to. Would stator defect cause the fuse to blow even when no key is on, and not trying to start it ?

 

[Mraw]

He is referring to the plug on the MAG cover. I had the same issue last year, metal shavings on the stator, I cleaned them off and its been great since. It is a bit of a pain to do in the ski without taking the engine out but doable, take exhaust off, then put a block of wood under the mag side of the engine, remove the engine mount, you can then pull the mag cover. It may seem overwhelming but it's not that bad, just very annoying.

 

[POPPS]

Access to a hoist would be invaluable to lift te engine high enough to get at the bottom 10mm bolts,,,there is a lift eyelit on the manifold,

 

[sleepysmurf]

Alright guys thanks for the info. Let me start with trying to pull the plug on it and see if she still blows the fuse. I ran out of 15Amp fuse (blew 3 of them), waiting on a shipment and then will try it again with that mag cable pulled. Will keep ya posted. You all are super helpful here, thank you.

 

[sleepysmurf]

Alright so revisiting the beast. I figure I would try it out again now that its dry. Thinking perhaps some wet wire somewhere was shorting out. Gave it another go and this time it does nothing, not even blow the fuse. No signs of life what so ever. I noted I will have to take off the exhaust / cooling to even get to the plug I need to pull so I cant get in there to try that aspect yet, but now wondering if its not blowing the fuse if that will even be helpful. With it not blowing the fuse at all now I wonder if the same problem or perhaps something different all together. We did have an issue with the nipple the key sits on for awhile and I wonder if that has something to do with it. Basically the key nipple was loose and we had to keep tightening the thin nut around it to keep it in place. I wonder if its shorting out in the connectors under there, perhaps when tightnening the nut we also spun the nipple around and under the handle bar area the wires are crossed... just a wild guess.. maybe.. who knows.

 

[sleepysmurf]

Found out the reason it wont turn over at all is that the other 15 amp fuse in the back of the ski was also blown. So enough Fing around, I am going to take her in for stator replace. Oddly enough my truck with the hitch on it just decided to overheat and break down in my driveway so now I cant even tow the broken one to the shop, or the working one to the lake. First world problems.

 

[sleepysmurf]

Just updating here for anyone else who runs into this. The problem was the stator.

 

[sleepysmurf]

Actually,,,i have an XP LTD in the shop,right now,,same symptoms,,,,the same 15 amp fuse blowing, if you pull the front plug,,,and see that the fuse does not blow,,,your problem is the stator shorting out,,,its a stupid manufacturing defect of some kind,,,tiny bits of metal on the tip exterior of the bendix,,break off and become lodged between the stator ring and outer edge if the stator windings shorting it out,,,
You are in for a pita,,,job,,
But,,we can help you through it.

circling back to this post as my stator issue re-appeared. I have metal shavings building up in the stator housing shorting it out, what is the source of the metal shavings and how to fix it ? what or where exactly is " the bendix," you speak of.

 

[POPPS]

The bendix is the drive that engages the fly wheel when you turn the starter on...on some,,,tiny metal chips come iff the bendix and get lodged between the stator ring and the stator itself...it lies behind the flywheel.

 

[sleepysmurf]

The bendix is the drive that engages the fly wheel when you turn the starter on...on some,,,tiny metal chips come iff the bendix and get lodged between the stator ring and the stator itself...it lies behind the flywheel.

thx!