1998 speedster only gets fire to one engine

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Slowmoe

Slowmoe

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I'm about to buy a '98 speedster for $1400 off the asking price, because when he went to start it for me, the left engine was not getting any spark. It supposedly ran fine when he last rode it, in June.

I have yet to swap coils to see if that is the issue, but if it isn't, and before I go and buy a $1700 MPEM, what other checks can I do to make sure it is not something other than the MPEM. Are there any grounds to check and where are they? Is it possible moisture got into some electrical part, and if so is there any way to dry them out? Kind of a noob when it comes to the electrical system.

Thanks in advance brothers
 
And do you think $2400 is a fair deal for this boat? The seats are decent, one has a large tear in it 1 has a black tire mark? on it. The rear deck is faded.
Trailer has almost new tires, and is in really good shape.

One engine cranks fine. The other turns over but has no spark. Obviously I am not able to test it on the water before I buy it. The guy I am buying it from lives in probably a $350,000 home and seems like the type of person that maintains his belongings well.
 
I have done hours of searching and most of what I find are the 717's with no spark to one side. Besides the MPEM, coil and adjoining wires/ grounds what other components could have gone bad?
 
There is an advertisement from Seadoo Discount Parts in the page margin to the right of your original post. there is a diagram of the magneto (flywheel and stator). All those parts can go bad, resulting in no spark
 
Which wire coming out of the pickup coil do I need to check? And do I use a test light or a multimeter? What kind of voltage should I be getting from the pickup?
Wow sorry for all the questions lol. I have literally been searching for 2 days on this but not much on 98 speedster wiring
 
Open the coil box, check the white wire (should be white) on the coil with a test light, the other wire coming from the coil is ground. You can check that back to the battery to make sure you have ground to the coil. You should have pulsing vdc while cranking on the white wire.


Remember, these are nothing more than big skis, think 96 XP. Out of the top of the coil box is a connector. Make sure all the wires have continuity thru the plug. If the coil wore doesn't it won't make it to the coil, so check both sides of the connector.
 
When I put the lanyard on, I get no beeps. No beeps when I try to put it in advanced diagnosis mode. Right engine starts. Left just turns over with no fire.

Ok. I swapped the coil from the running engine to the non running engine and it still has no spark. So that rules out the coil. I checked the main grounds to the battery, they looked good. Pulled out all connectors and re-inserted them. Nothing. All fuses on the MPEM are good. I'm stumped.
 
Did you check the white wire? Does it pulse when you crank? That's what tells the coil what to do.
 
I don't have a test light or multimeter.....But I assumed since the right side coil works on the right engine, but not on the left, that the coil is not getting a signal while attached to the left engine. Could I be mistaken? What do I test the white wire with?
 
swap the stator and plug wires from the left engine to the right engine and vice versa. If the wires aren't long enough to do this, pull both engines and swap positions to see if the left engine will now run on the right engine harness.



Or borrow a multimeter and test the left engine ignition components as described by racerxx and in the service manual:)

Magneto or coil failure would probably occur during use. MPEM failure would probably occur during use or when improperly jump starting or spark testing/fogging the engine without grounding the plug wires. Connector corrosion, rodent damage etc will occur during disuse.

At least we can say with certainty that your beeper doesnt work at this point.
 
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So if I test the white wire going into the coil, what setting does my multi meter need to be on. And based on that test what needs to be performed next?
 
I have don so many searches but most of the helpful information I have come across is useless without a wiring diagram, which I probably couldn't interpret anyway based on others I've seen:( I am at the point where Iwill literally papal someone money if they help me get this boat running. :banghead:
 
Slowmoe said:
So if I test the white wire going into the coil, what setting does my multi meter need to be on. And based on that test what needs to be performed next?
Click to expand...



Back to post #7

You will get pulsing VDC............which when using the test light(also suggested to use in post #7) will pulse the light on and off.


15.jpg
 
Download the manual. The procedure for everything that needs to be checked is in there. Start by testing power to coil like racerxxx said then work your way from there.
 
Tested the white coil wire on the running engine with a test light. No light unless engine is being turned over, then light pulses.

Non-running engine: when I ground the test light and probe the white coil wire, I get a dim light that stays on. When the engine is turned over, nothing happens. What next?
 
In the mag housing there is a pick up coil in there. You will need to test it. This time you will need a digital volt meter.


Look at the harness going into the mag housing, it has 6 positions on it. Find the white wire---note the location. Find the Black with a yellow trace---note the location. REMOVE THE HARNESS from the mag housing, push down on the clip from the top down and it should pull out while holding the clip down. Now, remember where those 2 wires were. Put a probe on each one. The ohm read should be between 190 to 300 ohms. It's gonna suck to do it but you need to do it.
 
Just to be clear, I am probing the posts that are sticking out of the mag housing once the harness is removed, not the wiring harness, correct?
 
image.jpgWhere is this harness supposed to be located? All I see is a harness with 2 black wires and like 3 or 4 yellow ones. It's on the back of the crank case, toward the front of the boat right?
 
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Not sure which ones to test; there is no white wire, and no black with yellow traceimage.jpg
 
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