1999 GTX Limited 951cc Won't Start

[jumphighest]

I just purchased my first Seadoo as a project. The PO said it worked fine before putting it away for the winter. It only clicks once when I push start. Tested the battery with a multimeter and it reads fine. It does drop from 13.5 to about 9 when I push the start button. I tried replacing the starter relay; no dice. I also jumped the terminals of the starter relay and I would hear a single click and the wire I used to jump the terminals would get extremely hot and try to weld itself to the terminals. I pulled the starter and bench tested it; it spins freely when connected to a battery. That means it must be good right? I'm not sure how much torque or how to even measure if it has enough torque to start the motor.

I'm going to reinstall the starter and then pull the spark plugs to see if the engine will turnover then. If not, I'll try to spin the drive shaft with a wrench. Honestly, something I probably should've done before pulling the starter motor...

Do you have any further advice or thoughts for me to try?

 

[mikidymac]

The battery should never drop to 9 volts. Sounds like a bad battery.

 

[jumphighest]

I swapped in the battery from my running 99 gti and still had the same problem. I ran a bunch of other tests with my multimeter and everything electrical checked out fine. The starter spun fine when I connect it directly to the batteries positive and negative terminals.

I went to take a look at the impeller, it looks a little too close on the bottom side. I removed the plastic cover and spark plugs to turn the engine by hand, it has maybe a quarter inch of play but will not spin freely.


I'm going to try putting a little seadoo oil in where the spark plugs go to try and lube up the internals before jumping to the conclusion of a seized motor.

I'm learning a lot even tho I haven't solved the problem yet. All these failed tests will lead me to the right answer. I hope.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Remove the PTO cover, and the spark plugs, you should be able to turn the engine over by hand.

If not, remove the jet pump, and try again. If you still can't, the engine is seized, and will need to come out.

 

[jumphighest]

The pto cover is the grey shelf held on by two plastic wing nuts right? I took that off and the spark plugs and was unable to turn it by hand. There was maybe a quarter inch of play. I read on another thread to also try dropping a little oil in both spark plug holes to lube up the internals.

I'll try taking the pump off next. Fingers crossed.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Yea, either the engine or the pump is seized... pull the pump and pray to the bilge gods.