2003 Yam 800 XLT having possible starter trouble.

[bell99man]

This thing is so different from a Sea-Doo that I'm a little afraid of messing with it. It actually starts fine and appears to run pretty well with one exception. There is a terrible loud whining noise immediately after startup that sounds like an over revved generator. So my first thought is that the starter is not disengaging from the flywheel. As with all things pwc, it is just about impossible to get to without removing the motor or at least a bunch of other parts. Is there an easy way to verify this before diving in head, or wrench, first? I've been told that the bendix drive is the likely culprit but wanted to be more sure before un-mounting the motor and exhaust. Any shortcut would be a big help.

 

[bell99man]

Well, with the lack of information and experience I have lost this job to impatience. My coworker requested his ski back and now it sits in his yard. Maybe I should have just dove into it with my usual optimism.

 

[bell99man]

Well, I feel stupid. I failed basic diagnostics on this one for sure. The owner gave me the impression that the ski would go but in fact it had no thrust at all. So my primary lesson on this one is an old one. [Never assume anything, especially if you know them.] So the actual problem was a locked up impeller that caused the driveshaft to strip the splines out. The whining noise was from the small amount of contact between the splines on the shaft. Again, I feel really dumb for missing this one.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Chalk it up to learning. It is really all you can do at this point.

 

[bell99man]

Yup, just bugs me that I didn't look at the pump first. Lesson learned.