96 XP Starting Issue HELP

[Teetor]

Hey guys I’m having an issue with my 96’ XP. I’ll try to be as thorough as possible to help troubleshoot.

Most of the time when the engine is cold it will immediately fire up. Will run with no issues, I will cut the engine off (could be after 10 seconds of running or 5 minutes) and then it will not start back.

I have been through the carbs and everything looks great, new plugs, spark plug boots have been checked etc. I’m having a hard time finding the issue because it starts fine sometimes and then it won’t start regardless of what you do.

The oil injection has been removed, I premix the oil and gas myself, 40:1.

The little black ground wire going to the battery and into the junction box is in good shape, as I have been told that can prevent starting. When it doesn’t start, sometimes I can take a screwdriver and jump the fire from the spark plug boot to the top of the plug, however that only has worked a few times.

I’m going to do a compression test this evening to rule that out, however I feel like it isn’t compression because if the engine even runs for 10 seconds it won’t start back, there is no way it has built enough heat up to not start then.

Any suggestions of things to check would be greatly appreciated, as of right now I’m leaning towards it being an issue of spark in some form or fashion.

Thanks guys.

 

[racerxxx]

Did you rebuild the carbs? Did you replace the needle and seat?

 

[BigRed5678]

Is the issue with starting dry, in water, or on a hose?

 

[Teetor]

Did you rebuild the carbs? Did you replace the needle and seat?

Did not rebuild them, everything was clean. Needle and seat looked fine.

 

[Teetor]

Is the issue with starting dry, in water, or on a hose?

Starting dry or on a hose. Haven’t put it in water because I don’t want to waste a trip to lake knowing it will more than likely do the same thing.

 

[racerxxx]

Well, if it starts cold the gas had time to evaporate that could had flooded from the start before. Once you start it if the needle and seat leak (from age, deterioration) it will flood making it very difficult to start. A pop off test will tell if those tips on the needles are bad. But if you've never replaced them or rebuilt the carbs, it's time.

 

[Teetor]

Thanks for the information. Sometimes it will not start when it is cold either though. Is there any electrical issues that could be causing this intermittent problem?

 

[racerxxx]

Well, you'd have to see if you have spark when it's cold. You need spark, fuel, and air to start. So, if you have spark, the next 2 need to be eliminated.

 

[BigRed5678]

I agree with racerxxx, it would need to be process of elimination for me at that point, but part of that is because I haven't been messing with pwc long enough to have a huge knowledge bank that I could read your problem and know a tip because it's happened to me. Hence why I asked how you were starting it earlier. Mine has an issue to where it'll start fine dry or on a hose, run fine as long as you want and restart pretty as you please, put it in the water and it's a chore to start it. It seems to be flooded. I have to take the air box cover off and crank it about 1/4 throttle. Then I have to putt around with that throttle no more than that for probably 5 minutes until it'll slowly start to pick up and take off, it'll run fine after that. So from my experience see if you are getting a spark and maybe try pulling your air box cover off, getting more air to your engine, in case your carbs are flooding for some reason.

 

[tingraham]

Sounds like a needle and seat to me. Easily remove spark from the equation by pulling the plugs and rest one in the boot on top of the head on a bolt or something where it gets ground and crank it. If you see spark then you know it's most likely fuel.

 

[TurnerBFC]

Similar issues with mine. Rebuild your carbs as per the sticky on this site and use genuine Mikuni kits and needle/seats. See your popoff, too.

I've had no issues after this.

 

[Teetor]

UPDATE HELP NEEDED

I am to my wits end. Here is what I have done and still have the same issue.

-Carbs & fuel pump completely rebuilt
-fuel petcock checked and good
-fuel filter bowl clean and gasket good
-coil swapped with a known good one
-front computer box tested and good
-rear box with coil is good, all wires are good.
-new main ground wire
-lanyard post good
-all fuses are good
-new plugs & boots
-new stator & pickup
-rave valve gaskets replaced
-compression is 150psi

The ski will get spark for a split second and then it goes away. (Tested with inline spark tester & timing light)

It will usually always start when it is completely cold and will run until I cut it off. Timing is correct and been verified with the timing light when it does start. Once I cut it off, it will not start back.

The last thing I did was the stator as I had eliminated every other potential problem or so I thought. Replaced stator this morning and it started right up like before, cut it off and now it’s doing the same thing it has been.

Any suggestions on where to go from here? I’m assuming I have a wire rubbing somewhere in the harness and when it gets any kind of current/heat through it then it kills the spark. However, that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me as the ski will not cut off unless I cut it off when it does start.

Thanks for any help you guys can provide.

 

[racerxxx]

Ok, take a digital volt meter and check the battery when cranking. If the battery dips to 10 volts-ish you will lose spark. So, meter on battery (static voltage is XX.XX) now have someone try starting the ski while you meter the battery.....cranking voltage is (XX.XX) if the cranking volts is down near 10 you're SOL. that battery could be you're culprit. Just throwing this out there to see if it sticks. It's a free test if you have the meter and will only take you a few minutes to check it.

 

[Teetor]

Ok, take a digital volt meter and check the battery when cranking. If the battery dips to 10 volts-ish you will lose spark. So, meter on battery (static voltage is XX.XX) now have someone try starting the ski while you meter the battery.....cranking voltage is (XX.XX) if the cranking volts is down near 10 you're SOL. that battery could be you're culprit. Just throwing this out there to see if it sticks. It's a free test if you have the meter and will only take you a few minutes to check it.

Checked the battery voltage while starting, it drops to 10.8volts.

 

[racerxxx]

Well, have the battery load tested. You could buy a new battery, but it could possible be cables or the starter. I would cheat, pull your car next to it, run jumper cables. Try starting it WITHOUT the car running. Make sure you don't touch the cables or cross the polarity. But with a good solid battery it should start, or at least have spark.

Do you know what battery is in it? Do you know how old it is?