97 Seadoo GTX No Spark

[Jarid]

97 Seadoo GSX No Spark

Hi everyone,

Sorry! This is a 1997 GSX I typed it wrong the first time!!

I have been digging around in my 97 Seadoo GSX for about 2 weeks now. About a year ago this Seadoo almost sunk due to a leaking bolt in the rear wall... Long story short the starter box had water sitting in it for about 6 months... Yah sounds pretty bad right? Anyway, we have replaced the starter starter solenoid, and the Ignition coil and we have cleaned or replaced all of the connection points within the starter box. When we attach the factory key and press the start button the starter turns over normally, however the spark plugs do not fire. We have been using a spark plug tester to verify this. Here are all of the things we have tried:


1) New starter solenoid
2) New ignition coil
3) Checked every connection within the starter box
4) verified that the black cable leaving the starter box is connected to the battery...
5) Checked the ground bolt on the top of the engine block to insure a proper connection.
6) I have even grounded the engine block with jumper cables... Still no spark.
7) we have verified that the spark plugs are in good condition and we have even swapped them with our working jetski.
8) new battery --EDIT-- Road Runner Power sports battery with a CCA of 325. Its a non-spillable AGM.
9) The computer was properly sealed inside its box and no water has entered the computer housing.
10) I have also checked all of the fuses.

Here is the kicker, while the starter is turning the engine there are no sparks, HOWEVER the split second after I release the Start button there is a single spark as the engine comes to a stop. Which leads me to believe that the engine is properly grounded and also that the flywheel and magnitio system are functioning. I am going to feel really bad if someone is like google "" and its something simple and noobish. I would really appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction, because I have no idea where to go from here.

Thank you,
Jarid

 

[CReynoldsMIZ]

What kind of battery are you using? It sounds like a battery problem to me. There has to be a certain amount of volts that the battery is pumping out in order for the mpem to send spark to the coils. I had this same problem with a 96 gsx, was a shitty walmart battery. Didnt have enough juice

 

[Jarid]

We are using a Road Runner Power sports battery with a CCA of 325. Its a non-spillable AGM. These batteries are new this summer and we bought one for each jetski the other one is working fine on this battery.

 

[Jarid]

Does anyone think the mpem could cause this?

 

[CReynoldsMIZ]

Does anyone think the mpem could cause this?

There is something in the Magneto housing that can break. Some sort of pickup. I think [MENTION=59978]kicker[/MENTION] has some awesome pictures of it. It is known to break and it will cause no spark. Maybe he can post some pictures

 

[jhjesse]

Extra ground wire from the coil box to the battery connected?

Have you unscrewed the spark plug caps and trimmed the plug wires back 1/4"??

 

[Mekanix]

2 things and then we can troubleshoot.


1 Spark jumps from one plug wire to the other. NOT to ground !! The coil is in no way connected to ground on the output side.

So if you pull one plug out and ground it and then leave the other one hanging or connected to the shorting block, Well you get not spark !
But if you pull the two out and leave them both on the head so they both share the same ground, Well then you have spark because there is a connection between the two.

2 Battery voltage is critical on these machines. Mine will crank like no tomorrow but if the voltage drops below 10.5v There's no spark at all. But add another battery and get it above that and it kicks on first turn over. (frustrating)

So put a voltmeter on the wire feeding the MPEM (Red/Purple) that comes from the rear box and the ground (Black) and then see what you get while cranking.



For troubleshooting you've done pretty good.
I'm saying its either bad MPEM, battery voltage just too low while cranking or wiring or another bad coil.

So your first test is checking the voltage is while cranking.
Next is to check the white wire coming from the MPEM to the black wire or ground for AC voltage. It should be above 15V AC while cranking and it should be pulsing if you use a test light. (this is the pulse that drives the coil to spark on and off.)
Then check the white wire in the rear box on the coil and see if you get the same reading. ( it should be the same.)

If you don't get a signal coming out of the MPEM then maybe its the trigger coil in the stator housing that is bad.

So check between the Yellow/White wire and Black/Yellow wire for a small AC voltage white cranking.

Thats all I can think of to start with.