99 spx solenoid? ignition circuit?

[aquaman2020]

my 99 spx will intermittently start cranking without the safety switch installed or the start button being pushed. sometimes it operates normally. i will install the switch, get the double beep, press the start button, and the engine will turn over. sometimes, pushing the stop button or pulling the safety switch will not stop the cranking and the battery must be disconnected. other times, as soon as the battery cable is touched to the terminal, it will start cranking. since the engine cranks fine, i assume the problem is not with the battery or starter. my thought is a short somewhere in the ignition circuit. does this seem appropriate?

any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. thanks.

 

[custompartsguy]

my 99 spx will intermittently start cranking without the safety switch installed or the start button being pushed. sometimes it operates normally. i will install the switch, get the double beep, press the start button, and the engine will turn over. sometimes, pushing the stop button or pulling the safety switch will not stop the cranking and the battery must be disconnected. other times, as soon as the battery cable is touched to the terminal, it will start cranking. since the engine cranks fine, i assume the problem is not with the battery or starter. my thought is a short somewhere in the ignition circuit. does this seem appropriate?

any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. thanks.

Yes, you must either get an ignition signal from the start switch to the small ignition post on the starter relay for it to crank or jump across the relay. It sounds like you have a short somewhere, I would check over all of your wiring. Or maybe you have a ghost? lol.....but seriously somewhere a wire has to be shorted for it to do that, might possibly be the relay its self.

 

[aquaman2020]

thanks

thanks for the tip. i'll check all the wiring and the relay this weekend and see what i can find. if that doesn't work, i'll call the ghostbusters and see what they can find.

 

[aquaman2020]

vts module short circuit

I checked all wires and connections and everything looked good. I replaced the solenoid and that seems to have fixed the continuous cranking problem, but also created another. The engine now starts and runs fine, but is blowing the 7.5 amp fuse in the rear electrical box on the VTS circuit. In addition, the VTS module melted a hole in its top and was spewing smoke. After a few seconds, the smoking stopped, and upon a few more starts, no more smoke was seen. The trim motor and gears malfunctioned about 3 years ago and have been unplugged since then. I've just been running the machine with no trim system. When I took the cover off the trim motor box, there was some water in it and the motor had some pretty significant corrosion, but this does not concern me as the motor is unplugged, and I am not interested in fixing the trim. Why is the VTS module smoking and blowing a fuse even with the motor unplugged? Is there a way to completely remove the trim system from the electrical system and still start and run the machine?

 

[custompartsguy]

if the trim system does not work then I would suspect you can disconnect all wires to it, if it is smoking and melting then wiring is still hooked up to it. Be carefull do not burn up your ski, I had a feeling it would be a sticking relay..

 

[aquaman2020]

trim system isolation

i've tried disconnecting the cable from the rear electrical box that goes to the trim module, but then I don't get the double beep with the DESS. also it seems the 7.5 amp fuse needs to be in place to get the double beep. is there an easy (or at least not terribly difficult) way to isolate the trim electrical system from the rest of the ski and still get it to start?