Another 12V Low thread..

[Flysooner9]

hey guys, have a 2001 GTX RFI new to me. About a minute or two after starting it today at the lake the 12V low message displayed. Ski was still running great at high power. Knew i probably wasn't getting a charge to the battery so stayed close to the ramp. After an hour or so i assume the battery finally gave up and it went into the limp mode staying below 4,000 RPM or so.

I've read all the threads i can find and figure its the typical rectifier problem or (hopefully not) a bad stator. However i've seen ground connections mentioned a lot also. I noticed that there is only one ground wire coming off the battery. Its the thick one that goes to the starter it seems. Should there be any other ground on the negative battery terminal? seen some people talking about a ground wire from the battery to a cylinder block. All the ground wires from the stator are connected to the flywheel cover like i think they should be.

Also the ski has struggled to idle, is this another symptom of a bad rectifier? Just want a good answer on the ground wires before i buy a new rectifier.

 

[GGuillot]

At idle, on the hose, what voltage measurement are you seeing at the battery? I'd start there, should be 13.5 volts or so.

 

[Flysooner9]

At idle, on the hose, what voltage measurement are you seeing at the battery? I'd start there, should be 13.5 volts or so.

well I’m afraid to use the hose cause it doesn’t idle well at all so the whole hose back pressure thing scares me.

how about a second ground wire? Should there be one?

 

[GGuillot]

well I’m afraid to use the hose cause it doesn’t idle well at all so the whole hose back pressure thing scares me.

how about a second ground wire? Should there be one?

Ok, off the hose connect the digital meter up to the battery and then crank it, you got about 30 seconds before you need to get water running through it. Quickly observe the voltage measurement. A poor ground would cause a loss of amperage to crank it, you're not having that issue, or you'd get nothing to start it.

You need to ck the static battery voltage at rest and when it's running to start narrowing the issue down.

 

[kevinz]

I'd be willing to bet that it's most likely the rectifier. The RFI and DI skis are known to have problems with it, and I also bet yours is original. Mine was in my 03 XP DI and I had the same problem with limited RPMs to about 4k or so and a MAINT REQ message. I replaced it with a HD one from a 4tec. Ski ran like a top afterwards..

 

[gazzaskirepair]

Charge battery and get it load tested

 

[Ckrawiec]

hey guys, have a 2001 GTX RFI new to me. About a minute or two after starting it today at the lake the 12V low message displayed. Ski was still running great at high power. Knew i probably wasn't getting a charge to the battery so stayed close to the ramp. After an hour or so i assume the battery finally gave up and it went into the limp mode staying below 4,000 RPM or so.

I've read all the threads i can find and figure its the typical rectifier problem or (hopefully not) a bad stator. However i've seen ground connections mentioned a lot also. I noticed that there is only one ground wire coming off the battery. Its the thick one that goes to the starter it seems. Should there be any other ground on the negative battery terminal? seen some people talking about a ground wire from the battery to a cylinder block. All the ground wires from the stator are connected to the flywheel cover like i think they should be.

Also the ski has struggled to idle, is this another symptom of a bad rectifier? Just want a good answer on the ground wires before i buy a new rectifier.

>>Should there be any other ground on the negative battery terminal?<< According to the ski wiring diagram of a 2001 GTX RFI...the answer is NO. Battery Black to Ground, battery RED to solenoid. That is all it shows. The Magneto ground (black wire) goes to Pin 3-26 of your mpem, Rectifier BLACK goes to ground somewhere.

 

[etemplet]

Nothing stopping you from grounding the ground. LOL I don't like grounding thought the starter either. Keep it clean. I have the same problem with one right now but I think it is the battery. I just replaced the rectifier.