CLICK/DOINK SOUND COMING FROM CDI RELAY IN FRONT GRAY E-BOX WHEN START BUTTON PRESSED

[grusnak1001]

Narrowing no start problem to the front of the ski. When I press start button, nothing happens EXCEPT. CLICK/DOINK sound coming from holder relay in front gray e-box. Should I just find another relay (hard to find) & swap, or does anybody have any ideas what else i should check for before going ahead and changing CDI (holder) relay

 

[artr]

The holder relay gives 12V power to the CDI. Ihf you just press the start button with no key it will click and give 12V to the CDI for about 30 seconds. If you go to normally start the ski the holder will continue to supply 12V to the CDI while cranking. If the 12V disappears then the relay might need replacement. You could test for those conditions with a voltmeter and schematic. You could also jumper across the holder relay so that it always supplies 12V to the CDI temporarily to see if the ski then starts normally. If it does then replace the relay. Don't leave the relay shorted while the ski is not running because you will eventually drain the battery.

 

[grusnak1001]

Thanks for your input artr. I need to research how to do the tests you mentioned, however, one other piece of info I left out above is this: When pressing starter button, nothing happens and there is no click/doink coming from grey box BUT when I disconnect start button and trip the plug that the start button goes into with a wire, THATS when I hear click/doink. Does that mean potentially BOTH relay holder and start button are bad?

 

[artr]

Test start button with an ohmmeter when disconnected, should short the connections just like you did.

 

[grusnak1001]

artr, I like your idea to jump across relay to see if it needs replacement, however, what 2 out of the 4 wires do I cross? Do I also need to do this with the start/stop switch wires crossed ? (I checked start switch and showed no continuity with the button both pressed and not pressed. I will order new start switch. ALSO, yesterday when crossing start switch wires I got a click/doink all within 1-2 seconds of each other. Today when performing same procedure I got a click...then 30 seconds later, a doink. Should I assume this means the holder relay is good?

 

[artr]

You short the red-blue stripe to the red-purple stripe and then short the start button connection like you did before. The key should be on the post. If it starts and stays running it's probably the holder relay. Does your beeper work? Do you get 2 beeps when the key is placed on the post?

 

[grusnak1001]

Thank you for this clarification artr. I will keep this in mind but won't do anything yet because after fiddling around with the connections on the holder I noticed they weren't too difficult to take off so I re-attached them and Low & Behold, it cranked over several times in a row. I'm not sure if it was a fluke or if that REALLY solved the problem. However, when I did start it, it appeared to be getting full power out of only 1 plug. This happened last year so I cut spark-plug wire 1/2 inch & that solved the problem, but when I tried it again yesterday it made no difference even when swapping spark plugs. I'm wondering if I have a bad spark cap. If I do, do you know if I can just go to auto parts store & pick up one that will work or do I need to get a special Seadoo one. I know this is unrelated & probably requires a new post, however since I already have your attention I thought I'd just put it out there.

 

[artr]

I don't think there's much to go wrong with the spark plug cap. You can try swapping the 2 Caps And see if the problem moves with the cap. I also know there's a certain resistance measurement in the shop manual for the entire spark plug wire including the cap. I think the caps are marked NKG.
You should probably clean the connectors to the holder relay and make sure they are tight.

 

[grusnak1001]

Thanks for all your help artr !! Time will tell with regards to the relay holder.