I have a 1997 sea doo gsx that I have not had on the water yet this year. I started it on Sunday and Monday. Tried to start it again on Wednesday and engine would not turn over so I thought battery was dead so I put it on the charger and tried to start on Thursday and still would not turn over I pulled plug and pushed start to check for spark and to my surprise the engine turned over. Put the plug in and engine would not turn over. Tried this a couple times and every time turned over when plug was out but not when plug was in. The first time it did blow out a little gas, but not really on other attempts so I don't think it is a hydro lock issue. I wondered if it was a bad starter or insufficient power to starter. Any ideas?
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Engine won't turn over unless spark plug is out.
- Thread starter ethix3
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After checking as Jeff suggested, spin with both *'s out and a rag over holes. Yeah - it might be Hydro'd. But you can see on the rag whats going down (out). If its oil, its crank RV seals, if gas, its needles & seats leaking. Open gas cap, if it SPEWS air loudly, then the
out breath one-way valve that exits under the rub rail port is clogged, and the over pressure is forceing the needles to open as it sits,
so clean or replace that.
out breath one-way valve that exits under the rub rail port is clogged, and the over pressure is forceing the needles to open as it sits,
so clean or replace that.
I also have a 1996 sea doo GTI and the battery starts this PWC. I does have a slightly smaller engine, but I didn't think it was enough to keep it from starting the 1996 sea doo GSX. So I thought it was unlikely that the battery was the problem, but I will check it out.
I will check that out in a bit it is 730 am here and my neighbors aren't going to be very happy if I fire up my PWC. I though the the little bit of gas or whatever blew out was probably the engine being flooded from not turning over and then I didn't see anything blow out after that so figured it wasn't a hydro lock issue. I will Definately check it out . Thank you for everyone helping me out.
Nothing comes out on the rag when I pull the plugs and does not spew air when the gas cap is taken off with plugs out either. Battery voltage tests at 12 volts. Does not appear that either of these issues are the problem. I tried to check voltage at starter, but unable to get volt meter on both posts of starter at the same time so was unable to check voltage delivered to starter. Does anyone know if there is a way to test the starter?
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You need more then a multi meter test on the battery. I've had plenty read 12-12.8 volts but fail a load test do to bad cells.Check and clean all the cables. You could then pull the starter and test it with jumper cables to a battery but I would pull the starter apart at that time and check the condition of the armature and brushes.
The battery starts my other sea doo GTI do you think I still need a load test? The parts guy told me he can't get the starter until Thursday if I order today. I hate to be out both down time and money if the starter isn't the problem. After market starter price quotes have been between $65-$110. Has anyone used Wilson or WAI Global starters before?
Jeffspx
Active Member
If the battery starts the other ski the. Yea it's Probably fine but to be certain what dr Honda meant was use the volt meter on the battery and try to start the ski. That will load up the battery and should hold above 12volts. It drops into the 11s quickly then the battery is getting tired. As said before, check to make sure all connections are CLEAN and tight. Finally check that the engine is easy to turn by hand at the pto without plugs in it, youll know the engine turns freely and this will eliminate the possibility of issues with the pump binding or something stuck in it.
I pulled open the electrical box and everything looks pretty good except there is a rusty bolt on what i believe is the ignition coil.Do you think this may be the culprit to my problem? It is about to start raining and I didnt want to get electrical compenents wet so I closed everything up and will try to clean when rain quits.
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Jeffspx
Active Member
So just a quick look at the wiring diagram and It does appear that the ignition coil and solenoid do share the same ground, so I guess it is possible that the corroded connection could be creating an issue, so definitely try to clean it , but since it cranks with at least the plugs out, regardless of load on the motor I think it should allow the solenoid to operate. again try to clean that to at least eliminate it. Good luck.
I cleaned it up and still does same thing. With plugs out it doesn't seem to crank slow to answer your other question. The plate that runs under the other components in the electrical box has a little rust so I will look In to it a little more, but weather isn't cooperating much. Do you have something that is your number one suspect? It seems to me that the starter doesn't have enough power. Whether that be due to lack of voltage or bad starter I don't know. On the other hand I am not a mechanic.
Just for future reference....if the problem is the starter, don't buy one off ebay and made in china, it will last for a month if you're lucky.
I've had good luck with DBelectrical.com stuff.
Best plan is to rebuild the OEM starter.
I've had good luck with DBelectrical.com stuff.
Best plan is to rebuild the OEM starter.
Jeffspx
Active Member
My hunch based on what your describing is a battery or starter. There is the possibility of cables too, but the top of my list would be performing the test with the meter on the battery like dr honda mentioned. If you really feel confident about the battery being good then yoh could try this, put your volt meter with the red lead on the starter positive terminal and the black on the battery negative, then try to crank the ski. You shouldn't see less then 12v. This will tell you that the battery is indeed good and that all connections up to the starter are good.
WARNING - HITTING ANY ENGINE PART WITH A HAMMER IS A BAD BAD BAD IDEA, DO NOT DO IT EVER. BUT...I am not suggesting that you use a hammer on your engine, it was something I did, but please do not destroy your engine...
My 93 spx did that too, it was the starter... The brushes wearing left heavu dust between the brushes and commutator. With not load it turned over no sweat, but with the plugs in, it just tried, but did not turn. When I hit the starter with a mallet while cranking, it would turn over. Acted like a bad battery. When I took out the starter and took it apart I could see all of the worn brush dust. I cleaned it and it worked great, I still bought a new starter. DO not buy the one from the dealer... go to ebay.
My 93 spx did that too, it was the starter... The brushes wearing left heavu dust between the brushes and commutator. With not load it turned over no sweat, but with the plugs in, it just tried, but did not turn. When I hit the starter with a mallet while cranking, it would turn over. Acted like a bad battery. When I took out the starter and took it apart I could see all of the worn brush dust. I cleaned it and it worked great, I still bought a new starter. DO not buy the one from the dealer... go to ebay.
Have you used DB electrical a lot. They sell one on from DB on amazon for $52, but the only review states the following:
"I have bought three of these starters from DB Electrical(the letters describe them perfectly)this summer of 2011 and they all quit working. When customer service finally returned my call they would not honor the warrantyby finding loopholes,and they lied to amazon, in fact they were rude, incompetent, and incomprehensive. Once you buy their worthless products you are suckered. Dont believe me? Call them and within the first minute of alking to them this paragraph will be self explanatory. 1 800 753-2242"
As far as a rebuild I don't know if I'm up for the job. I'm not much of a mechanic and the local sea doo shop is booked out until August.
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It's fairly easy. Just pay attention on how you took it apart and assemble in reverse order. If you don't think you'll remember how the bell came off just take a permanent marker and draw a line across the bell to the body of the starter. that way you can see which way it was aligned.
Well I have a few new developments. On one note when checking voltage between the battery and the end of positive cable before going into what may be the relay (whatever the positive cable connects into inside the electrical box) the voltage stays at 12, but when checking between the positive end of cable before going into "relay" and the positive cable exiting relay the voltage shows between 3-4 volts. I thought maybe I had found the issue. I switched to the other battery to double check due to several brief bouts of cranking over the last 24 hours on the battery that was in the GSX. I did not find a reading, but before I could try to adjust placement with volt meter suddenly the GSX started turning over. My brother got excited and put the electrical box back together before I could re check voltage. Now Im afraid to open box and start this drama all over. Any ideas on the voltage change between exiting and entering the "relay" (Am I correct in saying this is the relay?) ? I am waiting for it to cool down so that I can attempt restarting the machine.
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