Good Beeps but won't Start

[jisaac325i]

I have a 96 GTX and I trying to get it ready for the season. I put the DESS Key on this morning and I got the two beeps but when I pressed the start button nothing happened. The guages all worked fine and the battery was on a maintainer all winter so I assume it is not a battery problem. Any suggestions on where I should start trouble shooting. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[seadoosnipe]

Don't assume anything when it comes to the electrical system of these things. Just because it was on a maintainer, does not make it good. If you have the resources available, put a vehicle beside your ski, then run jumper cables from the battery known to be good, to your jet ski. MAKE SURE YOUR VEHICLE ENGINE IS OFF, then try to start your ski from the vehicle battery.

Getting two beeps and lighting up your gages, takes a tiny amount of power. The starter motor is the one most power hungry piece of equipment on any motor, due to their high torque.

Your other choices are to remove the battery and take it to "Advanced Auto" or another parts house, and have the battery load tested. In general, these batteries only last one to 3 years. If your in a cold climate, like New York, the life span is twice as short than in Florida, unless you bring it inside a climate controlled area, such as a garage. Cold is the number one killer of batteries. Even if you got a maintainer on it, if your still storing this battery outdoors, chances are it's dead.

 

[jisaac325i]

Nothing worth doing is easy. The fix could not be just a bad battery. Hooking the ski up to my car battery did not work. I got the same symptoms. The engine makes no noise what so ever. The only sound I hear is the click of the start button. It is as if the starter is not getting a signal at all.

 

[purple_people_eater]

check the small ground going from the battery to the rear e-box.

 

[LouDoo]

check the small ground going from the battery to the rear e-box.

Yep, been there done that, I spent several hours troubleshooting a few years ago, forgetting to hook this up.

Lou

 

[jisaac325i]

It should be hooked up to the negative terminal right? Is the a fuse in that box that might be blown. It looks like the wire goes into a cone on top of the e box. Is it safe to take the thing apart without damaging it?

 

[jisaac325i]

Awwww.. I opened up the rear e-box and there is water in there. I have to dry it out and see how bad the damage is. Is it totally ruined now. Should I start looking for a new box and components or can it be dried out and still work. Any one else experience this. No sure how the water got in there the ski was covered all winter and it was running when I put it away.

 

[purple_people_eater]

well you probably killed your solenoid for sure. let it air out and check you connections. all is not lost :cheers:

 

[Coastiejoe]

Contact cleaner will help to disparate the water and clean the connections of any grease or oil residue.

 

[jisaac325i]

What contact cleaner should I use. Is WD-40 the same thing. It disparates water also right?

 

[Coastiejoe]

True, WD-40 will disapate water. But it will leave behind an oil based coating. Contact cleaner actually evaporates and leaves no coating behind. Any Radio Shack and I would think all auto parts stores would have it.

It will say CONTACT CLEANER right on the can. It is used for electronic connections.

 

[jisaac325i]

Thanks I will pick some up tomorrow and try it.

 

[LouDoo]

I purchased a ski a couple of years ago that had water in the rear E-box. I removed the box from the ski, as I remember it was a fairly easy job, and it made it a lot easier to clean things up. When you re-assemble use some vasoline on the rubber gasket, it will make it more pliable and will seal better.

I use CRC contact cleaner, you can get it at an auto parts store.

Lou

 

[jisaac325i]

I took out the box thanks for the suggestions it was not that hard like you said. There is a lot of corrosion on the solenoid. I attached a picture of what it looked like in there. What is the other part with the wires that lead to the spark plugs can that just be cleaned up or should I look into buying another one of those also?

 

[mikidymac]

It does not look that bad. I would clean all the connections and let it dry out for a few days. The black wire is not attached to the coil but might have been removed when you took the box apart. It also looks like that is a newer starter solonoid because it looks like the new plug was spliced into the old yellow/red wire and black wire. Whoever did the splice used the good 3M pink butt connectors but they did not heat shrink them. Those connectors are waterproof but you have to heat them to shrink the pink tube and they did not do it. I would heat shrink them after everything is dry.

 

[smc0922]

Yep she is still good. Take off your two battery cables from the solenoid and clean up those as well, and go to town with dielectric grease to protect all the exposed connectors. +1 on finishing the heat shrink tubing!

 

[Coastiejoe]

It will likely start once you get the connections all cleaned up and put back together. Good battery and good connections can not be stressed enough.

 

[jisaac325i]

Thank you very much for all your help. As I was taking out the electrical box I saw this black cable just laying in the bottom of the ski. I went onthe schematic for the boat and it appears to be the injection cable assembly. Is that correct? and if it is shouldn't it be connected to something. When I pull on the end it moved a piece on the front of the engine which I think is the oil pump assembly. Can you confirm if I am correct and if so where do I reconnect this to. The ski did not overheat on me when I last ran it and I am not using premix. Pictures of both are attached. The cable I am talking about is the one with the tape around it.