Hi there.I'm new to this forum and just bought my first ski a 2004 seadoo wake edition. 75 hours looks in pretty good shape. Problem is, it started ran it for 15 - 20 mins turned it off to switch riders, and wouldn't start again. It would just click. Charged the battery ( maybe an hour) , went out again the next day and it did the same thing. We brought it home, left it for a couple of hours and thought i would give it another try. It started right up! I don't know if it is a starter thing or a battery thing or what?! When you attach the key there is a long beep then 3 short beeps over and over. Dealer is 2 1/2 hours away! Any help would be great!
-
This site contains eBay affiliate links for which Sea-Doo Forum may be compensated.
Help! Trouble with new ski!
- Thread starter Tayskate
- Start date
- Status
do proper draw test on battery. If it will not hold the charge replace. Be sure and check batt with volt meter when running to make sure the boat is charging the new one also. Not sure what POST beeps are on this boat.
Could be bad starter with getting hot and then shorting out. Check the batt and charging system first though.
Could be bad starter with getting hot and then shorting out. Check the batt and charging system first though.
Thanks guys. I had a load test done on the battery today, he said it was low but tested out fine. So I took it home and charged it fully and I am borrowing a multimeter from a friend to test the charging system. Should I be getting around 14 volts while it is running? I talked to the dealer and when I told him about the three beeps he said that is an error message and to bring it in. I asked what the message was and he said he couldn't tell until he had it? Any help on that one would be great.
ski-d00
Well-Known Member
Are you sure it isn't 4 short beeps instead of 3 short beeps? 4 short beeps every 15 seconds or so is normal and it is telling you that the lanyard is still attached, very annoying but you have to live it with it or take the lanyard off. It sounds like a low battery issue, the 4tecs must have a good battery, not just an OK, still has some life left, battery. Next time it won't start, connect a jumper pack battery to it (Not a running car ever!) and I bet it starts
To check for codes, press set 5 times and it will give you a code or END for no current codes.
To check for codes, press set 5 times and it will give you a code or END for no current codes.
ski-d00
Well-Known Member
sounds like you need a new dealer because there is no code for 3 short beeps, only 4 beeps every 3 seconds for leaving the lanyard on, one long and one short, 2 short, 2 seconds long, etc., but no 3 beeps. the dealer should also tell you about pressing set 5 times to get a code if they are reputable.
14 volts while running is fine
14 volts while running is fine
Yes we have ruled out the beeps... It has an initial 2 beeps followed by three short beeps consistently which we have found out is normal, no thanks to that dealer. So now were going to check the volts while running, and i guess if that doesn't work we will try a new battery.
Dealers....?
Oh, lets just add this dealer to my long line of "that ain't living, that's the way we do it, your money for nothing and your tricks for free."
The older 2 strokes shut down the power after 33 seconds if the start button wasn't pressed so you didn't run down the battery. The 4-TEC's don't do this, they put in a beeper to remind you to take the lanyard off.
Your description sounds just like a charging problem. If the battery is good, you run it down, charge it up, run it down, sit it overnight and it starts (this means your battery is self charging, which is a good battery) then you probably have a charging problem. This could either be a fuse or a mechanical problem with the mag.:cheers:
Oh, lets just add this dealer to my long line of "that ain't living, that's the way we do it, your money for nothing and your tricks for free."
The older 2 strokes shut down the power after 33 seconds if the start button wasn't pressed so you didn't run down the battery. The 4-TEC's don't do this, they put in a beeper to remind you to take the lanyard off.
Your description sounds just like a charging problem. If the battery is good, you run it down, charge it up, run it down, sit it overnight and it starts (this means your battery is self charging, which is a good battery) then you probably have a charging problem. This could either be a fuse or a mechanical problem with the mag.:cheers:
Seadoosnipe has a great point. I reread your first post over again and sometimes the simplest things get overlooked. This comment tells me it might just be a bad connection on the positive+ or ground- wires from the battery. If the wires are corroded inside the end connector it will act just like this. It will cause the fully charged battery to send total power to the starter but if the wires are corroded or the ends are corroded it isn't getting the charge it needs to recharge the battery and in turn not going to have enough power to crank the starter. With a fully charged battery it has enough power to over come a bad connection. Batteries won't magically charge them selves in an hour, but when metal cools down it might enable it to have a better connection as it contracts. The ends get hot they expand and causes a bad connection.
Check the battery cable ends and replace then if they are corroded. I see this problem at least a dozen times a year... It could be something else but from what you saying, it sounds like this is the problem.
Karl
Last edited by a moderator:
ski-d00
Well-Known Member
You should always check your connections, good point, and definitely could be the problem.
I shouldn't assume the connections are good, but if the connections are good, I still think it may be a battery problem and not a charging problem. I am basing this on my experience with 4tecs, I'll explain.
I've never been impressed with the 4tec starting system since day 1 back in 2002, it cranks very slowly and makes diagnosing difficult sometimes. In turn, when the battery gets a little low or old, it may start or it may just click. I've seen it lots of times where it may start the first time, but 15 minutes later, it just clicks making you think it's a charging problem. Then it starts a few hours later or the next day.
Batteries don't charge themselves, but they do recover from a load over time by themselves and the magneto system doesn't really charge the battery like an alternator of a car does, it just kind of maintains it. The 4tec magneto system has proven to be very reliable, much better than the previous 2 strokes with all the pickup problems of years past.
I'm assuming this 2004 Wake has the original battery and while the battery may test OK at the local Auto Zone, they are not good enough for this starting sytem to work consistently.
I shouldn't assume the connections are good, but if the connections are good, I still think it may be a battery problem and not a charging problem. I am basing this on my experience with 4tecs, I'll explain.
I've never been impressed with the 4tec starting system since day 1 back in 2002, it cranks very slowly and makes diagnosing difficult sometimes. In turn, when the battery gets a little low or old, it may start or it may just click. I've seen it lots of times where it may start the first time, but 15 minutes later, it just clicks making you think it's a charging problem. Then it starts a few hours later or the next day.
Batteries don't charge themselves, but they do recover from a load over time by themselves and the magneto system doesn't really charge the battery like an alternator of a car does, it just kind of maintains it. The 4tec magneto system has proven to be very reliable, much better than the previous 2 strokes with all the pickup problems of years past.
I'm assuming this 2004 Wake has the original battery and while the battery may test OK at the local Auto Zone, they are not good enough for this starting sytem to work consistently.
Thanks guys. I'm going to check the connections on the starter and ground next. The connections on the battery look in good shape and I wire brushed them before I reconnected them after I charged the battery. Now I've read that you can only run these for about 5 minutes out of water, so I'll have to take it to the lake for testing. I've got the multimeter so I can see what voltage it is putting out while running.
Thanks to everyone who posted. I took it out with a fully charged battery, and I took off all conections (very difficult) to starter, ground and electronics, wire brushed everything. Started great and ran fine. Checked charging rate and it was at 14.66 volts. Then when I went to restart it, it wouldn't start?! I figured out that if you put the lanyard on and don't get the 2 beeps it won't start, so I took it off and reapplied it and it got the 2 beeps, started right up! I have 2 keys both seem to do the same thing, so now I know that if I don't get the beeps, pull it off and do it again. Not a big deal, Just happy its not the motor. Next question is, do I have to buy a learning key from a dealer or can I get one online? The way the dealer "helped" me out, I would rather not deal with him.
- Status
