Jet Ski not starting

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Jhams

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I have a 1997 Sea Doo GTX Bombardier. Bought is used from a neighbor on the lake. Been running great but now the battery is dead almost every morning. Got a new battery thinking that was the issue. Charged it up and same thing is happening - dead battery in the morning.

Charged battery again and now ski won’t even start. No turning over, no nothing. There is a “maintenance” light on the control panel when I try and start it. I have researched this forum and some people say this could be caused by a bad ground wire. I have put in a new ground wire and it is still not starting and the readout still displays “maintenance.”

Thoughts? Ideas? Seems to me that maybe there is a short in the system? Could it be the 5amp fuse issue?

Full disclosure - I am a teacher by trade and not Mr Handy when it comes to diagnostics, electrical meters, etc. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
 
How were you charging the battery? Was it in the ski and connected while it was charging? Do you have a multi meter to check the actual voltage at the battery?
 
Similar problem here with my ‘96 GTX. Do this.....connect a battery charger to the battery posts, set charger to start. Connect a set of alligator clip extensions to the battery posts and to a voltmeter. Set voltmeter to 20v scale. If you can get the ski started, disconnect the battery charger and watch voltage on the voltmeter....you should get 14.4V ..... I doubt you will. Possibilities: bad wiring/ hidden internal corrosion somewhere, bad rectifier/regulator, broken/missing wiring. Your ski is not maintaining a voltage charge back to the battery....skis do not charge batteries like cars, they only maintain a slightly higher voltage to the battery to keep it refreshed above 12.5v approx.
 
Obviously, could also be a fuse issue too...you will need to look into both front and rear electric boxes for the fuses. Search online for the wiring diagram for your ski and study the wire paths and follow the wiring colors through the components, fuses, etc....it only looks like gibberish until you study it....it’ll start to make sense. Do not assume that << or >> indicate the flow of electrons in any particular direction either, that is deceiving
 
Ckrawiec said:
Obviously, could also be a fuse issue too...you will need to look into both front and rear electric boxes for the fuses. Search online for the wiring diagram for your ski and study the wire paths and follow the wiring colors through the components, fuses, etc....it only looks like gibberish until you study it....it’ll start to make sense. Do not assume that << or >> indicate the flow of electrons in any particular direction either, that is deceiving
Click to expand...

Just FYI, the << and >> symbols represent connectors, and the direction designates which side is the female or male end of the connector... I don’t think the OP is going to dig that far into this, but it’s a useful tip for anyone who was curious...
 
JeremyD615 said:
How were you charging the battery? Was it in the ski and connected while it was charging? Do you have a multi meter to check the actual voltage at the battery?
Click to expand...
Took battery out of ski and placed on to a trickle charger. Pulled off of charger when battery was at 100%
 
Ckrawiec said:
Similar problem here with my ‘96 GTX. Do this.....connect a battery charger to the battery posts, set charger to start. Connect a set of alligator clip extensions to the battery posts and to a voltmeter. Set voltmeter to 20v scale. If you can get the ski started, disconnect the battery charger and watch voltage on the voltmeter....you should get 14.4V ..... I doubt you will. Possibilities: bad wiring/ hidden internal corrosion somewhere, bad rectifier/regulator, broken/missing wiring. Your ski is not maintaining a voltage charge back to the battery....skis do not charge batteries like cars, they only maintain a slightly higher voltage to the battery to keep it refreshed
Ckrawiec said:
Similar problem here with my ‘96 GTX. Do this.....connect a battery charger to the battery posts, set charger to start. Connect a set of alligator clip extensions to the battery posts and to a voltmeter. Set voltmeter to 20v scale. If you can get the ski started, disconnect the battery charger and watch voltage on the voltmeter....you should get 14.4V ..... I doubt you will. Possibilities: bad wiring/ hidden internal corrosion somewhere, bad rectifier/regulator, broken/missing wiring. Your ski is not maintaining a voltage charge back to the battery....skis do not charge batteries like cars, they only maintain a slightly higher voltage to the battery to keep it refreshed above 12.5v approx.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I will look into this over the weekend. Much appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
JeremyD615 said:
Just FYI, the << and >> symbols represent connectors, and the direction designates which side is the female or male end of the connector... I don’t think the OP is going to dig that far into this, but it’s a useful tip for anyone who was curious...
Click to expand...
Thanks. That always confused me though.....because the >>or<< would change direction in the same connector....my diagram showed >>,>>,<<,>> in the same 4 pin connector.....I initially took that to mean current flow, but after longer analysis, that assumption didn’t hold water....always learning...you know your stuff and thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge and experience.....hard earned I’m sure
 
It’s BEST if you can get the ski started off the battery, there are cautions to using a jump starter (so that is a caveat). If the ski starts off the battery alone, the voltmeter will indicate a healthy charge on the Red side of the battery around 14+ volts, if it is less ( as my ski is telling me), there is an electrical issue in the fuse,wiring or some component. The fact that the ski does run (when it does), is kinda pointing towards either internal wiring corrosion (bugger to find but cheap to fix) or possibly rectifier/regulator (not much $$$). I use the wiring diagram to try to isolate the wiring from connection to connection through the harnesses in the ski body....it’s not hard, just painstaking....patience and methodical will get you there
 
Don't use the battery charger to start the ski. I won't even trickle charge a connected battery. If the ski won't turn over or start on a good battery, then the battery is not the problem.
 
I don’t think the battery is the problem either, but we need to verify that the new battery is healthy and will hold a charge before we go any further. Trying to diagnose electrical problems with a bad battery is like throwing darts in the dark, so we need to start with a known good battery in place.
 
JeremyD615 said:
I don’t think the battery is the problem either, but we need to verify that the new battery is healthy and will hold a charge before we go any further. Trying to diagnose electrical problems with a bad battery is like throwing darts in the dark, so we need to start with a known good battery in place.
Click to expand...
I agree. My post was intended to keep the OP from trying to jump the ski with a charger as suggested, and possibly damage the mpem.
 
Last edited:
Ckrawiec said:
Similar problem here with my ‘96 GTX. Do this.....connect a battery charger to the battery posts, set charger to start. Connect a set of alligator clip extensions to the battery posts and to a voltmeter. Set voltmeter to 20v scale. If you can get the ski started, disconnect the battery charger and watch voltage on the voltmeter....you should get 14.4V ..... I doubt you will. Possibilities: bad wiring/ hidden internal corrosion somewhere, bad rectifier/regulator, broken/missing wiring. Your ski is not maintaining a voltage charge back to the battery....skis do not charge batteries like cars, they only maintain a slightly higher voltage to the battery to keep it refreshed above 12.5v approx.
Click to expand...
NEVER EVER DO THIS! This is a sure way to fry the MPEM. Never boost or jump a seadoo.
 
So to back track....
You at least have some power since when you try to start it you get the Maint light.

Get a cheap voltage meter like the ones Harbor Freight gives away fro free with a coupon. You need to have at bout 12.5 volts when the battery is at rest and at least 12V when cranking.

Also all Autozones will load test your battery for free.
I have seen brand new batteries be bad, especially Walmart NeverStarts.
 
Jhams said:
I have a 1997 Sea Doo GTX Bombardier. Bought is used from a neighbor on the lake. Been running great but now the battery is dead almost every morning. Got a new battery thinking that was the issue. Charged it up and same thing is happening - dead battery in the morning.

Charged battery again and now ski won’t even start. No turning over, no nothing. There is a “maintenance” light on the control panel when I try and start it. I have researched this forum and some people say this could be caused by a bad ground wire. I have put in a new ground wire and it is still not starting and the readout still displays “maintenance.”

Thoughts? Ideas? Seems to me that maybe there is a short in the system? Could it be the 5amp fuse issue?

Full disclosure - I am a teacher by trade and not Mr Handy when it comes to diagnostics, electrical meters, etc. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Click to expand...
Did the small ground wire get hooked back up after charging the battery? Can't remember if the '97 has the small wire or not. Easy to overlook, and ski won't start without it
 
Last edited:
mikidymac said:
So to back track....
You at least have some power since when you try to start it you get the Maint light.

Get a cheap voltage meter like the ones Harbor Freight gives away fro free with a coupon. You need to have at bout 12.5 volts when the battery is at rest and at least 12V when cranking.

Also all Autozones will load test your battery for free.
I have seen brand new batteries be bad, especially Walmart NeverStarts.
Click to expand...
Auto zone tested it and I am at something like 14.4 volts on the battery. They say it is good as hold.
 
Do you get any beeps when connecting the lanyard?
Do the gauges power up when you connect the lanyard?
 
Without a working beeper it’s really hard to diagnose since you don’t know if it recognizes the lanyard or not.
 
Jhams said:
I have a 1997 Sea Doo GTX Bombardier. Bought is used from a neighbor on the lake. Been running great but now the battery is dead almost every morning. Got a new battery thinking that was the issue. Charged it up and same thing is happening - dead battery in the morning.

Charged battery again and now ski won’t even start. No turning over, no nothing. There is a “maintenance” light on the control panel when I try and start it. I have researched this forum and some people say this could be caused by a bad ground wire. I have put in a new ground wire and it is still not starting and the readout still displays “maintenance.”

Thoughts? Ideas? Seems to me that maybe there is a short in the system? Could it be the 5amp fuse issue?

Full disclosure - I am a teacher by trade and not Mr Handy when it comes to diagnostics, electrical meters, etc. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Click to expand...

I have a 97' GTX, at any point were you charging the discovered dead battery while it was still connected to the ski? You can try to reset the maintenance light, afterward the gauges should at least light up with the lanyard off and pushing the button. It sounds like it could be a damaged MPEM from trickle charging while connected to the ski. Even after I charge a battery I wait a while until the voltage drops below 13 volts before reconnecting.
 
GGuillot said:
I have a 97' GTX, at any point were you charging the discovered dead battery while it was still connected to the ski? You can try to reset the maintenance light, afterward the gauges should at least light up with the lanyard off and pushing the button. It sounds like it could be a damaged MPEM from trickle charging while connected to the ski. Even after I charge a battery I wait a while until the voltage drops below 13 volts before reconnecting.
Click to expand...
Nope, never charged while the battery was in the ski. I always took the battery out and charged it in the garage.
 
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