M2 210, No spark... sensor problem? ran fine, intermittantly, now no go..

[alpine69]

Hi there

I have a Seadoo Challenger 1800, 210 M2 that was rebuilt last season after blowing a piston pin. The boat ran great after rebuild, and most of this summer, then randomly wouldnt re-start after sitting in the water for awhile, then it would only start on the trailer, took it to the marina that rebuilt it and it started 10 times in a row so they said there was nothing wrong (still charged me $150...) took it home it started in the driveway, launched it and no go again. Took it home and no go once again..I replaced the spark plugs, and the gas is new.

** Now there is no spark!?! I even pulled a few plugs and held my thumb across the terminals on the flat plug while it was turned over and nothing! no spark!

-Fuel primer ok
-Fuel pump pumping
-Gas fresh
-Fuel filter ok
-Fuses ok
-Ignition single beep (supposed to be all clear signal)

I cant imagine all 6 coils going at once, so the ignition compuer/MPEM?? I hope not, thats not a cheap part..

ANY HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!! Is there a sensor that I should check that would give the computer a "no-start" signal???? I cant find a water pressure sensor on the motor...

Thanks! Brandon

 

[johnhibbs]

The lanyard switch kills the spark. I have heard the switch can go bad. You might check that or the wiring to the lanyard switch. I forget if an open or a short lets the engine run.

 

[alpine69]

I screwed around with the kill switch, and even took it off bridged it and left it open and still no luck. It's back at the mechanic's now, so I guess we'llfind out in a few days.... Thanks though!

 

[bferg61]

I have a 200 optimax so I am not sure if your motor is laid out the same, but, first of all a good ground is essential. Not just to the battery but at connections all over the boat. In this case the motor. Aside from that, the ECM (my name for the MPEM) creates spark and controls timing. It does this with input from sensors. There is a crank sensor on mine that looks at gaps in teeth on the flywheel so it can tall exact crankshaft position at all times.

Your in the water and out of the water starting and not starting I think is just coincidence. I would first check the flywheel position sensor. The spark will not be produced without this timing signal. There should be a plug you can unhook in its path to the ECM and ohm out the sensor.

If a marina is going to charge you $15.00 each time they turn the key then you can rest assured they have no real interest in solving your problem, only profiting from your misfortune. You could have a service manual in your hands for less than that.

The beep you get when you turn the key to the on position is a test it does of certain systems in the vessel. Spark is not one of them.
Once you do get spark you will not want to try the no spark test you did. An inductive timing light is much safer than 50,000 volts.

 

[wabbit1211]

Down on the left side facing the engine from hanging over the back seat there are two boxes the parts book calls them switch boxes, they are stacked on top of each other the outer box feeds one bank of coils and the inner feeds the other bank of coils. these two boxes get their signal when to fire from the stator and the trigger which both are located under the fly wheel on top of the engine. Testing to see which of these items is your problem is rather complicated. most dealers will just replace all of these parts and just bill you for all of them plus labor, and there is a possibility you might need all of them as when one goes it can burn out the other. I would start with checking power that feeds the stator and feeds the switch boxes on the side from the stator and then check for power to and from the trigger. The switch boxes can partially burn out and still have power feeding the bank of coils and also part of the stator can burn out to where you still get fire to the coils through the switch boxes so don't let it fool you if you replace one part and get partial power the M2 210 engine will crank and run on two or more cylinders I know from experience, just won't have any power.I put one of theses engines in a boat a few months back for someone who bought me a use 210 to put in the place of a 240EFI. It was a nightmare considering the 210 had electricial problems that no one bothered to tell me about before they pulled the engine from the doner boat and brought it to me. I gain a TON of experience that has to be worth something since I sertainly didn't make any money for all the extra labor involved in the swap.

 

[wabbit1211]

http://1manual.com/Mercury manuals/Service Manual PDFs/JetDrive/877837/2a.pdf You will find this link very helpful to trouble shooting your no spark problem. If you need to ask any questions my email is wabbit1211@yahoo.com I have over 150 jetski's, jetboats, and other watercraft that I am parting out. I don't have any of the parts that you need to fix your no spark problem, but if I can help in other ways just drop me an email.

 

[Double07]

I would recommend to check the simple things first before diving in.
Like bferg61 said, the crank position senor will kill the spark if the sensor is bad. Water pressure sensor does not keep the spark from firing.
The lanyard kill switch disables the spark as well. When the switch is closed (shorted to ground), spark is disabled.
I would check these first. Check ground wires as well, especially the ones for the coils.

Pleas dont use your bare finder as a spark plug tester. An inline spark plug testser (about $5) is so much cheaper than the injury you can sustain from 50KV jolt.

 

[alpine69]

Thanks guys for the help!!! I swung by the marina today and they hadnt gotten to it (big landlocked marina, 5or so mechanics...reputable regarless of the lack of making my boat run and since they rebuilt the engine (($6+K)) last year I keep going back to them until it works) The mechanic did say that the RPM sensor (I assume he meant the flywheel/crank sensor that you guys are talking about) is a common problem with these engines and he was going to check that first, I'll go by tomorrow and if thats not the problem i'm going to make sure he checks all the points that you guys have suggested as i've told him i'd really like to pick up the boat by friday as there are only a few more nice summer weekends left here before the summer is over... and the boat was out for engine rebuilding most of last season, and now down for almost a month again... Thanks again guys for all you're help! I'll keep you posted -Brandon

 

[1fastgst]

Its funny, im in the same boat (no pun intended). Let us know the fix. Mine had the magnets break off the bottom of the flywheel and I think they damaged the pickup assembly.

 

[alpine69]

Hey guys. I just got the boat back from the marina. It turns out it needed the Stator ($280) and Trigger ($97) replaced. I havent started it yet at home, but the mechanics gave made sure to test the ohms and that it ran several times before they would let me come and get it. Total parts: $380 + Labour $178 ($89/hr) + Tax ($72) = a grand total of $628.37. Thanks again for all of your help and maybe this will help someone in the future. Cheers! Brandon

 

[alpine69]

Turns out the mechanic had the wiring all wrong, boat barely run, wouldn't accellerate, due to the mech. who decided to put all the matching colored wires together rather than refer to the merc. wiring diagram which is not so. so after replacing the stator and triggor the boat would barely run, another trip to the marina and the owner then switched the wiring and it runs like new... apparently the mercs dont have color coded wirig harnesses.. but i got a couple free t-shirts from the owner of the marina who was not impressed....

 

[bferg61]

And that is precisely why I work on my own motors. Dealers are there to make profit any way they can. Even if it means hiring a somewhat qualified mechanic to do the work. Unless it's theirs they could care less.