Couple Summers ago I restored my grandfathers old boat with a Johnson GT150 and kinda got an understanding of boat motors. Few weeks ago I bought my first SeaDoo, 1996 Speedster. Previous owner said while trailering on rough roads the floats in carbs would get knocked around n make it tough to start the passenger side motor... Well, he lied. So far I've installed a Bimini top, stereo system, single battery conversion with quick disconnects and a maintainer than runs to a flush mounted plug (So much easier to charge!), cleaned her up like new, all new trailer hardware and have wear rings on the way...But yet to put her on the water. Driver side motor starts right up n purrs like a kitten, but not the other. First, I rebuilt both carbs n repaired the cable that runs to the oil pump. Same result, I can pull plugs n spray a lil wd40, starts n idles for 10 seconds then dies. Never fooled with rotary motors so I figured how better to learn that to pull it out n sit it on my workbench. Tore the bottom half down and found the rotary gear was basically slick. Ordered a new one (which took 8 days to get to me!) and installed it today. Cleaned the motor up n threw it back in the boat with high expectations since my 3 yo daughter is literally crazy about getting it on the water (spent 2 Friday nights working on it til 5am after promising her a lake day) and is getting disappointed with daddy the "boat mechanic." So I hooked everything back up all the way to the airbox n filter. Fired it up n second crank she hit n idled great. Shut it down, fired it back up with both motors running. Shut it down, fired it up n revved it just a lil to make sure carbs were slinging fuel. Shut it down n finished up the airbox. Then... It would not start at all. It's getting fuel, it's getting fire. Took airbox back off, no dice. Thought maybe the rotary shaft was warped n gear was stripped again. So I pulled motor back out n the gear looks fine.. I timed it to 147/65 with a timing wheel. So now I'm stumped and Im turning to the seasoned SeaDoo guys for some advice because from here, I dunno where to go?? Would love to get it in the water this weekend n just run around a lil, maybe a lil picnic, n test everything out good. Kinda wanna do a to top speed test before/after wear ring installation to see how much difference a good gap makes. Plus see which gauges I need to start working on next week. Please, please, please help me and I promise, nobody will appreciate it as much as me... Except maybe my baby girl!
My 1st SeaDoo; Never Been on Water..HELP PLEASE!
- Thread starter Hefty14
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Do a compression test and post the numbers.
Cold engine and throttle pegged is how to do the compression on these engines.
Cold engine and throttle pegged is how to do the compression on these engines.
Can I check the compression with motor out of boat? Just run leads from a battery to starter? Or do I need to put it back in boat to do so?
Yes, just need to power the starter. If the motor is very dry, put a squirt of oil into the cylinders as in the boat it would have some lube.
Especially on a dry engine. I think you are good as far as compression goes.
snikwad003
Well-Known Member
Put it back together again and see what you get. If your rotaty timing and compression is good the problem lies somewhere else.
Broke it back down to the crank n everything looks great... Pins lined up... However I found one mistake... I forgot 6 bolts in the bottom of crank cover... 2 big bolts up around where the drive line hooks in and 4 in the middle of the cover... Can't believe I forgot those! Could those bolts have caused a no start? Maybe letting oil into places it shouldn't be?
Or suck air into the block ,,,, to lean to start.
Gonna throw it back in this evening and will post update. If it doesn't start I gonna need some ideas on where to start checking if motor is good. Also do u use any gasket maker on the crankcase cover? Seal is still good behind flywheel and magneto may just add a lil there. For the life of me I can remember where the snap ring went?? Flywheel parts diagram shows just the lock washer and nut, no snap ring
Shouldn't the gear on crank be in the center??
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Motor is back in the boat with everything hooked up n ready to go.... Too late to try to fire it up tho 
I'm gonna turn it over first thing in the morning, with the motor being outta boat is there anything special I should do first? WD40 in cylinders? If this thing doesn't start hopefully somebody can give me a checklist on what I should be goin through. I really want this boat to be right n reliable, last thing I need is a 3 mile paddle with a 3yo n a 4 month old in the hot sun!
I'm gonna turn it over first thing in the morning, with the motor being outta boat is there anything special I should do first? WD40 in cylinders? If this thing doesn't start hopefully somebody can give me a checklist on what I should be goin through. I really want this boat to be right n reliable, last thing I need is a 3 mile paddle with a 3yo n a 4 month old in the hot sun!
Lookin at my manual it shows the bottom screw with the pin as the low speed, top screw with plastic coating as the high speed and it shows the idle screw as a flathead. Should the idle screw open the butterflies as you tighten it? Carbs are my weak point on working on boats. So important tho I'm afraid I'll screw sumthin up... Wrong move means a locked up motor
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