New to the Doo: 1993 GTX Problem

[777gabe]

Hey Everyone!

I'm totally new to the pwc world, and happy to be in it! Just purchased my first jet ski, a 1993 GTX, about two months ago. I got a great deal and have been so satisfied but ran into a problem while riding it yesterday. The safety key that went on it, before DESS, was loose and wouldn't press the button down to keep it running. It probably cut off 20 times with constant restarting before we temporarily fixed it with a metal ring to replace the zip tie we lost to tighten it some. The entire time this was happening, the ski was running great. We ran it hard for about 3 or 4 hours and while cruising toward the dock at half throttle I heard a sudden and strange noise and felt like it was losing power. Not wanting to tear anything up, I cut it off and we CANNOT get it back started. A few times it wanted to turn over, with still a strange sound, but never started back.

I really need advice, and very basic newbie to the craft advice, if any of you can offer some support. The battery is good. I am wondering if it could be the starter solenoid after having to start it so much. Any ideas about why it won't start and or the strange noise I heard? It was a kind of odd, higher pitched noise. Thanks in advance!

 

[JJinSC]

So the engine is not even turning over? First thing to easily check based on your info is to look inside the intake grate underneath the ski. Make sure you did not ingest something and it got wrapped around the impeller shaft.

 

[777gabe]

Thank you so much for the reply. Well it's hard to describe. It tried turning over a few times, but I'm mostly just getting a clicking noise when I try and start it now. Not to sound like too much of a newb, but I'm not sure I know what or where the intake grate is. Just underneath the ski? We did it kind of close to some rocks on shore, but it ran good for a solid hour afterwards because I was concerned about sucking some gravel in it.

 

[JJinSC]

The intake grate is underneath the ski in the center near the rear just in front of the rider plate. It looks like a grate. This is where the water enters the jet pump. Look up into the grate with a flashlight and make sure there is no foreign matter in there. You should only see the impeller shaft and the impeller

 

[777gabe]

Well I went out and looked and it looks clear from what I can tell!

 

[lloyd54123]

Can you turn the engine over by hand? Behind it should be a grey cover you can remove with 2 wing nuts. Under that is your drive shaft. You should be able to spin that.