Solenoid (starter relay) troubleshooting

[SurfBeat]

Ok, for disclaimers, I acknowledge searching for a answer to this question and have met with negative results.

Also, I am gonna grab my multi-meter and yank the solenoid to perform an electrical test, HOWEVER, I gotta ask a question that seems to be absent on the SDF.

Every Thread dealing with solenoid (starter relay) problems always state "listen for the click," then if the click is heard, AND, a properly charged battery is in the PWC, one can deduce that the problem lies with the solenoid; easy as that!

My question is:1) what if no click is heard; 2) the PWC has a 12.5 battery; 3) when shorting the solenoid/battery posts the PWC cranks over, can it also be deduced that the solenoid is toast?

Or, can it be something else? If so, what else?

I ask this question because more often than not, although we may have a tool box handy when we are out Jet Skiing, or Sea Dooin, or Wave Runnin, we may not have a multi meter with us, so, having an answer to this question on the SDF may keep us in the water with minimum down time.

Come on Lou, albeit your tour of duty was on a ship and this old GI carried a 45 while keeping the streets safe in Saigon, give this old man a hand. :drool5:

 

[racerxxx]

You would need to verify that the exciter wire actually is carrying the voltage to tell the solenoid to close, make contact. In the center of the solenoid there is a 2 pin plug. One is getting, the other will be the 12vdc when the start button is pressed. If you have the voltage there and it still doesn't work, the solenoid is bad.

For future searches, use Google. Enter your query then follow it with seadooforum.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk

 

[RodInEscondido]

Not trying to be a smarta$$ here (well, maybe partly), but you can regularly get a multimeter for free from Harbor Freight with a minimum purchase, or somewhere south of $10 if you do not have the coupon. Get one, toss it into your stuff that you take with the skis. Make your life easier.

You really need to look at the wiring diagram. Looking at the 92 shop manual wiring diagram I see it
is very similar to my 89-91 models where:

If you jump across the high current posts on the solenoid and the starter works, this just proves that the starter works.

On the early models 12v is supplied to one of the low current posts, typically yl/rd thru the 5a fuse.
Until activated, you should read 12v on both low current connectors

The other low current connector, typically bk/wh goes back thru the start switch, tether switch, stop switch, to a ground inside the mag housing. When proper conditions are met, a ground is supplied to that circuit path which activates the solenoid. For troubleshooting purposes you should be able to supply a ground to the low-current connection on the solenoid with the bk/wh wire on it and activate the solenoid. If this test works you need to track back to find the bad connection/switch. If this test does not work with 12v on one side of the low-current connectors and ground on the other side, the solenoid is bad.

There ya go Lou, I gave a hand for you.

Seems to me that 1968-1970 we kept things relatively peaceful in the vicinity of Haiphong ... unless you happened to be under where the bombs were dropping.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Most solenoids do not fail in such a way that they do not work (as in no click heard). It happens, just much less than failing with the click and not putting voltage across the two large terminals.

You really do need a DVOM if you desire to work on your ski.

As mentioned above, if you are getting 12v at the trigger wire and the solenoid does not close, it is defective. If you get 12v and hear the click but does not provide 12v to the output terminal, it is defective.

One test I like to tell everyone to do first is, jump the solenoid. No matter what the answer, this gives us GREAT info. If it cranks, we know you have good cables, connections, battery and starter. If it does not crank, then we look at each of the items I just listed before we go any further.

 

[RodInEscondido]

Agreed, the most common failure in relays/solenoids is that the contacts burn and give less-than-optimal connection which leads to more heat and worse connection until the burning prevents any electrical connection at all.

The wiring diagram is very clear.

 

[SurfBeat]

I was looking for the quick diagnostic tester, i.e., shorting the battery/solenoid terminals to ascertain whether my solenoid was good or bad.

Being an old fart, I should have known that there is no quick tester, so, this weekend, with time on my side, I pulled out the VDOM to test the solenoids on both Kawi's. Yep, both got the exact problem at the same time; engine compartment filled up with water over night, (did not reach carbs) both ran for two days, then kapoot, neither would start, i.e., like having a missing battery.

I opened the E box on one which was 1/4 filled with water, the other Kawi was dry. The red, four pin connectors were corroded on both. One connector popped out on one Kawi, the other Kawi had one pin broken.

It is off to Harbor Freight to see if they peddle crimpers and pins. If not, I hope, by the time I return home, someone will have read this thread and will respond to this paragraph, where to get the correct crimper and advice on doing the task right.

Thanks boys,

 

[RodInEscondido]

Oops ... wow did I ever go astray here ... ASSumed we were discussing your SeaDoos. Sorry, will get out of your hair now.

 

[SurfBeat]

Hey Rod, you have, what my dad would say, "horse sense."

A couple of great lookin' chicks to hold you up, and knowledge about PWC's.

Whether a person is working on any of the Big Three, Sea Doo, Yami, Kawi, they all operate on the same principle, so, your input was greatly appreciated.

Of course, we all know that 95+ SD's require a different blend of oil than the Kawi's and Yami's, but electrically speaking, having owned (and still owning) a couple SD's, troubleshooting all of the Bog Three is the same.

So, keep butting in.