Starting issues with 1993 GTX

[supaflygti]

Hey everyone...quick intro...I just bought my first ski for the hell of it. I've raced motocross and had in the neighborhood of 20 mx bikes, quads, and street bikes. I recently purchased a 93 GTX for $200 that was thought to have a costly electrical issue. For what it's worth, the ski is in great shape for its age and I would love to get it somewhat reliable as a second machine to use (plan on buying a newer boat as well). Anyway, I brought the ski home and went through all the connections looking for loose or broken wires. Everything appeared fine so I replaced the plugs with (2) NGK BR8es which I'm pretty sure should have been BR7s. After cranking for quite some time the boat finally fired up and idled perfectly. After the initial start I can kill the motor and fire it up effortlessly time and time again. However, if it sits overnight it damn near drains the battery getting it to start again. Again, once started for the first time it fires up without a problem. When I ground the plugs I can't see even the slightest spark. Any idea what would cause this thing to be horrible to start after sitting but fire up flawlessly after the initial run? Thank you in advance to anyone who helps!!

 

[seadooya]

run br8's.

low compression, carbs are gunked up because of the grey fuel lines. Fuel selectors' bad, inline filters' o-ring, is bad....

 

[supaflygti]

Am I correct in assuming that it's not electrical? I mean...mpem, coil, rectifier...they would all work or not work right? What about the tether kill switch...it seems that's the only electrical connection that gets a ton of use and could corrode fairly easy. If it were low compression the motor should consistenly be difficult to start. Literally, once it fires for the first time it takes a quarter crank to fire from then on....

 

[seadooya]

if it fires up, then it fires up, bud. Pull the carbs, replace the grey fuel lines...etc, think you'll be good.

 

[supaflygti]

if it fires up, then it fires up, bud. Pull the carbs, replace the grey fuel lines...etc, think you'll be good.

I just went out and pulled the tether kill switch. Cleaned up the switch and fully depressed the plunger with my finger and it fired right up...hoping I've found the issue :cheers:

 

[voodoo]

Any 90's vintage will need the carbs looked at or you will run fine till the piston melts and if a piece goes into a crank bearing you have toasted a whole motor, be certain the oil system is drinking and the fuel system can supply full flow of fuel or you will soon be asking why there is 80 lbs in one cyl and 3 in the other.

 

[supaflygti]

Any 90's vintage will need the carbs looked at or you will run fine till the piston melts and if a piece goes into a crank bearing you have toasted a whole motor, be certain the oil system is drinking and the fuel system can supply full flow of fuel or you will soon be asking why there is 80 lbs in one cyl and 3 in the other.

Lol...good point. This thing is driving me insane. Yesterday I pulled the tank and carbs and cleaned everything assuming that old gas may have been contributing to the problem. After finally getting the machine fired with fresh gas, everything seemed fine. I can shut the boat off and it will fire back up instantly and run flawlessly. I even let it sit for roughly 6hrs and instantly it fired up and ran great. Now...to this morning. I go outside, hit the starter and it just cranks and cranks...nothing. The battery was definitely low on current and died after about a min of attempting to start. I just cant figure out why this thing is a pain in the a** to start initially but once running the first time it will start effortlessly every time after!! Really frustrating...