hard starting

[Steelhead]

Hey guys. Itook my seadoo97 xp out for the first time this weekend and had a problem starting it.New battery and engine I already broke the engine in last year ran fine too.But here lies the problem every time I tried to start it it acted if it was hydrolocked but it wasnt,so I got a pair of channel locks and rag over the drive shaft and manually moved the pistons around and I could get it started after a few tries.What pain that was all weekend!Oh yea Ialso put in a new starter last year as well.any suggestions?

[ScreaminXP]

I would be sure the battery is fully charged, along with sanding the battery connections and terminal ends down to clean them real good just to be sure. I went through 3 "new" batteries once before I got a good one that would hold a charge. There is a ground cable going to the engine block right near the starter you may want to double-check. (make sure its not connected to a painted area..etc)
Another thing you might check is the starter relay (they call it a starter switch, I believe) inside the front electrical box. I had one of those go bad on me once already. If it cranks normally by jumping the 2 larger terminals together,(on the relay) but is weak or makes a buzzing sound when using the start button, it may be that relay. They wear out inside and give a crummy connection which reduces the power going to the starter. If you jump the 2 large wire connectors together on the switch, it bypasses the switch and will crank the engine normally if that is the problem. Mine cranked full speed when jumped, but made just a click, or sometimes a buzz when using the start button. I changed the relay, and it was fixed.

[ April 09, 2002, 06:17 AM: Message edited by: ScreaminXP ]

[John Kubiak]

The 787/800 series engines are very demanding on the electrical system. The starter draws about 180 amps when the engine is cold, while this is compounded by the 3 times longer cables used in an XP. Sometimes, the engine will spin over at the proper speed, but the voltage has dropped below the minimum threshold for the ignition, so it does not make spark. I would suggest using a higher output battery such as a Deka WaveMaster AGM type, or a Yuasa YTX20L-BS sealed battery (you need to add padding to this one to keep it in place) or a Hawker Odyssey battery. One of these batteries will provide almost twice the available Cold Cranking Amps of the original Yuasa YB16CL-B battery. There are many sources for these batteries, and most shops have access to them.

[ April 09, 2002, 06:55 AM: Message edited by: John Kubiak ]

[Steelhead]

Could my problem be caused by a partially siezed jet pump?and if so how can I test this?I checked the oil in the pump no water just a tiney bit lowabout a quarter inch off.

[Steelhead]

By the way the battery I bought last weekend and was using when this happened was a napa battery that reads CB16CL-B maybe a GS brand? Any comments on that battery?Or knowledge on performance?

[John Kubiak]

For the pump If the wear ring had expanded, the impeller would have cleared a path for itself once the engine is running. Your oil level is ok.

I beleive you have a hanging or dragging starter, that can be caused by a weak or low amperage capacity (low load test CCA)battery, poor connections, most likely the ground on the starter itself, a defective starter and/or brushes in the starter, or an electrical box that has had water in it.

The battery that you have is one of the ones that consistently failed load tests with my tester. These batteries will work fine in most skis, but the S-D 800 is very demanding.

I use a Midtronics Micro 450 digital battery analyzer, and load test a CB16CL-B to 240 Cold Cranking Amps. Most of the CB16CL-B batteries would test to 180-190 CCA and no better. A deka AGM tests to 530+ CCA, A Yuasa YTX20L-BS normally tests to 440+ CCA, and a Hawker Odyssey tests near 400 CCA. The OEM Yuasa YB16CL-B consistently test to 325+CCA

Per the GS battery catalog, the CB16CL-B is supposed to test to 246 CCA.

Per the Yuasa catalog, the YTX20L-BS is rated to 270 CCA, and the YB16CL-B is 240

The Label for the Deka says 275CCA

I do not have the data for a Hawker odyssey, but they seem to test consistently.

The Midtronics Micro450 digital battery analyzer specs are here http://www.midtronics.com/micro450.asp in order for you to see the accuracy of the test methods used.

[ April 10, 2002, 12:05 AM: Message edited by: John Kubiak ]

[Bill O'Neal]

Sea Doo made two different starter gears (called a bendix by most). One has 9 teeth and the other 8 teeth. The 8 tooth starter gear will start a 787 motor much easier than a 9 tooth starter gear.

[Bryan Glynn]

Was the 8 tooth gear sold separately? All the OEM and aftermarket starters I've seen so far have 9...

[Bill O'Neal]

Brian,
8 tooth bendix's are called HP by Western Power Sports in their catalog. You can order either the standard 9 tooth or an HP 8 tooth bendix. They also offer starters as standard and HP models. The HP model starter is the same starter motor, but has an 8 tooth bendix.
These are good for starting high compression motors. If you reasearch the bendixs' available from your supplier, you can sell the 8 tooth too.

[Bryan Glynn]

Thanks.

We don't stock them, just have a used supply.

[Steelhead]

got the new oddesey battery what difference! cranks just fine at a fresh charge all weekend.put on ohm and it had droped to needing a recharge {not much} on a charger after the weekend of playing around. proved to be a great battery but on lake powell could be a problem any other suggestions?

[Bryan Glynn]

What you don't realize is that 'needing a recharge' is not nearly the same for your new battery as your old traditionals. While they would drop in power as early as 70%, and be useless at 50%, your new one will maintain full power down to 10%. You will not need to recharge for normal riding NEARLY as often as a conventional wet cell. Ah, the beauty of a deep cell!

We recently ran one down here to single digigts and didn't even realize it until it was on the charger [img]smile.gif[/img] Love these things!

[Steelhead]

sweet... you guys are the encyclopedia of seadoo information!!