96 seadoo GTX (australian version)

[sandeo]

hey guys,
well after recently having a problem with the engine in my ski i pulled it out fixed everything up and then droped it back in. once everything was done up tight i hit the start button, mmm no kick from the started motor, however i have dash working. after checking all the earths to the engine and fuses i have started to look deeper.
opening up the electrical box at the front of the ski i found most of the connections were corroded and looking terrible so i re did all the conections in hope this will solve the problem. i have been able to get the occasional i mean very ocasional kick out of it for no aprent reason.
after hours with the test light and a lot of brain power i have found that the board is getting power, and the start switch works but for some reson it is not putting power into the yellow/red wire which in turn switchs the relay at teh back putting power to the starter. the only thing i can think it to be is something in the kill switch. there are three wires in the kill switch yellow/black, black and white/gray. what do i have to bridge to dissable the kill switch to see if this is my problem??
i cant tell if the kill switch is connected properly as the speaker which should be doesnt work and hasnt for some time. hwo can i test this/?

any help would be great

thanks

[Technical Support]

seadoo's electrical connections can sometimes be tempermental. Make sure that the area in which the negative(earth) is connected to the engine is clean and there is no paint where they touch.

[Bill O'Neal]

A common problem is the little black wire from the coil box to the negative terminal on the battery. Sometimes the wire gets corroded under the sheathing and does not conduct electricity.
Other times, I find a problem with the six pin connector that plugs into the mag cover, or one of the pins in the mag cover is pushed back.

[stevepaulus]

I have also had issues with that six pin connector on the mag housing.....thing can be a pain sometimes.

[Bill O'Neal]

I have a 1996 GSX that came into the shop two days ago.
The problems: When you push the start button nothing happens.
Has a new solenoid that the owner replaced himself awhile back.
Owner tells me he has to jump the sloenoid to start the ski whenever they take it to the lake to ride it. They have been operating it that way since last summer. He left the ski with me to fix it, but said he doesn't want to spend too much to get it fixed.

I spent most of yesterday trying to diagnose and fix the GSX. Here is what I found.

His whole problem started when he decided to "fix" the driveshaft seal boot/carbon seal between the hull and the pto. Instead of removing the pump and replacing the accordion like boot, he split a piece of rubber hose and wrapped it around the driveshaft, using tye-wraps to secure it. This allowed water to swamp the boat each time they used it. The water got into the coil box ruining the fuse holder and rusting up the rest of the parts, eventually causing him to replace the solenoid. The water soaked into the mag housing too, rusting up the flywheel and pickup. Water also caused corrosion to the ground cable where it connects to the starter grounding ear. The beeper didn't beep when you install the tether.
After a frustrating 2 hours of checking for connections and replacing the fuse holder that he had by-passed in a very mickey mouse manner of wraping wires around the fuse using black tape to secure them, I confirmed I had power to the coil box and I squared away the fuses by replacing the fuse holder. But, I still had no power to the MPEM, and no power to the start switch. I clipped a test light on the positive side of the battery and touched the the other end to the starter end of the ground cable and got a bright light. I then touched the head bolt and got no light. Humm!
I removed the upper starter bolt, cleaned it and scrapped the case metal to clean it, then re-installed the cable. Bingo! I plug in the tether and it goes beep beep, the starter button works and the motor turns over when I push the start button. About the time I start to think I have it licked, I notice there is no spark at the sparkplugs. Bummer!

After completely exploring the front electrical box for power, swapping the CDI and MPEM, still no spark. The only thing left was the coil. I put another coil into the rear electrical box and now I have spark, but it is weaker than normal. Probably due to all of the corroded terminals on most of the wires.

So, the owner was attempting to save a buck by not paying someone to fix the driveshaft seal correctly, and he has ruined at least a solenoid and a coil and fuse holder. He has a very rusty magneto and flywheel, probably the starter too, and when I removed the rear sparkplug, it was all rusty because the boat was left sitting without blowing out the water from the exhaust after it stalled the last time they had it on the lake with the mickey mouse fuse connection. His new repair bill, including the driveshaft seal repair, coil and labor, will be around $400.00, plus it won't be long before he needs an engine and a starter motor.

Boy, he sure saved a bunch of money. Not! His repair bill for the driveshaft seal repair would have been about $85.00.......

Some people have no business owning a watercraft.

[Technical Support]

$400 actually sounds pretty cheap for all that work!

[stevepaulus]

LOL Bill, i agree......some should just not even touch it and take it right to a professional.

Some are just not meant to be backyard mechanics. There money though, so hey.....go for it.

[sandeo]

i hope you arent saying that i shouldnt have a ski????

but anyway, trying to figure a few things out, how does the kill switch work?? there are three wires there and none of them have power?? seems strange to me

[Technical Support]

He was talking about his customer in his example.

[stevepaulus]

Should clarify myself to.......was just replying to BILL Os post...nothing to do with you.

[jedw79]

I've never worked on a Sea-doo or any other craft's kill switch for that matter, but I know that you need at least two wires for it to work properly. One coming from the coil and the other going to ground. I believe Tigershark and Polaris have it where you can kill it either by removing the lanyard or by pressing the kill button. This requires 2 switches connected in parallel, which explains the extra wire. Essentially two switches in one. The ground could be common to both switches, but the coil wire would have to split at some point before the switch. That's my guess.

[ March 06, 2004, 10:10 PM: Message edited by: jedw79 ]

[sandeo]

alright well i looked at the six pin conector and everything looks fine however i am going to pull the mag cover off and have a look at the connections on the inside.
hopefully that will solve my porblems

[Scope]

When you install the DESS key (kill switch) the multi-function gauge (dash) should come to life (even without hitting the start button). This would at least let you know if the DESS post is working correctly even if your speaker is broken
-Scope

[sandeo]

mm dash doesnt come on
mm i might have to look into this.

is there anyway to bypass the kill switch so i can atleast run the engine to see if my engine work was atleast successful/??

[Technical Support]

No.