'92 GTX Won't Start

[Skyhawk76E]

I'm starting to feel like the old cliche' ..."work on it all week to ride it on the weekend".

My '92 GTX trailer queen threw another curve ball at me. I've put about 3 hours on a new SBT engine and it's started on the first try every time with one glitch. The starter motor wouldn't always engage. Well, I fixed that by going through the electronics box with my dremmel tool to polish every corroded connection.

Now a new problem...it will turn-over almost every time, but it's not firing now. My spark tester show spark going to the plugs. I switched the plugs with a second new set (the first are new, break-in plugs) with no luck. There is fuel/oil mixture on the plugs I pulled-out.

It was running fine until I fixed the starter problem. Although it still turns-over aggressivley (after many, many, many revolutions with no hit) I've got the battery on a charger overnight.

My SELOC manual doesn't have the spark-gap for the plugs (that I can find), so the new plugs haven't been gapped. Does someone have that number for a 587cc white motor?

Any other ideas on how I killed it?

[Skyhawk76E]

Sorry for the Super-Sized Image!!!

[stevepaulus]

Does it appear to be turning over fast enough......sounds like the starter is shot, could be the battery also.

charge it fully and try again and post back.

[Technical Support]

Try a new battery, then the starter. Gap the plugs to 0.028"

[1fastski.com]

check for a bad ground cable .
make sure you have BR7ES NGK sparkplugs
try unpluging the revlimiter and see if it starts faster { if so get a new revlimiter}
if you have to keep hitting the start button to get it to crank over you might need a new solinod or start button .
are you sure the rotory valve is set right ?
before you installed the new motor did you rebuild or clean the carbs ? if so how did you set the jets ?
pull off the sparkplug boots and snip back a little wire to show some fresh wire then twist the boots back on tight .

[Skyhawk76E]

Just tried again with a freshly charged battery (bought new 4 weeks ago). I gapped the plugs to .028, too. The engine turns-over with authority, but won't fire. Leaving the plug out and grounded I don't see a reliably hot spark, though.

Although I'm sure the oil-rich break-in premix I'm running doesn't help the mixture, I'm increasingly convinced that I created this problem when I went through with electrical box cleaning connections. I also performed the test procedure on the starter solenoid while I was in there.

Is there a test procedure for the spark coil I could try?

What about tests for the wires running to the magneto?

Are there wires that short the spark for cut-off and such?

Thanks!

[1fastski.com]

3rd line down from my last post { revlimiter } its the black box with 3 wires , unplug the black and yellow wire , check the spark then . keep in mind if it starts you will need the choke it to stop it or plug in the revlimiter to stop it .

[1fastski.com]

also if you have orig boots on yout plug wires they could be bad , pull the boots then check the spark . you can OEMs test the boots if the spark is weak with the boots on .

[Skyhawk76E]

It took me a while to get the time to try your suggestions. Taking the Rev Limiter out of the equation didn't work.

I think I found "how" I created this problem. I just don't know what I messed-up in the process. I went back through the steps I followed when trying to fix the starter problem. I noticed in my Seloc manual that I started testing the solenoid under the heading "Cranking Solenoid Testing". NOW I noticed that just above that heading was a section called "Preliminary Steps".

The Preliminary steps I missed were:
1) Disconnect the single red large lead from the upper left terminal
2) Disconnect the 2 or 3 large leads from the upper right terminal
3) Disconnect the 2 black/white leads from the lower left terminal
4) Disconnect the yellow/red leads from the lower right terminal.

(A simple, "disconnect all leads from the starter solenoid" under the "Cranking Solenoid Testing" heading would have been nice.)

So what I wound-up doing was having all these wires still connected to the starter solenoid with the battery removed from the system. I then used jumper leads to put 12 volts from the battery across the lower solenoid terminals while I used an ohm meter on the upper terminals to verify they were closing.

Although the solenoid passed the test, I'm afraid I burned-up some [expensive?] electronics in the process. I can see some browning around a couple solder joints inside the rectifier, but I'm not sure that's related.

How bad is it?

[1fastski.com]

the rectifier always looks kida burnt , , that wont kill your spark anyhow . a bad stator will though .also a bad kill switch or stop button or coil or CDI box . i might have all the parts you need from a junk ski , if i do and you pay the shipping i will send you the parts and you can figure out what ya need , send the rest back { with a tip } :) let me know any i will look to see what i have in the junk drawer :)

[Skyhawk76E]

Oh heck yeah! I'll PayPal the shipping to you if you have an email address and PayPal account I can use. I'm happy to ship the unused parts and a tip back, too!!!

Here's my mailing address so you can estimate shipping:

Zack Jones
4133 Saddlehorn Dr
Evans, GA 30809

Do you think I should just replace the major parts to see when it start working?

Thanks!!!!

[1fastski.com]

i have paypal , i will see what i have tomarrow and let ya know . just post what ya find so others will know what to look for :)

[Skyhawk76E]

Some more information and another suspect...

While cranking I checked the voltage reaching the spark coil. It was less than 3 volts. I disconnected the battery and put it on the charger only to receive a warning light on the charger. Checking everything else the charger manual says there may be a problem with the battery.

The battery is brand-new (april) purchased at Walmart. Should be no problem getting my money back or a new battery. The battery is an Everstart ES50N18LA3.

Is that the right battery?

Can I use jumper cables to hook an auto battery up to the jet-ski battery terminals to try?

Thanks!

[Technical Support]

I have no idea what that battery cross reffernces to. You need a YB16CLB spec battery.

Yes you can jump to an automotive battery, just make sure it's not connected to a running car.

[1fastski.com]

i didnt forget ya , i found a few parts for you but still looking for more . you should get a good battery { wont get one at walmart } get a good deka , if you get a acid battery it must be filled then sit for 30 min checked then charged for 12 to 18 hrs on 2amp before you try to use it , if you fill it then use it without charging its toast , the cells hold a memory and will not take a full charge after that . the best batterys ive seen and the only ones i will sell or use now are AGM , no charging or filling and 275 cranking amps .