1996 GTX starting issues. There is a ghost in this machine. I need help.

[krazykarpet]

OK I'll start at the beginning. Late last season the machine started acting funny. Would only start when it felt like it. Now by saying not starting I'm saying not even rolling over. Put the lanyard on 2 beeps push the button, nothing. 12 Volt low flashing on the display. So I go purchase an new battery. Cleaned all connections I mean all, removed the starter, inside the e-box all the grounds on the coil, replaced the fuses just in case. In goes the new battery. Hit the start button it fires up. Drive to the lake put it in the water, push the button nothing. Back to the garage. Ordered new starter and solenoid. Start of this season put on new starter solenoid and take apart every connection in the e-box replaced all the eyelets put electric grease on all connections charge battery that has been on a tender all winter just to be sure it is fully charged. Put the battery in machine fires up no problem. Run it on the lake 4 or 5 different days no problems thing works great. Put it in the water today fires up ride for about an hour or more. Stop to talk to a friend push the button to leave, nothing. 12 volt low on the display. Buddy takes me to get truck and trailer back to the garage try it in the yard solenoid clicks but doesn't start. Tried crossing the solenoid, nothing. Remove battery put the tester on it 12.8 volts so it's not 12 VOLT LOW.:banghead: PLEASE HELP BEFORE I BURN THIS THING.

 

[Dr Honda]

OK... a few things.


1) Head to the local Catholic Diocese, and ask who the regional exorcist is. (LOL) Sorry... couldn't resist.

2) The replacement starter... did you buy an OEM or an aftermarket? As of righ now... there aren't ANY KNOWN GOOD AFTERMARKET STARTERS !!! This could very well be the problem. At my shop... I find clean old OEM's, and just replace the brushes, and they work good as new, and will last +10 years. I've seen the import starters last a season at the longest... and I've seen them fail after the first start.

2) what brand battery is it? There are a lot of crap batteries out there. Wal-mart, chief auto, and Interstate are some of the worst. But even the big brands can have the occasional issue.

3) Reflecting on #2, the voltage could have been low. (after trying to start the engine) a lot of times, when you get a bad battery, the voltage will show OK, but as soon as a load is put on in... it drops quick. (to a point where it won't start) When I hear of issues like this... I always tell guys to do their own test, in the ski. (not with external equipment) The reason is... some ski's need more power than others. So, pulling the battery, and letting the local auto parts store test it, isn't a good way of testing.



So... let me know about the starter, and battery brands... as we can go from there.


Last thing... when you put the lanyard on... do you get a good, solid beep from the buzzer? There is a known issue with the lanyard posts going bad also. Some times they need replaced, and sometimes they just need cleaned. (make a paste out of baking soda, and polish the contacts)

 

[krazykarpet]

Ok, First off this machine is VERY WELL BLESSED!!! so the local church probably wouldn't help LOL. The battery is Carquest brand was the best one I could find locally. Starter was supposed to be an OEM rebuilt from a local powersport shop. Is there any way to tell if the starter is OEM? I cleaned the DESS post with a pencil eraser I read that on here somewhere. So today I was talking to a buddy of mine he also has 2 skis and we ride together. He is also a GM certified mechanic. I was telling him about my troubles and he convinced me that it was the starter. He brought over his battery load tester and tested the battery. It tested OK. So we take of the power cable from the starter to the solenoid and touch it directly on the battery. Nothing. So I start to remove the starter and notice the barrel of the starter seems to be loose. So I remove it and the two long 10mm bolts that run through the starter are loose. Take the bolts out pull off the back cap of the starter and the wire running from the positive post to the brush is broke off. So I solder the wire back to the post ( not as easy as it sounds, had a heck of a time getting the solder to stick to the post) clean up everything put some loctite on the small bolts and put everything back together. Touched the cables to the battery and presto the starter spins. So put the starter back in the ski hooked up all the wires etc. put the key on the post beep,beep I figure we're good to go. Push the start button and CLICK. IT DOESN"T EFFFFIN ROLL!!!! 12 VOLT LOW on the display. I put the battery on a 2 AMP charge all night last night and all day while I was working on the ski. So I know it's good and charged. Well after some more blessing I walked away and will tackle it again tomorrow.

 

[Bills86e]

Sounds like the GROUND cable is bad. Cut the end off, solder on a new one and heat shrink.

 

[krazykarpet]

Looks like when the starter shorted out it fried the solenoid too. Changed the solenoid and the thing came to life. I hope I have performed the exorcism and all the ghosts are gone.