1996 Sea Doo Sportster Bombardier forgot to put the plugs in.

[iamrusty]

So the story behind this is I put the boat in for the first time (was running fine before that day). Went through my mental checklist but forgot to put the two plugs in before getting in and going. Went for a little bit on the water and then the engine shut down. Pulled it out, drained it and have had it drying out for the week.

I try running the engine now, and the engine isn't turning. I still get the two beeps when putting in the key. When I push the starter button (with or without choke) the engine doesn't even turn. I'm new to Sea Doo boats and pretty handy, but I need a little direction on how to fix up my rookie mistake. The battery is all charged, I replaced the spark plugs. Currently, I can't make heads or tails if it's the starter that's not working, or if it's the Rotax engine. I cleaned the carburetor and inspected it and it appears fine.

The current rig is hooked into a boat batter with an oil on/off valve installed. I worry if the engine is flooded and what steps to go from there. Any help or direction is most appreciative. Thanks!

 

[dbracela]

Try turning it over without the spark plugs installed. It might be full of water and locked up.

 

[iamrusty]

I tried starting the engine without the spark plugs in and it's not turning at all. Is there a different way of making sure the water is out of that system? I looked at the starter and it appears it's got a bunch of gunk on it. I ordered a new starter for me to install.

 

[dbracela]

I tried starting the engine without the spark plugs in and it's not turning at all. Is there a different way of making sure the water is out of that system? I looked at the starter and it appears it's got a bunch of gunk on it. I ordered a new starter for me to install.

You could try bypassing the solenoid to see if it’s shot. How long did you let it sit with water in it before trying to blow it out? Were the engines submerged?

 

[BGS]

Does it have a stand alone solenoid ? Check it is switching.

 

[iamrusty]

So the engine was submerged for a little bit of time before I got back to the dock and then drained the water. It has a solenoid and I don't think that was affected by the water submerging, because when it got to a certain level of water inside it shut off and we promptly got to the dock. I can try the solenoid to see.

I just got the starter sent to me so I'm going to do the switchout of that anyways, I'm hoping that's the only issue. Before all this the engine ran just fine.

 

[Poormanracing]

Pull the spark plugs take the Grey protective cover off the pto flywheel and turn the motor by hand.chances are the motor is full off water you can't just let the motor dry out you have to physically turn the motor over to pump the water out of the motor.it can not just dry out.if motor doesn't turn over by hand your motor is rusted and no good

 

[JC-SUPERJET]

"Draining for a Week" No Bueno...

Water-flooded PWC Two Stroke Engines need to be drained and purged of Water right away; then run hard to remove all the residual Water and lubricate all the metal parts.

Only a small Time Window for removing the Water and running the Engine after a Flooding Event.

Get in the habit of screwing IN the Drain Plugs at the House before you head out to the Ramp.

Has worked for me on many types of PWC's for years.

Just too many distractions at the Boat Ramp that make it too easy to forget screwing in the Drain Plugs.

Seems like nobody ever forgets to pull the Drain Plugs when leaving the Boat Ramp at the end of the Day. Maybe something satisfying with seeing Water Drain out from the Transom?

Let Human Nature work in your favor...

 

[iamrusty]

What’s the best way of getting into the engine to crank it besides being upside down for a while? Is there a good way of doing it without removing the manifold and everything to make room for this?

 

[iamrusty]

Any better angle to approach this one?

 

[iamrusty]

 

[iamrusty]

Just cranked it a bunch of times for like 10 minutes. I don’t think there’s water stuck in there. The air that’s pumping out of the plug holes feel pretty dry.

 

[Poormanracing]

Not following what your trying to do.the boat sank correct you got the motor turning over now is it not starting now or what is going on?

 

[iamrusty]

Well the boat originally only drew in water enough to shut the motor off before we brought it back out of the water to drain it.

I manually pumped the motor after removing the covering for a good 10 minutes to see if any water could be pumped out and nothing came out. I figured there was an issue with the starter since before all that, nothing turned at all.

I switched out for a new starter, it looks like the old one had seen better days. When I get it ready to start the engine the starter is activating and rotating, but the engine isn't turning. I set up the wiring to the diagram and after trying to start it for a good 5-7 seconds the wiring seemed to be smoking. I could really use some help on this one, as I'm running out of things to think to do.

 

[Poormanracing]

How did you pump the water out if the starter is spinning and the motor isn't than the bending on your new starter is not engaging the flywheel.with the spark plugs out can you turn the motor over by hand?

 

[Poormanracing]

You keep saying you crank the motor then say the starter doesn't work so how can the motor crank

 

[Poormanracing]

What wiring is smoking?

 

[dbracela]

Well the boat originally only drew in water enough to shut the motor off before we brought it back out of the water to drain it.

I manually pumped the motor after removing the covering for a good 10 minutes to see if any water could be pumped out and nothing came out. I figured there was an issue with the starter since before all that, nothing turned at all.

I switched out for a new starter, it looks like the old one had seen better days. When I get it ready to start the engine the starter is activating and rotating, but the engine isn't turning. I set up the wiring to the diagram and after trying to start it for a good 5-7 seconds the wiring seemed to be smoking. I could really use some help on this one, as I'm running out of things to think to do.

Confirm for us, when you hit the button, the starter spins but doesn’t turn the engine over or it does turn the engine over and the engine just doesn’t fire?

 

[iamrusty]

Confirm for us, when you hit the button, the starter spins but doesn’t turn the engine over or it does turn the engine over and the engine just doesn’t fire?

Starter spins, but engine doesn't turn over and engine doesn't fire.

 

[iamrusty]

How did you pump the water out if the starter is spinning and the motor isn't than the bending on your new starter is not engaging the flywheel.with the spark plugs out can you turn the motor over by hand?

That was what I was doing in the previous posts. I was hand pumping the motor and it wouldn't fire, nor would it pump out water. I can only hand turn the motor but it doesn't engage more than that.

The old starter I found wasn't working nor spinning, so I switched out for the new one today. So the new one is spinning.

 

[iamrusty]

What wiring is smoking?

I couldn't quite make it out but I think it was the connection on the starter.

 

[Poormanracing]

You can't spin the motor fast enough by hand to pump out any water are you hitting the starter button with the spark plugs out so the water has someplace to go.leave spark plugs out then try cranking motor.water doesn't compress

 

[Poormanracing]

If you left plugs in and just held the start button you probably ruined the new starter.

 

[dbracela]

What’re the chances you could post a video with what you’ve got going on over there?

 

[iamrusty]

What’re the chances you could post a video with what you’ve got going on over there?

I’ll get a video of it posted tomorrow afternoon. I’ll run it without the spark plugs and the current starter in. I’ll attach that picture here. I apologize if the quality is a little poor.