1996 XP Starter has 2-3second delay

[turbodriven]

Having a minor issue with my 96 XP. When I insert the DESS Key, hear two beeps, and press the start button.. I hear a click and then a full 2-3 second delay before the starter begins engaging and spinning. It's enough of a delay where you're thinking "is my battery dead", but then it starts rolling over and turns for as long as you hold the button.

I thought it was the tiny little 12ah battery I got from the previous owner at first but I just replaced it with a brand new 20ah (330cca) fully charged battery and it's the same thing. When I had the motor out of the ski a month ago I took the starter off, disassembled it, cleaned it up, and put it back together. On the bench it was very responsive to any 12v applied to it. Brushes looked good. All the wiring is in good order I think? Wear ring is not new or needing to be cut in. Compression is 145-150psi.

Maybe I got a bad battery.
Any thoughts?

 

[Spider4real]

My boat had the same engine and did the same thing. It was always a weak battery that caused this issue. For me anyway.

I would do a load test on the battery to make sure you did not get a bad one. Easy test at most automotive stores.

 

[harleytq]

My 96XP does the same thing. It’s not the battery, I’ve tried 2 different batteries. I’m thinking maybe battery cables, but I’m not sure about that. Why does it crank fine once it starts to crank. Maybe the relay?

 

[Spider4real]

My interpretation of the problem was the starter was not able to overcome the compression of the engine at first, but once it slowly moved past the first stroke it gained enough speed turning over the engine was easy.

I would test the voltage at the starter when you are pressing the button to see how much the volts drop (there is a number that it should not go below, but I can't remember what that is). If the volts are good it's likely the starter that needs a rebuild. If volts are bad then you might have a bad connection somewhere. Maybe poor ground.

 

[Grim]

My interpretation of the problem was the starter was not able to overcome the compression of the engine at first, but once it slowly moved past the first stroke it gained enought speed turning over the engine was easy.

I would test the voltage at the starter when you are pressing the button to see how much the volts drop (there is a number that it should not go below, but I can't remember what that is). If the volts are good it's likely the starter that needs a rebuild. If volts are bad then you might have a bad connection somewhere. Maybe poor ground.

An easy way to check that would be to take your spark plugs out and turn it over, with no resistance it should not hesitate......IMO

 

[harleytq]

That would be an easy way to check it, but I don’t think it is even engaging the starter, until after the 2-3 seconds. It’s not like a low battery, where it engages right away but can’t crank it.

 

[mikidymac]

I have had bad brand new batteries do all kinds of weird stuff, including delayed start. I would have it load tested and test the voltage at rest and when cranking.

 

[DCortez]

It very well could be that the start/stop button needs to be cleaned or replaced especially if it's the original one which is probably 27 years old...I'm not saying that's the problem but it wouldn't hurt to troubleshoot it