1997 GTi- Loud thud sound when trying to start

[gotGTi]

I don’t think you ingested any water when that happened because you said you made it back without the engine stalling. You may get better advice than this from others here who have more experience than myself but if it’s locked up right now you could try taking that starter out. Just make sure it is in fact locked up by trying to rotate the pto with plugs out and if it is locked up remove that starter. Undo your battery connections before starting and try to reduce your chances of losing a bolt under the engine by stuffing it with rags. All fasteners are metric on these, i can have a look but I believe those are 10mm

So as of today, it is not locked up.

I checked fuses and connections inside black box next to battery. Fuse looks ok, but I replaced it with a new one anyway. All connections tight and I did not see any sign of corrosion in wires.

Back to voltage falling when I push start button. Any idea why?

I bought an ignition spark tester. My bro in law thinks I have no sparks. It has spark on both using the gadget.

 

[gotGTi]

So the engine is cranking over now with starter, it just won’t start?

Yes. I pushed the start button many times and no luck. I saw some white smoke coming from the carb(?) box.

Hopefully I did not burn out anything. Battery drained now. And the neighbors are probably wondering what the hell I'm doing 730 at night.

 

[burtshaver2021]

So as of today, it is not locked up.

I checked fuses and connections inside black box next to battery. Fuse looks ok, but I replaced it with a new one anyway. All connections tight and I did not see any sign of corrosion in wires.

Back to voltage falling when I push start button. Any idea why?

I bought an ignition spark tester. My bro in law thinks I have no sparks. It has spark on both using the gadget.

Ok,,so as of right now it’s turning over. The very first thing I would do is go to an auto parts store and have the battery you are using load tested, even if it’s a new battery. I’m no expert by any means but I remember you posting once that the volts at the starter was something like 7 volts or so even though the battery was good, I’m thinking that maybe this starter is on its way out and had been giving you these locking up problems by staying engaged in the flywheel and that maybe it’s drawing to much, especially after hearing how the craft took on some water not to long ago. I would start by having that battery tested and then move forward knowing you have a good battery at least. If your seeing spark then your probably getting good spark. You had also mentioned something about the machine getting slower one of your last times out. Once you know you have a good battery I would try taking a compression test. Also just have a look at the small oil lines coming from the oil pump that go to the intake to make sure they are not cracked or that they have t came off. How deep did the water get the day the exhaust was leaking

 

[mikidymac]

I’m leaning toward a bad starter. You need to stop trying to run it every few days, nothing to gain and a lot of wear on the starter and battery.

If it was mine I would pull the starter and make sure it turns over nice and smooth by hand.
You are going too many different directions here.

 

[burtshaver2021]

Yes. I pushed the start button many times and no luck. I saw some white smoke coming from the carb(?) box.

Hopefully I did not burn out anything. Battery drained now. And the neighbors are probably wondering what the hell I'm doing 730 at night.

Don’t keep trying to start it if it’s not starting. If it doesn’t start right up then something is wrong and continuing to crank it over isn’t going to help,

 

[gotGTi]

Ok,,so as of right now it’s turning over. The very first thing I would do is go to an auto parts store and have the battery you are using load tested, even if it’s a new battery. I’m no expert by any means but I remember you posting once that the volts at the starter was something like 7 volts or so even though the battery was good, I’m thinking that maybe this starter is on its way out and had been giving you these locking up problems by staying engaged in the flywheel and that maybe it’s drawing to much, especially after hearing how the craft took on some water not to long ago. I would start by having that battery tested and then move forward knowing you have a good battery at least. If your seeing spark then your probably getting good spark. You had also mentioned something about the machine getting slower one of your last times out. Once you know you have a good battery I would try taking a compression test. Also just have a look at the small oil lines coming from the oil pump that go to the intake to make sure they are not cracked or that they have t came off. How deep did the water get the day the exhaust was leaking

I'll have the new battery checked.

I'll go to autozone and borrow compression test tool.

Water was up to bottom of battery.

 

[burtshaver2021]

I'll have the new battery checked.

I'll go to autozone and borrow compression test tool.

Water was up to bottom of battery.

If that engine locks up again let us know, that’s twice now that the engine has locked up? If it locks up again, I would not try to unfree it, I would just take that starter right out to see if that what was causing the lock up, the reason for the locking up needs to be found.

 

[gotGTi]

I’m leaning toward a bad starter. You need to stop trying to run it every few days, nothing to gain and a lot of wear on the starter and battery.

If it was mine I would pull the starter and make sure it turns over nice and smooth by hand.
You are going too many different directions here.

Hoping to do the easiest first.
If it's indeed the starter, that task might be too overwhelming for me.
Usually a normal 1 hour job for a good mechanic would be a 3- 6 hrs job for me. Oh and with extra bolts and nuts after the job. Lol.

 

[burtshaver2021]

Hoping to do the easiest first.
If it's indeed the starter, that task might be too overwhelming for me.
Usually a normal 1 hour job for a good mechanic would be a 3- 6 hrs job for me. Oh and with extra bolts and nuts after the job. Lol.

Lol, but just imagine how good you will feel when you fix it

 

[Grim]

The starter isn't too hard to do, usually it is only two bolts in the back for it to come off, one of them has the large ground wire connected to it. I always joke that nothing is easy on a sea doo unless you are left handed. Removing the starter does take a little patience because you cant necessarily see everything, at least that was the issue with mine. I would suggest getting your phone and take a few pictures of how the starter is mounted. See if you feel comfortable with what you see. Then just slowly remove it. Beware it is a little heavy, for such a small device.
If you have the parts manual for your ski, it shows how it is mounted, I would suggest looking at that, the manual is free online.

 

[Venturian1]

If I was doing the troubleshooting, I would remove the pump just to elimminate the pump as a possibility. You said it stalled like it ran out of gas, and I've had a pump freeze up on me while riding, and there's not much warning, it just locks up. The seal on mine leaked and when I checked the oil, there was none, only sea water, but with the pump off, I could fire it up and flush out the salt water from the engine. Removing the pump is not too hard to do. If its still locked up the starter would be the next thing to check. If the starter is fine, the next thing to do is remove the rotary valve cover & carb. Much easier with the engine out. Mark the position of the rotary valve so you get it back on right.
What lind of two stroke oil are you using? and check that the tiny little oil hoses going to the rotary valve cover are soft and pliable and connected, not leaking and have no air bubbles. If your oil reservoir ran out, there's a good chance you've got air in the system, and maybe some stuck rings and a seized engine.

 

[gotGTi]

The starter isn't too hard to do, usually it is only two bolts in the back for it to come off, one of them has the large ground wire connected to it. I always joke that nothing is easy on a sea doo unless you are left handed. Removing the starter does take a little patience because you cant necessarily see everything, at least that was the issue with mine. I would suggest getting your phone and take a few pictures of how the starter is mounted. See if you feel comfortable with what you see. Then just slowly remove it. Beware it is a little heavy, for such a small device.
If you have the parts manual for your ski, it shows how it is mounted, I would suggest looking at that, the manual is free online.

I'd do this next week when I get back from vacation. I'll check for the manual...ty

 

[Edmund1111]

Update. Squirted more WD-40 and engine oil. Today I was able to rotate pto qtr of an inch. I kept trying for minutes and finally ot rotated freely!!

I cleaned and dried the wet plugs. While they were out, I pushed start button many times to see if I could get most of the stuff in holes. Not much came out, but I felt pressure. Installed the plugs, but motor is just trying to start. No more thud sound tho.
Did I flood the motor?

Crank seal is probably dry and the friction is causing it to lock up, same thing happened to my engine but mine was apart. I just dumped a bunch of oil into the lower case and it eventually lubricated it up and spun smoothly after that.

 

[mikidymac]

Crank seals don't get dry and will not cause it to lock up. The seals always have some crankcase oil in them and it somehow they did cause the engine to stop it would permanently destroy the seal lip. They will fail with age but then you would get an air or rotary cavity oil leak, neither will cause the crank to lock up unless the engine seizes.

 

[Edmund1111]

Crank seals don't get dry and will not cause it to lock up. The seals always have some crankcase oil in them and it somehow they did cause the engine to stop it would permanently destroy the seal lip. They will fail with age but then you would get an air or rotary cavity oil leak, neither will cause the crank to lock up unless the engine seizes.

Hmm I see. Could it be rust instead?

 

[mikidymac]

Rust could be in the bearings if water got in and that acts like sandpaper, they will eventually exit the cases.