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1997 GTX Starting Issues

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nissanracer007

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I have a 1997 GTX that has been making me scratch my head. Last week it said 12 volt low on my gauges. I took the battery and charged it a few days. I went back this past saturday and it started fine. At the end of saturday it said 12 volt low again. I charged the battery all night and took it to the lake sunday. When trying to start all I got was a hum. this went on for a few minutes then it decided to turn the starter. The questions I have are

1) Is this the battery or a wiring issue?

2) Does the engine charge the battery like atvs and autos do?

3) Am i supposed to have a sealed battery in the Seadoo?

Thanks in advance.
 
1) how is old is the battery? maybe take it to autzone to get tested

2) yes it does charge it, it uses AC to fire the plugs, put there is an inverter that breaks it down to DC to charge your battery

3) there ar AGM sealed batteries designed for PWC, cheack advance autoparts they carry they, just make sure its the correct size for your craft. they usually have a cross referance chart to go from the old open/wet battery, to a sealed AGM. The main thing is size so it fits in your battery location and is not loose or bouncing around. hope that helps
 
I put in a new battery. I have researched and found that if the rectifier is out it wont charge the battery. I think this is my problem. Thanks for the help.
 
I'll try to answer your questions...

1)most likely it is a battery/starter issue, but the hum you describe sounds like a starter problem. a bad or low battery will typically just click and not hum and not turn the motor over at all.

2)the engine charges to some degree but not very much like a car with an alternator does, the seadoo magneto system really just maintains and doesn't charge very well.

3)sealed battery or non sealed doesn't matter, they came from the factory with non sealed. what matters is that it is good and strong, you should have it load tested at an auto store, that 800 motor needs a good battery and the connections must all be good, check those as well especially the ground at the motor.
 
Thanks for the info. Since I replaced the battery and trickle charged it it has done fine. I am looking at changing the starter anyhow just to be on the safe side. Has anyone had a problem with their seadoo not wanting to "take off"? As in when you start out of the hole you have to feather the throttle to get up on the water? Is this cavitation or just something you have to do? I was playing on it this weekend doing "power turns" and when i would come to a stop it would take a second to get back on top of the water. Then engine would rev but was like it was spinning.
 
I have heard that these gtx's are fine out of the hole, but after doing a spin do not like coming out of the hole...prob due to the air bubbles in the water, they said that is a big problem with these large 3 seater skis. However I do not know if that is your exact problem.
 
Mine does similair to what I just explained and they have an impeller that fixes that, from what I read it has less blade overlap
 
how is your wear ring? is there a large gap between the blades the the ring? I have a 2000 gtx and it is fine out of the hole but not so good out of the hole after a spin
 
I am a newbie to seadoos to be honest. I have raced atvs and know motor work but am not too good with the water parts of these yet. How do i inspect the ring?
 
same as me, I had a honda rubicon 500 I traded for this new gtx and got ripped off, most of what I have learned is from trial and error and that I am an ase cert auto tech helps to some degree.......I learned alot by just taking it apart. Go to the aft (back) of your ski by the impeller and look inside it, check the gap between the blades and the plastic, on the back side of the pump housing is a large black plastic ring that goes inside of the housing, that is called the wear ring, check to see if it is all grooved up or large gaps.......I still have to figure mine out, on one side I have a desent size gap and the other side the blade is almost touching my wear ring, so I have to rip mine down and check my bearings and see if something is also bent....this ski is better then some others as I have a plastic pump housing, the some others have a aluminum housing and salt gets behind the ring and corrodes then pushes the ring into the blades on the impeller
 
Well i guess im lucky cause i have no saltwater and a plastic housing from what i have seen. Is it a hard task to replace the wear ring?
 
first thing to do is look at it and see if it is damaged at all, if it looks good leave it alone, if it is damaged you will have to pull your nossel and pump off of the doo to replace it as it goes on from the back side, I heard that it is not any fun to do, you put the new ring in the freezer and I have heard many different ways to remove the old one, but it will not just pull out, many state you can use a dremmel and cut a groove in the old one to remove it.
 
there are others on here that can tell you better then I what to look for in the wear ring and how to replace it. I have not done one yet so all I am stating is what I have heard, someone on here will guide you in the right direction, but I think I stated it the correct way, I already have the pump and shaft off of my doo, as I torn down mine to restore it back to new....better then new...


The freezer shrinks the plastic ring so that it will fit inside the pump housing.
 
are you looking for top end or bottom end? its like gears in a car, however I have read that solex? has a impeller just for these gtx's that gives you top and bottom end...I do not know how but I am interested in seeing how well it works and if in fact does give top and bottom end both then I am game to spend the just over $300.00 for it.
 
I am trying to figure that out too. I know on ATVS if you go up a tooth on your front srpocket you have better top end and go down a tooth you have more bottom. But how does an impeller give you both??? If i find the science behind it i am going to share with everyone. lol:cheers:
 
Quote "Solas High Performance Impeller are made of precision cast stainless steel and polished to a mirror finish, providing a massive increase in low-end thrust and top-end speed. "
 
in all honesty I think it could be done by the pitch/size/overlap of the blades and the material used...I am sure it can be done it was just a matter of finding someone smart enough to figure it out....For the price of it I would want to find someone that has one already installed and ride the ski myself before buying one....because I do not waste money on things that do not perform to how I expected them to...and I could buy the nice sponsons I want to make it handle even better at high speeds for that price as well....
 
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