1998 Seadoo Speedster, wont start any suggestions on where to start??

[ohsoslohb]

Just got home from the lake and had to limp it back on one engine, that sucked!! any help getting this one figured out will be greatly appreciated.

We've never had any trouble what so ever with the boat and i would really like to see if its something that i can diagnose at home before taking it to the dealer.

While pulling a wakeboarder out of the water and after somewhat hard acceleration the port side engine shut off abruptly and would not restart. pulled the plugs and reinstalled new ones with no luck, checked for spark and did not see any but of cource it was hard to see while moving around in the water...

So once i got home removed the plugs and cranked the engine, which turns freely and appears to have compression (yet to be confirmed with a compression checker) also checked for voltage to the coil with a test light

but here's the weird part and i was hoping that someone can clear this up, checked for spark again and it sparks but the spark seems weak and depending on if i have one plug wire on the grounding spur or if i keep one wire on the plug it will at random times have a stronger spark???? So at times the spark seems weak and sometimes it is stronger.

My first thought was that the coil was bad.....switched the coil with the starboard engine side coil and solenoid assembly, retried and still nothing. I then took the "suspect bad coil" put it on the starboard engine and it ran fine, no clue??

So at this point i'm thinking that maybe its not ignition related, tried spraying started fluid which i really didn't wanted to do, still nothing, just cranks.

I don't understand why the spark would be intermittent like it is and if that is even my problem?? with the motor shuting off abruptly like there was a loss of power and not bogging down it had me checking for some kind of electrical fault.

am i using the grounding spurs correctly? whats the best way to check for spark and also how much is adequate?

ive heard talk about the fuel filter being clogged or possibly the screens in the carbs maybe? again it ran great and always does every weekend.

key beeps twice when powered on as well

sooo......any sugestions where to start?

 

[Dr Honda]

On that engine... the coil fires both plugs together. So... when checking spark... you need both wires on plugs. If you have one wire grounded, it will be weak. But it sounds fine since it ran the other engine.

First... check compression with a gauge. A dead engine, down around 70 psi... will still push your finger off the plug hole.

Second... take off the air box, and make sure the air is drawing in both carbs. If it's puffing out... then the rotary valve could be damaged.

 

[ohsoslohb]

gotcha well that explains the inconsistencies while checking for spark, thanks for clearing that up! and since running the coil on the other engine i think thats been narrowed down to something other than spark.

Ok so i checked compression this morning and on the non problematic starboard side it gave me a reading of 165psi on both front and back cylinders...

Then on the port side engine (the one i'm having trouble with) it read 160psi on the front cylinder and 150psi on the rear cylinder...

ok so that leads me to the rotary valves, once i remove the airbox will i just need to put my hand over the carb to see if its puffing out? also should i then remove them to inspect for damage or will i lose my timing? thanks in advance.

 

[ohsoslohb]

took the carbs off and removed the rotary valve assembly... will post pics and i need advise on where to go from here......its not looking very good.

 

[ohsoslohb]

 

[ohsoslohb]

what is the small silver ring? looks like the rest of it is in the motor... theres obviously scarring from that clip. The only thing i can think of is where that came out of is from behind the rotary valve gear? the e clip looks intact...theres no play on the gear. My question is what do i check and if i smooth out both surface areas of the rotary area and buy a new rotary valve how will this thing run if at all??

I know that initially the valve disk jumped over the gear and was wayyy of when it was removed, thats what stopped the engine and it wouldnt restart because it was off its origional degree location. The motor spins freely and nothing is bound up. If the surface area for the new disk is clean will she run again????? thanks

 

[Dr Honda]

The only thing that comes to mind... is that t'is a wrist pin clip.

You need to rotate the engine, and see if the rotary valve shaft rotates smooth. Normally when something falls into it... it kills the gear. (inside)

As far as your PM Q's... You can't call this a "Common" problem since the failure is a part that's not even RV related.


Anyway... if you have hopes of that engine continuing to run... you need to take the cyl's off, and get a good look inside. AND... you need to make sure that the lower half is cleaned out.

 

[ohsoslohb]

As far as your PM Q's... You can't call this a "Common" problem since the failure is a part that's not even RV related.

At that time i assumed that (and almost hoped lol) that this was a part of the RV shaft that could easily be replaced... however after looking at a parts micro-fiche i realized thats definetly not where it came from. So yea wrist pin keeper is what im definetly thinking it is as well. ill be pulling the jugs off tomorrow after work and ill post my findings once i get a good look inside. Im thinking that im not the first one inside this engine and the clips were installed incorrectly.

so, that leads me back to the RV area...Emery cloth to smooth and clean the surface area and a new RV? will she run or will an air/fuel leak be an issue you think?

Im hoping to replace the missing clip, clean any debris in the bottom, clean RV area assy and replace RV, and as long as the RV gear isnt stripped out then do you guys think that itll be sea worthy again or am i just wasting my time and i should just buy a new engine??

 

[Dr Honda]

It will run with that scar in the case. And yes... you will need a new RV. BUT... did you verify that the gears in the engine are OK? Most of the time when something falls into the RV... it kills the gears.

 

[ohsoslohb]

Gotcha well I'll definately check that first, now I know that there are multiple springs spacer etc on that gear, can I remove the e-clip and slide the gear out to inspect for damage as well or will I lose parts in the crankcase?

 

[Dr Honda]

Just rotate the engine. If there is gear damage... the RV shaft will stop/skip. If it rotates smooth... they are OK.