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2002 sportster lt

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Rich1983

Rich1983

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Had my new toy today which is a 2002 seadoo sportster lt, twin 720's motors. The boat needs a bit of work which I'm planning on doing as fast as I can. I'll take pics when I start and I'll make a thread with my progress.

Just a few questions to get me started,

*What's the correct battery to use? It came with some old car battery that doesn't fit properly.

*got a replacement fan for the engine bay as the old ones been removed. Which way do I fit the fan? Does it blow air into the bay or blow air out? Also is there supposed to be a pipe from the fan to the bottom of the engine bay?

*What do you guys suggest to use to remove water marks from the hull? I also plan to buff the boat, what compound should I use?
 
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I'm not positive on the battery size but I think it takes two YB30CL, same battery as a PWC, it sounds that your boat has been converted to a single battery. Bilge fan blows out and I don't know what "eater marks" are, a language thing I guess.

Lou
 
Thanks for the reply Lou, I managed to find a few old posts with speedsters being converted to a single battery but I wasn't sure if the sportster had the same set up with 2 batteries. If I keep the single battery option any idea what spec, size or amp battery would best be suited? The boat hasn't got a stereo fitted so the battery would only really be there to start the motors.

Ive edited my first post as I made a spelling mistake sorry, Should have wrote "water marks" not "eater marks" :banghead:

Thanks. Rich :)
 
A small car battery would be fine, 320-400 CCA should be plenty. For water marks, I would use Starbrite Hull Cleaner, I they are really bad toilet bowl cleaner, but be careful it's very caustic.

Lou
 
Yep, that would be a good choice, 470CCA should be plenty. Actually I was hoping a boat guy would chime in here. My main knowledge is PWC's I do own a boat and a pontoon but they are both Merc. powered. Lets see if we can get a boat guy involved [MENTION=65307]Sportster-2001-951C-Stock[/MENTION]

Lou
 
Any 24 series marine battery would be highly preferable to a battery designed for automotive applications for use in a boat. You'll pay a little more for the marine battery as they are constructed with heavier plates, but it's well worth it for their ability to endure prolonged periods of static storage with small amounts of discharge and draws as are typically found in most boats.

It's all about their ability to last through more discharge and recharge cycles than automotive starting batteries can, and they are far less likely to suddenly leave you stranded in the boat as they rarely kill a cell when in operation as the heavier cells are better able to withstand impact and vibration and don't sulfate nearly as bad.

I would be wary of using an automotive starting battery in a Sea Doo jet boat, internal battery plate failures reducing the battery's ability to act as buffer coupled with dirty voltage out of the crude rectifiers these boats use to clean up the AC side of the stator could damage your MPEM module on the power supply side of the board or take out the rectifier and stator before it.
 
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I prefer large batteries and there's no harm as long as it will fit in the space. For instance, I'm confident an 800CCA will last much longer than a 400CCA.

I won't buy a battery under 800CCA unless there's a space/size limitation.

The 470CCA will be adequate and an improvement over most ski batteries.

My last "automotive" 1000CCA battery lasted 12 years and had been swapped around to several boats. It gave up the ghost this year and I haven't replaced it yet.

The battery you really want will have the stud terminals on top, this stud setup is more trouble free that the round lead terminals, IMO.

The battery should be heavy, this tells you there's actually lead in there as opposed to just electrolyte and a couple sheets of lead.

Edit: I should mention that a large battery really cannot be charged by an automatic charger at a rate of less than 2 Amps but as long as it's not allowed to run down most any maintainer (600~700ma) will be able to keep it topped up.

Deep Cycle batteries are not intended as cranking batteries, fine for trolling motors and such where they will be discharged a good amount.
 
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Rich1983 said:
Had my new toy today which is a 2002 seadoo sportster lt, twin 720's motors. The boat needs a bit of work which I'm planning on doing as fast as I can. I'll take pics when I start and I'll make a thread with my progress.

Just a few questions to get me started,

*What's the correct battery to use? It came with some old car battery that doesn't fit properly.

*got a replacement fan for the engine bay as the old ones been removed. Which way do I fit the fan? Does it blow air into the bay or blow air out? Also is there supposed to be a pipe from the fan to the bottom of the engine bay?

*What do you guys suggest to use to remove water marks from the hull? I also plan to buff the boat, what compound should I use?
Click to expand...

The fan should blow outward of the bilge and should pick up as low as possible from the bilge, mine has no hose attached but it ducts from fairly low.

I'm not a big detailer, some others in the jetski section are really into this subject so I think you can locate good info there.
 
Thanks everyone for their help, I'll get a battery ordered up today, need to buy a new starter motor next and I can see if the no.2 engine turns over and fires up :)
 
Just fitted a new battery and a starter motor to my no.1 engine and she turns over fine but no spark. Ive checked all the ground leads and their good, Checked the coil pack and it looks like the previous owner has changed it as its brand new and not a bit of dirt on it.
Haven't had a chance to swap the coil with the one off engine 2 yet as the weather pretty bad here at the moment but I cant see the coil being the problem here. Is there a way to find out if its the magneto? Or is there anything else i'm missing here?

Also, Im going to do a compression test on both engines and from what iv'e gathered from the forum my compression should be around the 150 mark. is that correct? Should I do the compression test with the engine on a water hose or as it is dry?
 
Rich before you get any further into your repairs may I suggest you obtain a copy of the shop manual? It's really important to have that information for all the electrical testing procedures for your boat and it also specifies the procedure for compression testing and safely using the engine flushing feature from a hose.

Unlike just about everything else in the marine world that uses a water pump a Sea Doo rotax engine must be started and running prior to introducing water from a hose into the flushing port and when completed the water must be turned off before the engine is shut down so water doesn't backflow into the engine from the exhaust manifold.

Your manual is available free on this site with a premium membership, your going to need it for testing the electrical issues and you should read all the procedures first before conducting them. You do not want to do anything that could potentially damage the control module (MPEM) that runs several of the boat's electrical functions including the DCI ignition.

Check for a blown 5 amp fuse on that MPEM board first.
 
Ive got a manual on cd somewhere which came with the boat from the previous owner, ill dig that out of the bows and have a good read.
I purchased the boat with one engine a non runner but it came with a used engine which had been rebuild with receipts etc but I haven't seen it running so i'm unsure of the condition.
What I don't know is whats been done by the previous owner. How would I know if the MPEM has been damaged previously? Also where can I find the fuses?

Thanks for the help so far :)
 
Yeah, you'll want the manual from the BRP factory as some of the others are weak in some areas.
Compression test:
No water from hose
Both spark plugs removed
Full throttle
Fuel off for safety
plug wires on grounding posts (for safety and avoid damaging the coil from excessive voltage.)

For 720 an excellent pressure would be 150psi an acceptable 140psi, 130psi is getting iffy.

There's a sensor under the magneto cover which signals the MPEM computer to fire the coil.

Edit: IMPORTANT! Water only if the engine is running longer than 30 seconds and it easy to flood engine with water b/c the exit is in the exhaust that can fill with cooling water thus water only runs after the engine is started and water is turned off before the engine is stopped (to keep water from backing up into engine cylinders.)
 
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If the MPEM will crank the engine when you press the start button than I doubt the 5A fuse is blown b/c it powers the MPEM.

Really not sure why no spark at this point, there could be a wiring mistake or MPEM may be damaged. Is this a single MPEM and two engines or double MPEM? The single MPEM replacement is near impossible to locate used, so lets hope in that case it's not the MPEM.

The MPEM is sensitive to overvoltage, it's dangerous to use an external charger while the battery is connected.

I advise you go slowly and post your plans in detail so any red flags can be addressed, until you become more familiar with the special circumstances that can become "gotcha's"

I should say, I rarely have a reason to connect my boat to a garden hose and the entire process is too awkward for me, actually. I limit the on-trailer run time to 30 seconds, it's enough to know if the engine will at least start. Once the engine is able to start, I splash the boat to run it.

But, I'm on the water already, you may be in the middle of the sahara and better off running on the hose. If you plan to run on the hose then become familiar with the thru-hull driveshaft seal b/c it's easy to ruin while running out of water. It's one of the "gotcha's"
 
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Checked the fuses and both the 5A fuses are fine thankfully. What I did find was one of the 10A fuses on the bottom had blown. The boat did suffer a engine seizing up but supposedly ran fine before that. Would a engine seiz possibly cause the 10A to blow or is there a big chance the MPEM is buggered?
It's a single MPEM twin engine.
Iv'e also checked all the wire sockets etc are connected and can't see anything out of place. Only thing I haven't connected is the earth wire from one engine to the other, but can't see that being the issue as they've both got separate coils etc

Was thinking about swapping the coils next just to double check then I was going to check the magneto part of the engine.

Am I on the right track here?
 
Rich1983 said:
Checked the fuses and both the 5A fuses are fine thankfully. What I did find was one of the 10A fuses on the bottom had blown. The boat did suffer a engine seizing up but supposedly ran fine before that. Would a engine seiz possibly cause the 10A to blow or is there a big chance the MPEM is buggered?
It's a single MPEM twin engine.
Iv'e also checked all the wire sockets etc are connected and can't see anything out of place. Only thing I haven't connected is the earth wire from one engine to the other, but can't see that being the issue as they've both got separate coils etc

Was thinking about swapping the coils next just to double check then I was going to check the magneto part of the engine.

Am I on the right track here?
Click to expand...

Before you swap anything, read the manuals procedure for testing the magneto and the generator coil for the ignition system. You can probe the pins when you disconnect the harness plug to get the readings.
 
I've joined the premium forum thing to get the manual but I can't find one for my model boat. Is there a similar model with twin 720's I can look at with the same procedures?

I've just realised when I checked the fuses there's 2 fuse boxes which I'm assuming 1 for each motor, one had 2x5A fuses and one plain fuse with a letter which I can't remember. The 2nd box had 2x10A and that one with a letter.
Looks to me like someone's changed the 5s to 10s. So I'm assuming it's the worst scenario which is the MPEM is cooked!

Any thoughts guys? Please say I'm wrong lol
 
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Both engines obviously must be earthed to the battery so perhaps you mean a redundant eath between the two. I doubt if it's missing there will be any effect.

I don't know about this 10A fuse, I don't have an electrical schematic for the single MPEM boat myself. Is it labeled "BATT", or "REG", something like that? Usually a fuse that size (15A, mostly) is used in the battery recharging circuit(regulator/rectifier) or in the battery main supply to electronics.

These are carbureted motors in your boat, correct?

A stuck engine from seizing isn't bound to last long b/c there will be aluminum from the piston stuck onto the cylinder walls and the engine has reached catastrophic failure conditions at this point. I bet the compression is unhealthy. This won't cause a fuse to blow though.

So if I were to guess, the 10A fuse is in the battery recharging circuit (regulator/rectifier/magneto stator) but this size fuse has me puzzled as most are 15A

If you don't have the factory shop service manual you're going to need it and you'll be glad to have them once they're obtained, electrical and mechanical test procedures are all in there, adjustments and maintenance, you'll be glad you found the manual. I'm not even sure these are available for your boat specifically, you may find it necessary to reference the jetski manual as I must, for my boat.
 
Rich1983 said:
I've joined the premium forum thing to get the manual but I can't find one for my model boat. Is there a similar model with twin 720's I can look at with the same procedures?

I've just realised when I checked the fuses there's 2 fuse boxes which I'm assuming 1 for each motor, one had 2x5A fuses and one plain fuse with a letter which I can't remember. The 2nd box had 2x10A and that one with a letter.
Looks to me like someone's changed the 5s to 10s. So I'm assuming it's the worst scenario which is the MPEM is cooked!

Any thoughts guys? Please say I'm wrong lol
Click to expand...

That's the real bugaboo, I've never seen the electrical schematic for the single MPEM dual screw boat. If you find one please post it so I can make sure it's available.
 
Sportster-2001-951C-Stock said:
That's the real bugaboo, I've never seen the electrical schematic for the single MPEM dual screw boat. If you find one please post it so I can make sure it's available.
Click to expand...

If it's not on here then I doubt I'll ever find one.

Yea it's a carb model, I'll take some pictures of the MPEM and fuses tomorrow and post them on here for you to see.

Not sure what to do next, I've got that gut feeling that it is the MPEM as it's just my luck.
 
Rich1983 said:
Was thinking about swapping the coils next just to double check then I was going to check the magneto part of the engine.

Am I on the right track here?
Click to expand...

I think this may be a decent idea that can do no harm although the coils are quite reliable. If you have an analog voltmeter you can see the MPEM pulse the coil if it's working.

The ignition pickup coil is under the magneto cover and you can measure it's continuity as well as look for the pulse induced as the flag moves past it. Maybe there's a wiring issue (such luck!)

The magneto yellow wires are the AC source for the regulator rectifier, the others are the ignition pickup.
 
Rich1983 said:
If it's not on here then I doubt I'll ever find one.

Yea it's a carb model, I'll take some pictures of the MPEM and fuses tomorrow and post them on here for you to see.

Not sure what to do next, I've got that gut feeling that it is the MPEM as it's just my luck.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I hope that's not the case else you got the dual screw sorta speak.

I'll be downloading that manual if I can.
 
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