Hello all. I am helping a friend get her 1989 model 5802 running again and need some advice. This is my first time working on a watercraft but I have a ton of "garage" experience on cars and motorcycles. When she brought it to me the battery was flat and it wouldn't crank. Knowing she is not one for regular maintenance, I have replaced the plugs (old ones were fouled and incorrectly gapped at .03), replaced the oil filter, cleaned the fuel filter and housing (it was barely dirty) with compressed air, checked the connections on all hoses, opened the (insert proper name for watertight box with wires and solenoid in it here) and checked the connection on all wires, removed and charged the battery (1 year old per friend), removed a good deal of muck from the bilge, cleaned the spark arrestor with compressed air, installed a "flush kit" and then put it back together.
Now it cranks fine, the starter turns the magneto/flywheel, but the engine never starts. Before you ask, dear God no I did not turn the hose on before I tried to start the engine. Using the fuel or fire rule, I shot some starting fluid into the carb and tried again - nothing. I know the starter fuel got to the plugs as I removed them and they smell like starting fluid. I have cranked it with the fuel selector at on and reserve, throttle idle and wide open, safety cord thing on and off (I pressed down as far as my thumb would go). I removed the safety switch from the body and tried pressing it manually - it clicks just fine but I can't visually verify the connectivity since it is behind one solid piece of rubber.
Thinking that since the fluid made it to the plugs it must be fire, I removed the flywheel/magneto cover to look for loose connections - all were tight. I was in the process of trying to check spark from the plug wire to bare metal when the battery went flat. It is now charging again.
I gather from reading most of the posts here that a dirty carb is the culprit 90% of the time with these engines, and the shop guy from whom I bought the parts has already mentiond a carb rebuild kit if necessary. I have a shop manual too but the troubleshooting tables are limited. At this point I still need to verify the spark (which is the best piece of bare metal to use?) and am preparing myself to rebuild the carb,
So...why won't it start? Any tips would be appreciated. Sorry for the length of the post - I wanted to provide as many details as possible. Also, I would like to know what the proper compression is for a 587.
Oh yeah, she "filled the gas tank last year" so I know I need to drain it and replace with fresh gas as well.
Now it cranks fine, the starter turns the magneto/flywheel, but the engine never starts. Before you ask, dear God no I did not turn the hose on before I tried to start the engine. Using the fuel or fire rule, I shot some starting fluid into the carb and tried again - nothing. I know the starter fuel got to the plugs as I removed them and they smell like starting fluid. I have cranked it with the fuel selector at on and reserve, throttle idle and wide open, safety cord thing on and off (I pressed down as far as my thumb would go). I removed the safety switch from the body and tried pressing it manually - it clicks just fine but I can't visually verify the connectivity since it is behind one solid piece of rubber.
Thinking that since the fluid made it to the plugs it must be fire, I removed the flywheel/magneto cover to look for loose connections - all were tight. I was in the process of trying to check spark from the plug wire to bare metal when the battery went flat. It is now charging again.
I gather from reading most of the posts here that a dirty carb is the culprit 90% of the time with these engines, and the shop guy from whom I bought the parts has already mentiond a carb rebuild kit if necessary. I have a shop manual too but the troubleshooting tables are limited. At this point I still need to verify the spark (which is the best piece of bare metal to use?) and am preparing myself to rebuild the carb,
So...why won't it start? Any tips would be appreciated. Sorry for the length of the post - I wanted to provide as many details as possible. Also, I would like to know what the proper compression is for a 587.
Oh yeah, she "filled the gas tank last year" so I know I need to drain it and replace with fresh gas as well.
