97 787 Hydrolocked, water cleared, cranks but battery keeps dying!

[gurukid]

Hey guys,

Long time lurker here, and let me start by saying that this forum has been such a help.

I have a couple doos, an 05 gti and a 98 gsx.

The other day I took the 98 gsx out on the gulf and forgot to plug it up... Actually, I didn't forget, my buddy did, but whatever. About an hour into the ride the doo started to take water. Unknown to him, he was cranking it while it was nearly full of water. Needless to say the engine was hydro-locked. So I towed it back, took it home, hand spun and started to crank - all of the water came out in chunks - there may still be some left., but its just "vapor" now

Anyways, I was able to get the engine to fire for a second (only 1 second) a few times, each time water would shoot out of the jet, and it would die. Now when the engine fires, no water shoots out, another good sign, but it dies after 1 second.

I also removed the fuel line and replaced the filter (I have an additional inline filter before the carbs), there is fuel passing thru the filter into the carbs, but it may also be an issue with lack of fuel (thats why it's dying so fast?).

My question is this. Yesterday while cranking, I killed the battery. I recharged the batter over night, cranked again today (pouring some gas into the cylinders prior to starting) and got it to start again successfully for 1 second before dying. Now the battery is dead - I then took the battery out of the other ski plugged it in, after literally 1 crank, battery dead. I can crank all day without the spark plugs, but with the spark plugs in, I cannot crank, which in my experience means the battery is too weak.

Ok, now they're both charging. My question is, one battery is from west marine, the other is from advanced auto. Both are PWC batteries (obviously), but they both ALWAYS die, literally, on a weekly basis. The VTS is disconnected on the GSX, and if I leave it disconnected, I can start it fine for a week or two before it needs to be recharged.

The question is, am I using the wrong batteries? This is obviously extremely annoying as time is of the essence with water in the engine and I keep having to recharge them to crank it to make sure it fires up and there is no internal damage!

I believe both batteries are 260CCA

Thanks,

 

[Coastiejoe]

If you know you have a good battery, the starter does the exact same symptom as a bad battery when they are bad.

 

[gurukid]

Hey CoastieJoe,

Thanks for the response. The starter was replaced before the end of last season, so around 8 months ago. I've taken the ski out two times now and have had no symptoms of a bad starter. Could it perhaps be something else?

 

[gurukid]

I should mention that it seems like it doesn't have enough power to turn the crank.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Ok,, if the starter is aftermarket,,, it is bad or will go bad.

That said, the best thing you can do is to have both of the batteries load tested. We have to start with something KNOW. It can be known good or known bad. But until we have a KNOWN, very little matters.
One thing you can do is take your vehicle, use QUALITY jumper cables, ground one side to the block. Then take the hot of the cables to the OUTPUT side of the solenoid. This will engage the battery and NOT feed any power to any other electronics. Lets see how it turns over then.

 

[Mekanix]

Personally I like these 310CCA batteries. Yuasa YTX20HL-BS.

Anything less than 300 I've found wear out or die before being useful for things like clearing water.

If yours are 260's and they are weaker than new, that might be why your not able to get it cranking over. Or there is still some water in there.

 

[gurukid]

[MENTION=43374]Coastiejoe[/MENTION]

Sounds good - so just to be clear, I'll be connecting the hot jumper cable wire to the solenoid wire going to the starter, and not the one that would be coming from the battery into the solenoid?

Thanks,
[MENTION=64286]Mekanix[/MENTION]

I've actually seen a 550 cca branded as "Lightning Start" for 99.95 USD. Do you think thats overkill?

Thanks,

 

[Coastiejoe]

[MENTION=43374]Coastiejoe[/MENTION]

Sounds good - so just to be clear, I'll be connecting the hot jumper cable wire to the solenoid wire going to the starter, and not the one that would be coming from the battery into the solenoid?

Thanks,
[MENTION=64286]Mekanix[/MENTION]

I've actually seen a 550 cca branded as "Lightning Start" for 99.95 USD. Do you think thats overkill?

Thanks,

That is correct. That will instantly power the starter up and use almost nothing associated with the ski (just the wire from the solenoid to the starter).

 

[gurukid]

That is correct. That will instantly power the starter up and use almost nothing associated with the ski (just the wire from the solenoid to the starter).

Cool!

Just to be clear, am I doing this while the ski battery is connected? Also, am I trying to start the actual ski, or am I just doing this to see if the starter will crank? Can the ski start like this (if I keep the battery in it)?

A good idea would be to try it after I've killed the battery and it does the "click" but too weak to crank, then jump via the vehicle, to verify that it is in fact the battery in the ski and not the starter. I assume that's what your suggesting.

Thanks,

Alex

 

[Coastiejoe]

Cool!

Just to be clear, am I doing this while the ski battery is connected? Also, am I trying to start the actual ski, or am I just doing this to see if the starter will crank? Can the ski start like this (if I keep the battery in it)?

A good idea would be to try it after I've killed the battery and it does the "click" but too weak to crank, then jump via the vehicle, to verify that it is in fact the battery in the ski and not the starter. I assume that's what your suggesting.

Thanks,

Alex

With our without the installed battery connected as NO VOLTS will come from it or go to it as long as you hook it up like I said.
It will not start as the lanyard will not be on the DESS.
And yes,, you can try this test once your battery is weak again. The more and more you try to start the ski with a weak/junk battery the more it harms the starter. They don't like poor voltage.

 

[Ashr88]

Are you sure not flattening the battery from continuously cranking the engine over? You said it fires and runs for a second once you put fuel in the cylinders, my guess would be fuel delivery issue or you still have moisture in the engine which is making the spark plugs wet, ie why it not running for more then a second. Change the spark plugs and take the Airbox of the carbs and pour a cap full of fuel down the bore of each carb and she should fire and start right up.
If you filled the engine with water it takes a while to dry it up for it to start, you will have to take the spark plugs out dry them, try agin, try agin... When you crank the the engine don't crank it for more then a few seconds at a time.
Hope I can help..

 

[Mekanix]

@Mekanix

I've actually seen a 550 cca branded as "Lightning Start" for 99.95 USD. Do you think thats overkill?

Thanks,

That's a bit overkill but if I had a choice for that price I would get it


I've had a few waterlogged machines that would puke all the water out and then start for a second and cover the plugs in more water. Sometimes gas helps, Sometimes it just takes a while to get all the water out and allot of cranking. A battery that's pushed to its max over and over again can't be good for its lifespan. I used to have a N' Everstart battery when I got my first 800, It was good for 2-3 starts and then back to the charger. And that one was a bit old but sill seemed like it could work for a bit. But never for clearing out a flooded engine.

 

[CASPX]

One thing you can do is take your vehicle, use QUALITY jumper cables, ground one side to the block. Then take the hot of the cables to the OUTPUT side of the solenoid. This will engage the battery and NOT feed any power to any other electronics. Lets see how it turns over then.

I have a 787 SPX so it may be different but couldn't you just disconnect the large positive and negative leads at the battery and directly connect the jumper cables to those since these leads connect, negative to the block and positive to the solenoid?

Wouldn't this juice the starter directly without having to get under the motor with the jumpers to make those connections?