97 XP originally cranked but no spark, now no crank, helpppp

[chroma]

Hey guys, little help needed. Buddy gave me his 1997 XP that had sat for quite some time and was winterized before storage. The MPEM was sent off and made sure it worked, the original key paired and tested and an extra key paired and tested. Brand new battery 12.5v tested. New start button and new beeper. Originally I couldn't get anything to work, no beeps, no crank. I tested the starter solenoid and jumped it via a screwdriver, cranked over. Still no crank with start button. Once I disconnected VTS, I was able to crank via the start button. Eventually I was able to figure out that the beeper wiring was corroded so I replaced it, which then got the two chirps on putting the key in. Sweet.

Now out of the blue I no longer can get the ski to crank with the start button (As I was now going to check spark). As well as I cannot get it to crank via jumping the solenoid now either. I still get two chips when putting the key in, but if you hit the start button you hear a click, and then if you hit the button again it just gives a 2 second beep every time you hit it. Any suggestion on where to go from here?

Thanks!

 

[tobytd]

Rebuild starter ?
Any battery / starter cables get warm / hot when jumping solenoid?

 

[chroma]

Rebuild starter ?
Any battery / starter cables get warm / hot when jumping solenoid?

Haven't checked for warm cables but I didn't notice anything off hand. Rebuilding the starter is the next thought I had. I was going to also take the nut off the ground bolt under the coil and clean all of those too cuz the grounds seemed a little corroded. Not sure what changed that caused the no crank even on the solenoid tho.

 

[tobytd]

Coil bolt grounds yes
Check the pins in the Deutsch plug …ground wire to coil bolt and solenoid signal

 

[chroma]

Coil bolt grounds yes
Check the pins in the Deutsch plug …ground wire to coil bolt and solenoid signal

What plug? Sorry if im unfamiliar Im typically used to dirt bikes which are basically no electronics. Will check all grounds though as well.

 

[tobytd]

Wiring harness plugs in on top of electrical box.

 

[chroma]

Wiring harness plugs in on top of electrical box.

Ah yeah I checked. It’s extremely clean. I’ll go through the harness today and make sure as well as will start to pull the starter if no change.

 

[Stevie96xp]

If you jumped the solenoid with a screw driver and it didn’t turn over then your starter is bad. Them Seadoo starters are known to go bad it’s pretty common

 

[Grim]

check your solenoid as well.

 

[chroma]

check your solenoid as well.

Today I went and removed the carbs for cleaning and cleaned off the positive going into the starter since the starter is as the original suspect. I now get a sign of an attempt for the starter to crank. Checked voltage at the positive on the solenoid that’s constant. 12.5 v. Checked voltage at the other positive when you hit the starter. Should be 12.5 v. Only 5.5-6 v. Checked at the cable going into starter when tryin to crank. Only getting 5.5-6 .. same as the starter side of the solenoid. Solenoid clicks then gives a very light almost hum or “straining” sound. Bad solenoid?

 

[chroma]

If you jumped the solenoid with a screw driver and it didn’t turn over then your starter is bad. Them Seadoo starters are known to go bad it’s pretty common

Today I went and removed the carbs for cleaning and cleaned off the positive going into the starter since the starter is as the original suspect. I now get a sign of an attempt for the starter to crank. Checked voltage at the positive on the solenoid that’s constant. 12.5 v. Checked voltage at the other positive when you hit the starter. Should be 12.5 v. Only 5.5-6 v. Checked at the cable going into starter when tryin to crank. Only getting 5.5-6 .. same as the starter side of the solenoid. Solenoid clicks then gives a very light almost hum or “straining” sound. Bad solenoid?

 

[Stevie96xp]

Today I went and removed the carbs for cleaning and cleaned off the positive going into the starter since the starter is as the original suspect. I now get a sign of an attempt for the starter to crank. Checked voltage at the positive on the solenoid that’s constant. 12.5 v. Checked voltage at the other positive when you hit the starter. Should be 12.5 v. Only 5.5-6 v. Checked at the cable going into starter when tryin to crank. Only getting 5.5-6 .. same as the starter side of the solenoid. Solenoid clicks then gives a very light almost hum or “straining” sound. Bad solenoid?

I would still say starter because is probably shorted and drawing a lot of current. Take the positive wire off the starter I would be it would have 12v when you push the button

 

[burtshaver2021]

I’m going to say starter as well, when you jump the solenoid that’s basically eliminates the solenoid. I would do as @Stevie96xp and take the positive wire off the starter and check the voltage there, if the voltage is still low then the starter may be ok, possible internal corrosion on the starter cable, bench test the starter.

 

[mikidymac]

The cables are known to rot from the inside out. If you are getting that bad of a voltage drop I would suggest cables.
Jumping the solenoid posts with a screwdriver will rule out the cables if it cranks.

 

[chroma]

I’m going to say starter as well, when you jump the solenoid that’s basically eliminates the solenoid. I would do as @Stevie96xp and take the positive wire off the starter and check the voltage there, if the voltage is still low then the starter may be ok, possible internal corrosion on the starter cable, bench test the starter.

It doesn’t crank when jumping the solenoid anymore. I just went out to check. Got two small what sounded like wanting to crank and then now same thing. Just a solenoid click and the beeper beeps once.

I would still say starter because is probably shorted and drawing a lot of current. Take the positive wire off the starter I would be it would have 12v when you push the button

Will take the wire completely off tomorrow and verify voltage. It’s acting a bit odd. Went back out to see if it would jump with the solenoid because previously it wouldn’t. It gave two signs of life when jumping across the terminals, then went back to the original issue of no crank at all, just solenoid click. No sign of crank when jumping the solenoid etc

 

[chroma]

The cables are known to rot from the inside out. If you are getting that bad of a voltage drop I would suggest cables.
Jumping the solenoid posts with a screwdriver will rule out the cables if it cranks.

Yeah so it def tried to crank via jumping with the solenoid twice and then went back to no crank at all, no voltage to the starter side of the solenoid either when hitting starter. I was getting signs of life but now back to nothing at all other than a click of the solenoid then a single beep

 

[Stevie96xp]

Yeha sounds like the starter is done would be my guess

 

[burtshaver2021]

I’m going to go with cable to starter has deteriorated from inside out. If you can run some booster cables directly from a battery to the starter, you could also test the ohms running through the cable to the battery although I can’t remember what a good cable should be, just test another cable like one on a car or something,

 

[chroma]

Yeha sounds like the starter is done would be my guess

Thanks I will verify tomorrow by taking off the positive to the cable and testing voltage when hitting the start.

I’m going to go with cable to starter has deteriorated from inside out. If you can run some booster cables directly from a battery to the starter, you could also test the ohms running through the cable to the battery although I can’t remember what a good cable should be, just test another cable like one on a car or something,

I will see if I can get an extra off hand and test it out. I’ll also go ahead and test voltage with the positive off the starter but hitting the start button. Will report back. Thanks!

 

[chroma]

I’m going to go with cable to starter has deteriorated from inside out. If you can run some booster cables directly from a battery to the starter, you could also test the ohms running through the cable to the battery although I can’t remember what a good cable should be, just test another cable like one on a car or something,

So I went ahead and took all of the connections off and scrubbed them down. Decent corrosion on the copper bolt for the solenoid and the ground for battery. everything seems to be cranking like normal now when putting key in. 2 chirps. Then cranks the starter. However now that I’ve rectfied that on to the next. No spark. What would you suggest to go to next?

Yeha sounds like the starter is done would be my guess

corrosion on a bunch of the contacts for the solenoid and battery and starter. So I cleaned them all up real nice and now back to cranking no issue after 2 beeps on key. However no spark is my next issue to tackle. Any suggestions?

 

[burtshaver2021]

So I went ahead and took all of the connections off and scrubbed them down. Decent corrosion on the copper bolt for the solenoid and the ground for battery. everything seems to be cranking like normal now when putting key in. 2 chirps. Then cranks the starter. However now that I’ve rectfied that on to the next. No spark. What would you suggest to go to next?

corrosion on a bunch of the contacts for the solenoid and battery and starter. So I cleaned them all up real nice and now back to cranking no issue after 2 beeps on key. However no spark is my next issue to tackle. Any suggestions?

Coil

 

[burtshaver2021]

So I went ahead and took all of the connections off and scrubbed them down. Decent corrosion on the copper bolt for the solenoid and the ground for battery. everything seems to be cranking like normal now when putting key in. 2 chirps. Then cranks the starter. However now that I’ve rectfied that on to the next. No spark. What would you suggest to go to next?

corrosion on a bunch of the contacts for the solenoid and battery and starter. So I cleaned them all up real nice and now back to cranking no issue after 2 beeps on key. However no spark is my next issue to tackle. Any suggestions?

Try taking the caps off the wires and cut the wires back 1/4”

 

[chroma]

Try taking the caps off the wires and cut the wires back 1/4”

Found this coming from the power for my coil

 

[tobytd]

white wire to coil will cause a grounded test light to ‘flicker’ (dimly) if everything up stream is good

 

[chroma]

white wire to coil will cause a grounded test light to ‘flicker’ (dimly) if everything up stream is good

Found this. Gonna replace and see. Exposed corroded coil wire.