99 GSX RFI Hard to Hot Start

[crob1]

Hello. I'm back to having a Sea Doo after a 20 year hiatus. I'm so excited, but I have a problem to solve. I bought a pretty nice '99 GSX RFI which starts and runs great cold, until it warms up. After that, when I push the start button, you can hear the starter spin but doesn't crank the engine. Sometimes it'll sound like it's trying to engage the flywheel for very brief instant, but not enough to start it. After that, I let it sit in the water for quite a while, and then I can get it to start after many tries. My automotive senses tell me it's probably the starter, but I thought I should get some more qualified opinions. Thanks in advance for your time and thoughts.

 

[Cheflen]

If the starter "spins" but isn't grabbing the flywheel it sounds like you get the proper amount of power to the starter at the right time so I would assume it's the starter. I can't stress enough that you need to buy an OEM STARTER. I, along with everyone else has tried an aftermarket starter and it will get you stranded in the middle of the water after a week. If your starter is black, then you probably have a cheap aftermarket starter. Replace that with an oem denso starter

 

[crob1]

Thanks for your thoughts. I absolutely will NOT put an aftermarket starter on it. I actually have a brand new aftermarket one that I got for free, but I will get an OEM starter for it.