First full day out on ski ends in a tow

[lbustin]

Ok, first off, this site is amazing. I have learned so much just reading everything. I've posted a couple of things, but mostly just piggybacked on other threads.

Today was the big day. After a few short trips out just testing a few things, we had a day at the beach planned. I topped off the battery overnight and hit the start button the morning in the garage just to be sure we were still a go. Busted right off with just a minimal choking.

We headed down to the island about 9:30. I put the ski in the water around 10:45 and it started right up again. The wife and kids then took the truck to park at the public beach area while I rode the ski around. It's about a mile and half, maybe two from the put in to where we were setting up.

I got out of the no wake zone and opened it up. I felt a little cavitation, but I had noticed that in my test runs and was expecting it. I'm planning on replacing the wear ring in the next few weeks. I kept going around the bend heading toward everyone. Once I got out of the chop of the bay area, I really felt the ski open up. I didn't have the gps out, but it felt like I was moving at a pretty good clip. I started playing around a little with some wakes, standing up, just having a good time.

Then about a quarter of mile from where we were meeting, the rpms dropped. My tach isn't working, but it felt like it wouldn't go over half where it was previously. And I was just puttering along.

I met up with them and started trying to figure out what was happening. After a couple of tries and starting it up, it started to get hard to start. I took plugs out and made sure no water was in there. There wasn't a ton for me to do, truthfully. I swapped over to reserve, in case that switch was clogged, but I just cleaned that thing out and I could see plenty of fuel in the inline filter that I added. There was no abnormal amount of water in the hull.

Soon, the ski wouldn't crank at all. Then, of course, the battery lost enough charge to turn it over well. Thanks to some super nice people, I got a tow back to the dock.

Well, once I get home I set about cleaning it up. This was all saltwater, so I needed to wash everything down. I really wanted to run it on the hose for a bit, but didn't see that happening. I also knew I was going to come on the forum and ask questions, so I checked a few things before I pulled the battery for charging. I tested compression (140 on each). I verified that I had spark. Just on a whim, I dropped the plugs back in, hooked them up, and tried cranking. Boom, cranked right up! I shut it off, pulled the ski back out of the garage, and cranked it back up on the hose for a minute or two to clean out some salt water. I would hit the throttle and it felt like it had the full range of revs, not just up halfway.

So, what the heck? I was thinking I'd start with the carbs before it cranked up here at home. I cleaned out the filters in the carbs, but did not do a rebuild. I HAVE changed all the fuel lines and cleaned out the fuel selector switch.

Oh, I should mention this is on my 1995 XP.

 

[Thumper3322]

What a way to ruin a nicely planned day. That sucks.

Did you hear a beep our beeps of any sort? Could have over heated and gone into limp mode and therefore hard to start. When you got home it was cooled off and could start. Did you notice if it was overtly hot?

taking a guess here, maybe others have thoughts?

 

[RFoster130]

I would start with the basics. I think a carb rebuild should have been done. Next, try new plugs. Also, do a compression test. What kind of condition is the engine in? If its original, it may be time for a rebuild. Running out of water fine and then taking a dump under a load is a sign of that.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

are u sure the battery wasn't just dying ?
is it a good sealed agm battery or an older acid...
odd for a good battery with a full charge to drain very quickly, usually they can crank a starter for quite some time.
just a thought.

 

[lbustin]

Could be overheating I suppose. I didn't hear a beep, but I'm not sure the beeper is working truthfully. I didn't notice a light on though. I'll try to test the beeper soon.

Compression is a 140 each cylinder. Not perfect, but I don't think it's horrendous.

These were brand new plugs. BR8ES. Gapped to spec when I installed them Wednesday.

I don't think it is the battery. It's a brand new Die Hard acid. Bought a couple of months ago. There was a lot of cranking happening before it decided to not turn it over.

I think I'm going to go through all the water lines and see if there's any sort of blockage. Then move on to the carbs.

 

[LouDoo]

Since it sounds like the ski was mostly operated in salt water I think I would go after the overheating issue. Flush out the motor, get some Salt-Away flush the passages with water and compressed air, and flush out the hoses.

Lou

 

[lbustin]

So, I checked out the beeper and it works like a champ. I took the lead off the temp sensor on top of the motor and grounded it. Beeps perfectly. Light on the dash lights up.

So, I thought that meant that the temp wasn't the issue. But, to be sure it wasn't the sensor causing it to not beep, it took it out, put the lead back on, and heated it up with a heat gun. No beep, no nothing. After a bit to make sure it was getting hot enough to trip, I grabbed a lighter and really heated the thing up. Still nothing.

So, can the heat sensor go bad? It looks like it doesn't have any moving parts.

Ah, and Lou, is this the sort of Salt Away you were talking about? http://www.amazon.com/Salt-Away-Products-Mixer-Combo-32oz/dp/B0000AXNJO/ref=pd_sim_sg_1 Looks like I put some in that little adapter, put a hose in one end and connect the other to the ski?

Still new to all this and learning new stuff every day!

 

[LouDoo]

That's the stuff, you can also use Draino. The temp sensor should alarm at around 190 degrees, they don't usually go bad but they can.

Lou

 

[xarnes10]

i had the same problem only went half rpms didnt wana open up all the way (limp mode) and it was the battery it failed a load test it doesnt hold charge under load so i would get a load test on your battery

 

[bhatch21]

lbustin, since you said it's a newer battery, it might be that your magneto is not charging your battery while the motor is running. Crank the ski and check the voltage at the battery terminals with a meter. You should see around 14v if it's working.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

Could be overheating I suppose. I didn't hear a beep, but I'm not sure the beeper is working truthfully. I didn't notice a light on though. I'll try to test the beeper soon.

Compression is a 140 each cylinder. Not perfect, but I don't think it's horrendous.

These were brand new plugs. BR8ES. Gapped to spec when I installed them Wednesday.

I don't think it is the battery. It's a brand new Die Hard acid. Bought a couple of months ago. There was a lot of cranking happening before it decided to not turn it over.

I think I'm going to go through all the water lines and see if there's any sort of blockage. Then move on to the carbs.

< not a fan of using acid batteries, for a small difference you can upgrade to agm, if its been less than 90 days I think you can probably still return it ? (worth a shot)

and yes, from other posts, possible blockage or issue with the charging system.

The only reason i'm suggesting electrical is I've had that happen on what we thought was a good and fully charged acid battery on a ski I was test riding, and it was just putting out enough to get er started, but 15 minutes later, nothing. Took it back & charged it, started fine, then repeated the problem, so I replaced it with a known good agm, and the problem never surfaced again, threw away the old battery and moved on I hate acid batteries and low voltage can begin a chain reaction of issues that you can't pin down and the whole time it was the dam battery, a good quality AGM is the only way to go