• This site contains eBay affiliate links for which Sea-Doo Forum may be compensated.

Motor Quit on lake ??

Status
Not open for further replies.
shaunster

shaunster

New Member
Hello my boating friends...

Not a good Weekend..

The drivers side motor just went Cold Turkey DEAD in the middle of Tubing..

1999 Sportster 1800

Where should I start when it comes to trouble shooting ?

I don't have a Compression Gage.. so What I did was pull each plug
one at a time held my thumb over the plug hole and turned it over ..there seems to be a fair amount
of force on each one. The motor will turn over but it wont start??

Thanks you All in advance..
Shaun
 
Definitely get a compression gage.... Go rent for free at auto zone....if good then check for spark and fuel....somebody will give you better info in a little...
 
if anything below 130 or so id think about rebuilding assuming the gauge is accurate. should be 140-150. But then agian i have seen different gauges read 25psi different on same motor minutes apart hahaha.
 
does the engine turnover? if so does it sound like its trying to fire? the more info you give us the more help we can offer.

Martin
 
if it turns over you have 1 of 2 problems. either fuel or spark. start there and check everything over, from carb to tank, and plugs to mpem.
 
No fuel or no ignition? Hang plugs on wires and lay on bare grounded metal parts to check for ignition while the plugs are out and spin it over, sometime you can see/smell fuel spitting out of plug holes.

compression gauges are not terribly expensive and can give you a quick idea if your motor is toasted so it's worth having IMO.
 
in the black waterproof box in front of your engine that houses your solenoid coil and CDI is a fuse you may want to check. It comes off of solenoid coil terminal and runs to the plug which leads to your MPEM..

Martin
 
Update

Compression 120/150

I noticed today when I turned it over ..she fired for a sec or two ..and then when it stop I could hear water coming on of the back. this happen each time I got her to fire..again a sec or two.. And yes there is spark going to each plug. Can you flood an engine on the lake? Also it wont do anything when using the Chock just the throttle ..

Thanks again!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That sucks.... No good on the compression reading.... Check out Sbt motors for parts or engine swap.... Not sure about flooding an engine on the water unless its hooked to a garden hose and the motor is not running....but sorry about the compression reading
 
Is this the reason why it wont start..low compression on one side (120) ? And why it died on the lake..?
 
Yes That's what I'm thinking...u can try to poor a little bit of thick motor oil down that cylinder through the spark plug hole.... Then put the spark plug back in and see if it will fire up that way...if it does it will only run till the oil is burned up and gone meaning that the cylinder is shot...best thing to do would be a motor from Sbt instead of just rebuilding the top end... Are you near Florida?
 
I'm in Nova Scotia, Canada.. Wouldn't it be cheaper just to rebuild the one Cylinder ? The other side is 150..
 
120/150 will still run if there's nothing else wrong but there's a reason the one cylinder lost 30lbs and no doubt there's aluminum transfer from the piston to the cylinder wall(aluminum stuck to cylinder wall will act like sandpaper if the engine is run further. Most likely you experienced a partial seizure where the piston overheated and expanded beyond the necessary piston/cylinder clearance tolerance. Several things can cause this kind of damage: not enough or the wrong type of lubricating oil, too lean air:fuel ratio, or lack of cooling water. Keep in mind, you'll need to find and repair the root cause for the seizure.

So if you run it that way with one damaged cylinder, it's not liable to last long and you'll just make the repair more expensive.

Also, the crankshaft bearings are more than likely damaged from overloading or contamination, as well.

I think your money is better spent on a remanufactured engine with a warranty than trying to bore the one jug and experiencing another similar failure soon thereafter.

Was the motor running correctly before the failure occurred, usually there are warning signs.
 
Well, maybe you just wore it out. I suspect there just wasn't enough oil it was otherwise running well. These two-stroke motors have a limited life, the offsetting factor is they're the lowest cost marine engine out there when it comes to obtaining a remanufactured replacement.

If you take the cylinder off, you're likely to see scoring on the piston, but piston scoring isn't why the compression is low. I've seen people trying to bring antique engines back to life by using muriatic acid to remove seized aluminum from the cylinder walls, and clean up the burrs on the piston with an abrasive sandpaper, replace the rings and slap the thing back together and have a running motor. I haven't heard of any encouraging examples for a Rotax 2-stroke though. I doubt you could be that lucky, and it's most likely going to be an exercise in futility which winds up costing you more than a good reman. The reason the compression is low is because of the aluminum smeared up and down on the cylinder wall. It's also possible you just broke a ring, but b/c it stopped cold, it sounds like a seizure, where the aluminum piston actually stuck to the cylinder wall.
 
Ok here's what I did so far...The boat was already 120/150 when I first boat it last year.. and it worked great up to now.. I plan on putting a new pot in the fall..

Its not the coil ..and yes there is spark..its not the fuel pump....she turns over ...but...?? Whats left the carb?

Shaun :-)(
 
Pull the plugs, spray starting fluid in the plug holes and put it back together and see if it will fire up. If so, investigate your fuel system. You need Fuel, Air and Spark to make it run. Take away fuel or spark and you got nothing(hard to take the air away). When was that last time you rebuilt the carbs or serviced the fuel system?
 
"Whats left the carb?"

Yeah, sounds like no fuel. The low compression could just be a collapsed ring, that won't cause harm, just low(er) compression.

Are the carbs getting fuel? If there is fuel to the carbs then it could be the carbs. Squirt some pre-mix in the carb bores and see if it'll fire.

Could be a fuel line problem if the carbs aren't getting fuel. Did you pressure check the fuel line, find where the fuel line splits off to both engines and check it from there all the way to the carburetor, check fuel filter and look for any leaks to make sure air can't get into fuel. The fuel pump could be sucking just air.
 
Sportster-2001-951C-Stock said:
"Whats left the carb?"

Yeah, sounds like no fuel. The low compression could just be a collapsed ring, that won't cause harm, just low(er) compression.

Are the carbs getting fuel? If there is fuel to the carbs then it could be the carbs. Squirt some pre-mix in the carb bores and see if it'll fire.

Could be a fuel line problem if the carbs aren't getting fuel. Did you pressure check the fuel line, find where the fuel line splits off to both engines and check it from there all the way to the carburetor, check fuel filter and look for any leaks to make sure air can't get into fuel. The fuel pump could be sucking just air.
Click to expand...

Its the Drivers side motor... It seems to be getting its gas u can see it in the carb and smell it.. When I spray fuel starter or mix it spits it back out ..Once and awhile I get a few Rumbles...thats it... Do you think its the carb? When I use the Choke it does nothing..For it to just Completely Quit..shut down on the lake ??
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

JMAN1
  • Locked
96 GSX wont start after simple carb cleaning
Replies
14
Views
2,765
mwat65
mwat65
T
  • Locked
Difficulty Starting, Any Help Appreciated
Replies
1
Views
1,825
1MACGYVER
1MACGYVER
S
  • Locked
Need advice on my 1999 yamaha exciter
Replies
7
Views
14,816
Sink
Sink
Bills86e
  • Locked
Carburetor Adjustments
2 3
Replies
57
Views
217,899
Sportster-2001-951C-Stock
S
Back
Top