Novice needs help badly...

[Blue in Yarmouth]

I have a 1997 seadoo challenger 1800 that I bought two weeks ago and have been having lots of difficulty with it. My port side engine seems to be working fine, but the starboard has been a pain in the ass. I just changed the starter as I blew that the first day I got it. I just put the starter in last night and tried to get it going and the thing would turn over once, maybe twice and then stop. I thought initially it may have been the start switch, but after a while I pulled the plugs out and pushed the start switch and the pistons had no problem moving then. After putting the plugs back in the first time I tried to start it is turn over about three times and stopped, and each time after that all i get is the click of the starter that sounds like it wants to move but for some reason just won't. Someone please help a novice boat owner out!

 

[Dr Honda]

1) Do you have a single battery for each engine... or one big battery? If you have 2 batteries... the one for that engine may be bad. But either way... put a meter on the battery,and have someone crank the engine. If the voltage isn't staying up around 11v... the battery is bad. If the voltage is OK... then take all the power cables off, and make sure they are all clean and tight.

2) Is your new starter an OEM or Desno starter, or did you buy a cheap import? If you bought an "eBay" starter... that could be the problem. We have yet to see an import that was worth a dam. Most of them won't work out of the box... and if they do... they fail in the first few trips.

If you think #2 is your issue... and you still have the OEM starter... then take it apart, clean it... and replace the brushes. a 15 year old OEM is better than any import.

 

[Blue in Yarmouth]

Thanks for the reply Dr. Honda.
1) My boat runs on one battery and the other engine turns over fine so I don't think that is the issue, but I could be wrong so I will test that.
2) Unfortunately the starter was one I bought from California on ebay. I don't remember the make but it was only 100 dollars. I am not even sure if the one I replaced was an OEM as it looks identical to the one I bought. When I took it off the spring was gone and the brushes were as well so it would be an easy fix, but if it was one of the cheap ones as well, fixing it doesn't seem like a worthwhile endevour anyway. Is there a way I could check to see if it was OEM?
3) My last question would be (given what I said was happening in my original post) could it be a compression problem or would that not turn over well without the plugs in either? I guess what I mean is if it had very low compression would it have problems turning over with the plugs in as opposed to out? As I say I am a novice with this stuff so I am just wonder if that could be an issue (while hoping like mad that it isn't). Thanks again for your help Dr. Honda.

 

[Dr Honda]

1) Still good to check, but you are right... the bat is probably good.

2) The OEM starter will have a metal tag/sticker saying Nippon Denso on it. Check eBay, and look for a used OEM starter. As I was saying... it will be better than an import.

3) No... low compression would allow the engine to spin easy.