2015 Superjet w/MSD cdi has spark, compression and fuel, but erratically starts for a second every few tries, then dies immediately.

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phillipm

Location
Birmingham
my Ski has ran perfect for years then suddenly stopped in middle of lake. Couldn't get it to spark initially after bringing it to shore, but took electric box apart and checked all connections and resistance of Ignition coil pack and stator only, they seemed to be in speck. I even tried other spare Ignition coil, same results. after reconnecting everything back, Then I was getting spark again . even tried new New plugs. Every so often the ski will spark but not stay on more than a second. And sometimes only at the end of the start attempt will it fire for split second. What other tests can I perform on the Stator without taking it out? Will a stator shift out of alignment cause that? Will a faulty CDI do that? Can it show spark but not be strong enough? I"m stomped.
 
JC-SuperJet

JC-SuperJet

Location
Texas
From Jetski Solutions:

"Another interesting point is the "sparks when you let off the start button" syndrome. This always means one of two things......the cdi is bad, or the
pulser coil is bad, or the wire from it to the e box is open."
 
P

phillipm

Location
Birmingham
orangefinger said:
if u get a single fire after releasing start button your CDI is toast .... had that happen with many MSD CDI 's
Click to expand...
Well, after reconnecting the MSD cdi and ignition coil , I was getting consistent spark as shows on my tester, but not sure the strength of the spark, and I didn't get ignition(engine start) except for every so often attempts and it was literally a blast for second or less. The engine won't actually start and stay running. Could a CDI produce spark but not strong enough? MSD are a terrible company to deal with . I've wasted like hours to speak to them and not helpful. they want to charge me $35 plus shipping both ways just to test if it's good. But when I tried to see how to do , I keep getting sent back and forth to different departments and the wait time is over 30-40 mins to speak to anyone. I wish there was alternative to MSD. I'd hate to blow another $450 or so on another one.
 
P

phillipm

Location
Birmingham
JC-SuperJet said:
From Jetski Solutions:

"Another interesting point is the "sparks when you let off the start button" syndrome. This always means one of two things......the cdi is bad, or the
pulser coil is bad, or the wire from it to the e box is open."
Click to expand...
That was happening erratically. What are my best things to test and how? The service manual isn't really clear or helpful enough for advanced diagnostic. Could I be showing spark but it not be strong enough?
 
P

phillipm

Location
Birmingham
orangefinger said:
if u get a single fire after releasing start button your CDI is toast .... had that happen with many MSD CDI 's
Click to expand...
I'm having hard time pinpointing when I'm losing spark. It was doing that initially before I disconnected and tried another ignition coil and tried to use a Factory cdi but was missing key red wire. I'm not sure if I had the proper 701 CDI for my ski, I had an extra 62 t spare. But since I couldn't connect it complete, , I reconnected everything back and started getting spark all the time. But the engine wouldn't fire up except one or two random times after several attempts. It's not fuel cause I even tried starting fluid and it wouldn't fire. It's boggled my head.
 
P

phillipm

Location
Birmingham
JC-SuperJet said:
From Jetski Solutions:

"Another interesting point is the "sparks when you let off the start button" syndrome. This always means one of two things......the cdi is bad, or the
pulser coil is bad, or the wire from it to the e box is open."
Click to expand...
btw , what's the best test to see if pulsar coil is bad or going bad?
 
fastgtfairlane

fastgtfairlane

Location
Charlotte, NC
phillipm said:
Well, after reconnecting the MSD cdi and ignition coil , I was getting consistent spark as shows on my tester, but not sure the strength of the spark, and I didn't get ignition(engine start) except for every so often attempts and it was literally a blast for second or less. The engine won't actually start and stay running. Could a CDI produce spark but not strong enough? MSD are a terrible company to deal with . I've wasted like hours to speak to them and not helpful. they want to charge me $35 plus shipping both ways just to test if it's good. But when I tried to see how to do , I keep getting sent back and forth to different departments and the wait time is over 30-40 mins to speak to anyone. I wish there was alternative to MSD. I'd hate to blow another $450 or so on another one.
Click to expand...
There is a much better solution over the enhancer. The Zeeltronics y62t cdi is a much better cdi mainly because it is adjustable with a laptop and program cable. Kt can also be used for diagnosis of your ignition system. Also cheaper price than the enhancer. You can run more timing with the zeel so you'll make a little more power too.
 
WFO Speedracer

WFO Speedracer

A lifetime ban is like a lifetime warranty !
Location
Alabama
Have you disconnected the start stop switch , I have seen this happen on skis with a bad switch , you can disconnect both parts the plug the stop switch into the start and use it as a start switch to check it.
 
WFO Speedracer

WFO Speedracer

A lifetime ban is like a lifetime warranty !
Location
Alabama
My ski did exactly the same thing when I took it to Orange beach a few years back , I rode over a spot where I wasn't supposed to, when I got on the other side it started doing this same scenario .

What I found out was the rubber boots on the stop switch had deteriorated and when I put it in salt water it started to act up very quickly . Salt water got into the stop switch and grounded it out as it is very conductive to electricity , if your ski has any electrical gremlins salt water will find them for you in short order.

Unplug the stop switch , these are the black and white wires in a two pin connector , see if it the problem goes away , it won't cut off like that but you can plug the switch back in to cut it off or kill it with the choke .
 
P

phillipm

Location
Birmingham
WFO Speedracer said:
My ski did exactly the same thing when I took it to Orange beach a few years back , I rode over a spot where I wasn't supposed to, when I got on the other side it started doing this same scenario .

What I found out was the rubber boots on the stop switch had deteriorated and when I put it in salt water it started to act up very quickly . Salt water got into the stop switch and grounded it out as it is very conductive to electricity , if your ski has any electrical gremlins salt water will find them for you in short order.

Unplug the stop switch , these are the black and white wires in a two pin connector , see if it the problem goes away , it won't cut off like that but you can plug the switch back in to cut it off or kill it with the choke .
Click to expand...
I tried that already, in fact, I even I tried another start/stop assembly , same problem.
 
P

phillipm

Location
Birmingham
fastgtfairlane said:
There is a much better solution over the enhancer. The Zeeltronics y62t cdi is a much better cdi mainly because it is adjustable with a laptop and program cable. Kt can also be used for diagnosis of your ignition system. Also cheaper price than the enhancer. You can run more timing with the zeel so you'll make a little more power too.
Click to expand...
where to get that and how much should it cost? I'm game for trying different, not familiar . Riva say they use MSD for all their racing skis, they swear by it, so thats why I was thinking about going back with another if that was the problem. MSD want $35 plus shipping to and from there just to test it. No offer to repair or give me a refurbished one for break in price, Kinda poor customer service if you ask me.
 
P

phillipm

Location
Birmingham
Alectravis said:
Get it running with a stock cdi before you jump to a zeel, a lot of guys in our group went zeel and most are back to msd.
Click to expand...
It's been a while I trouble shot something like this. I tried using an OEM CDI but for some reason I felt I was missing a red wire or just clueless as to how to hook it up cause the MSD had extra red wire that hooked up in the electric box but the OEM cdi didn't have it or I just plain forgot how to hook up the OEM. I got the ski with the MSD already hooked up, this is first time I'm messing with swapping CDI. Is there a wire diagram to show which wire goes where?
 
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