Bad start solenoid or switch??

[cmg]

Developed a problem today on my 97 SJ. After getting it upside down in the water I tried to restart it. After several 15 second starting attempts the battery started to die right when the ski was starting to fire back up. The next time I pressed the start button nothing happened. I released the start button and started walking it to the dock when every few seconds the engine would turn over very slowly (like a weak battery) without me touching the start switch.

I swapped batteries out at the dock and when I went to connect the positive cable the engine turned over really strong and obviously sparks started flying. Disconnected the white and black connectors and cleared them of any moisture and opened up the e-box (completely dry and everything looked good). Here is the kicker, with the white and black connectors disconnected it still tries to start when I touch the positive cable to the battery.

Could this be a bad starter solenoid keeping the circuit open or a bad start/stop switch issue??

 

[cmg]

Any ideas on this one?

 

[njfl]

First of all, it sounds like you took in water and you were having a hard time getting it to start again because the plugs were wet. You really should get it running ASAP.

I had the same scenario with it trying to kick over on its own last year without me touching the start button when I was running one of those lightweight mini batteries. Once I switched back to a regular battery the problem went away. I think it had something to do with the dead smaller battery not having enough current to energize the solenoid to keep it in a steady position.

The sparks you saw when attempting to reconnect the battery were just because a lot of current was flowing due to the intermediate state of the solenoid.

Try hooking back your entire ignition circuit, then reconnect the battery cable (on a fresh charged battery) and press the stop button. That got it out of that state for me. The sparks will only be momentary until you've screwed down the terminal enough to get a good connection.

Considering that it sounds like you took in water, if you can, get the ski upside down and crank it with the plugs out. Use brakleen, silicone, or some other water displacing spray on the plugs before putting them back and try again (you may have to do that a few times).

Good Luck.