Super Jet Need help! SJ 701 starter not engaging at all...

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Yamer-Jammer

Location
Mesa, AZ - Flagstaff, AZ - Covington, WA
Just got my motor back in my ski and went to push the little green button and a whole bunch of nothing happened! Not even a click from the starter. Checked the ground that goes from the back of the starter to the neg battery terminal, the positive battery terminal to ebox, and ebox to starter positive; all were good. I pulled the start switch apart and did not see any connections that I could get on with a multimeter. Any suggestions on how to test these? Next, I opened up the ebox and realized that I was temporarily color blind and hooked up the MSD enhancers pink wire (which is for the holeshot switch) to my orange coil wire, I corrected that. The wire colors are faded ok :) Anyone know if that could have done damage to the CDI / Enhancer box? Still nothing when depressing the starter switch. Then, I jumped the starter relay and the starter spun.

So, I am thinking that I either fried my CDI box or that the starter relay is bad.

Does anyone know of a way to test the starter relay? I see that babbitsonline.com is asking $60 bucks for them. Is there a less expensive place to get them?

Thanks
 
Y

Yamer-Jammer

Location
Mesa, AZ - Flagstaff, AZ - Covington, WA
The relay also has wires that plug into the CDI, so the CDI sends some sort of a signal telling the relay when to complete the circuit, engaging the starter.... Correct? So I am looking for a way to isolate the relay to test it and remove it from the scenario using process of elimination. Is there a way to trick the relay to open/complete the circuit, to test it? or some other way...? Thx
 
dragginblazer

dragginblazer

Do Good Jetski Crew
Location
North Richland Hills, TX
Unplug the red and brown wire connector next to the ebox that goes to the pole. Get a small piece if wire and jump those terminals. If the motor tries to start then you know the relay is good and there is no problem in your ebox. If that works next I would take apart and clean the lanyard button. Power runs through the switch onto the green button. This is a point you can also test for power easily. Good luck.
 
Y

Yamer-Jammer

Location
Mesa, AZ - Flagstaff, AZ - Covington, WA
dragginblazer said:
Unplug the red and brown wire connector next to the ebox that goes to the pole. Get a small piece if wire and jump those terminals. If the motor tries to start then you know the relay is good and there is no problem in your ebox...
Click to expand...

I will try that! sounds like a good way to test the switch. Thank you.

On another note, I came up with a simple way to test if it was the relay: I used a toggle switch with leads that I connected to the terminals on the starter relay. (Using a screw driver to bridge the terminals was generating to many sparks for my comfort level) When I flip the switch the starter engages and the motor fired right up. Since the motor runs, I can conclude that the CDI is functioning properly, leaving the relay or the start switch as the faulty hardware. Also, I found the starter relays brand new on eBay for $33 with free shipping.

If anyone is thinking of trying this in the future to diagnose a faulty starter remember that when that toggle switch is "on" the starter is engaged 100% of the time and you can easily burn up the starter, so only run it for a few seconds. -or- dont run it at all, if your starter engages you know you have a good starter. I needed to run my motor to make sure the CDI was functioning properly.

DSCN0070.jpg
 
BruceSki

BruceSki

Formerly Motoman25
Location
Long Island
If you want to test the relay, leave everything hooked up normally except the ground and the hot coming off the relay(the two small wires not the two big red ones). Use another 12 volt source and put power to the hot of the relay. If it turns the starter, the relay is good.

What you did with the switch there is the same as taking a screwdriver and jumping it across the two main power terminals. This doesn't tell you if the relay is bad, it merely bypasses it. That is a good way to test a starter however.

If you follow that test I gave you in the first paragraph it will let you know whether its a relay or a stop switch.

I have both parts (used OEM) if you need them. switch and relay
 
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Y

Yamer-Jammer

Location
Mesa, AZ - Flagstaff, AZ - Covington, WA
Replaced the relay. Still nothing. Seperated the connector just before the ebox (red and brown wires, as mentioned above) jumped the connector and nothing. I put a multimeter on the switch side of the connector then depressed the green button, the circuit completed, which should tell me the switch is good.

If the switch is good and the relay is good, what else could be the issue?
 
Dustin Mustangs

Dustin Mustangs

uʍop ǝpıs dn
Location
Holland, MI
Make sure you have all those black ring terminals grounded in the ebox, specifically the one going to the relay and the one(s) coming from the stator. There are so many of those it is easy to miss one. Keep the start stop switch bypassed with that jumper as you troubleshoot this.
 
Y

Yamer-Jammer

Location
Mesa, AZ - Flagstaff, AZ - Covington, WA
Checked the fuse inside the black rubber housing, fuse is good and added some dielectric grease. Also put an external 12v source to the relay leads and the starter engaged. Ran over the MSD wiring schematic for the CDI box, all wires are connected appropriately with one black ground and the pink wire not connected to anything. Not sure where to go next?
 
Citizen

Citizen

Location
Coeur D' Alene, ID
Having same issue myself after installing a different cdi. If I jump the relay it turns over, if i connect the brown and red wires on the cdi side of the start/stop switch cable it does nothing. If i give the brown juice from another 12v source like you said it turns over. Does this mean my start/stop switch is dead? Seems odd since it worked perfect last I used it with a different ignition system. Thanks for any advice you can offer!
 
Y

Yamer-Jammer

Location
Mesa, AZ - Flagstaff, AZ - Covington, WA
My issue was that I had the leads mixed up on the relay from when I installed the new one.

As for checking if it is your start/stop switch:

dragginblazer said:
Unplug the red and brown wire connector next to the ebox that goes to the pole. Get a small piece if wire and jump those terminals.
Click to expand...

Doing this bypasses the start/stop switch. So if it turns over when you jump the terminals, you know you have a problem with your switch.
 
Citizen

Citizen

Location
Coeur D' Alene, ID
Ok so I fixed that...the hot wire from the start/stop switch was on the wrong side of the relay. It is starting now...but now I have a new issue...the plugs are getting intermittent spark. When I hit the start button most the time they will spark once or twice and then nothing...then 2-3 seconds later a few more sparks....

A few times it sparked for 3-4 seconds before it stopped.

All the wiring inside looks good from what I can tell...although one of the grounds in the box was very loose when I opened up the CDI. I am afraid that the coil got damaged from not having a good ground. However it worked fine days ago on the guys ski who I bought it from...

I bypassed the s/s switch by bridging the brown/red wires and it had the same issue...I grounded the CDI box to make sure that was not the issue .
 
M

Mikeyk001

Location
Columbus, OH
Have you tried unplugging the plug from the start/stop with the black and white wires? That is your stop switch, if the white wire is grounded you will not get spark. You can also measure the resistance across your plug wires, or trim them back a little bit to ensure a good connection. If those two things do not work it is either CDI or stator. There is really no test for the CDI but you can test the coils on the stator, you would want to look at the charge coil and the pulse coil.
 
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