Ready to give up...

[flyinb501]

I don't know what the deal is with my ski. Two batteries have taken ********s on me in the last couple weeks. I put a new one in yesterday, and nothing. It just makes one click noise every time you hit the start button. What could be wrong. Is my starter bad, or what? I'm at my wits end with this thing. Please help!

 

[GDFL]

Is the battery dead? If so, then you need to figure out what is draining it. Could be a bad bilge pump switch or something else. If the battery is not bad, then you need to check your starter solenoid, battery cable connections, etc. Give us a little more info and you'll get some specific help on what to do.

 

[MADMAT]

I ALWAYS suspect starters first! I mean assuming you have tried diff batteries.

I just always seem to kill starters and when they start to go they are intermittent.

 

[ezmoney]

try to jump start it.

 

[flyinb501]

I'm going to start by checking the connections, and cleaning the corrosion off.

 

[Gainera2582]

Make sure your connections are tight(especially the battery) and have dielectric grease on them. You would be amazed how easy it is for a loose connection to cause you such a hassle.

 

[flyinb501]

I don't know... I just cleaned the connections, tried jumping it, and nothing. It seems like the starter is locked up or something. Just one click each time you press the start button. I'm about ready to call it a season...

 

[Gainera2582]

try bypassing the starter relay(someone chime in here) with the ebox open.

 

[Boris]

Remove the starter and bench test it.
You should be able to see if the thing spins like a top or if it's about to take a dump.

 

[MADMAT]

Its the starter.

 

[SUPERTUNE]

OK, Try putting on a new ground cable first, if it's a superjet and few years old, they fail a lot!

 

[flyinb501]

Its the starter.

I think you're right.


Maybe I'll try some of that other stuff though. How do you bypass the relay, and how do you bench test the starter?

 

[MADMAT]

Pull the 2 bolts and remove the starter from the ski and hook up jumper cables to it. Positive to the bolt on the starter and negative to frame of starter. It should spin like a mofo. If it misses or struggles it is bad. Or of course if it doesn't spin at all.

I had 2 go bad this season:rocketwhore:

 

[Boris]

Also , when you have the starter running on jumper cables,....
1-hold on to the sucker or get a friend to help
2-let the starter spin for a few seconds and listen for noise from the bearings.

 

[Wolf Child]

Sink that sucker!

I'll bring mine and we'll burn 'em both to the waterline Viking style.

 

[flyinb501]

Sink that sucker!

I'll bring mine and we'll burn 'em both to the waterline Viking style.

Haha I saw the title of your thread and I was like, I know exactly how that dude feels... Stupid doughnutn skis!

 

[Wolf Child]

Haha I saw the title of your thread and I was like, I know exactly how that dude feels... Stupid doughnutn skis!

LoL.. So should I bring some beer?:shooter3:

 

[vandalais]

A multi meter is an invaluable tool when trying to troubleshoot electical problems. Sears has one on sale for 10 bucks. First use it to test the voltage of the batery then use it to find the voltage drop in the system.

 

[SJ Thumpa]

Had a similar intermitent problem. I also had sparks eventually at the negative terminal. After buying 2 batteries found out it was just the negative lead. (I was about to pull the starter off too.) Try Supertune's advice. Hopefully that's it.

 

[Vumad]

How do you bypass the relay

I have an SX, but they are all pretty much the same. You have a black wire from the battery to the mounting screw on the starter. You have 2 red wires, one from the battery to the box, then one from the box to the starter. My pos cable is ez to disconnect so I just take it off and tap the 2 reds together at the box.

The other dya, I just had clicking at the relay. I bypassed the relay and the starter spun but slow, too slow for it to engage. Tested the battery, it was running at 10 volts. It was just old. Dropped a new battery in and it's fine. If you put in a good battery and the ski works, but then it runs out of juice too fast, you have a leak.