How to flush a ski that wont start..?

[Almost_nick]

Hey guys! So it's finally happened to me....my 2014 SJ died on me today for the first time. Was just cruising when she cut out, she will crank and fire for 3-5 seconds, then die out. After about 5 attempts she will no longer fire up and she will just continuously crank. I'm thinking its a fuel issue. I am going to take her into the local shop tomorrow.

So now that she won't fire up, how do I go about flushing the ski (I ride salt water)? I have been told to ALWAYS turn on the ski before introducing water flow.... obviously I cannot turn on the engine as of right now..


any recommendations?

 

[SRQski]

You can't flush the ski without it running, period. You are correct on flushing procedure: engine running, water on, water off, engine off.

You can, however, check a few things in the fuel circuit:
Bypass the fuel selector switch, bypass the fuel filter, and remove the check valve on the fuel vent line. Any one of those can cause fuel delivery problems.
Otherwise you likely have a carb problem, if you have good spark (check spark by removing plugs, connecting plug wires to them and laying them on the head so the threaded portion of the plug is touching a head bolt - hit the starter and watch for spark at the end of the plugs)

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[X2Kid]

The safest solution would be to flood the crankcase with two stroke oil. Obviously will be a major PIA to remove later (remove cylinder and suction oil out from bottom end). The other option is to turn the motor over by hand and get some fogging oil in there. If you are confident of getting the 'ski up and running within 24 hours you should be right. Also, are you absolutely confident you didn't ingest water when it died? If so, option 1 - too much at stake (full engine rebuild).

 

[SRQski]

The safest solution would be to flood the crankcase with two stroke oil. Obviously will be a major PIA to remove later (remove cylinder and suction oil out from bottom end). The other option is to turn the motor over by hand and get some fogging oil in there. If you are confident of getting the 'ski up and running within 24 hours you should be right. Also, are you absolutely confident you didn't ingest water when it died? If so, option 1 - too much at stake (full engine rebuild).

NO! Why would the op do that?!!?!

It didn't sink, he just wants to flush cooling passages / water jacket w/ fresh water to rinse salt out of the water jackets and exhaust... Zero need to put any oil inside the motor.

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[Almost_nick]

SRQski,

Thanks for the input! A big thunderstorm rolled in so I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to try all your recommendations. I'm going to go to the local ACE hardware and buy a female to female fitting so that I can easily bypass all the potential problem areas.

Do you think any major damage will be done with the ski not flushed?

 

[Sanoman]

Always good to flush a ski out after running in saltwater.But as far as doing any major damage, no. Just get it done asap.

 

[SRQski]

No, its not gonna hurt too bad to not have flushed one time - good habit to be religious about flushing, get it rinsed out as soon as you are able with it running well.

You may want to get a SaltAway (or something similar) kit to hook up to your flush hose connector, good pm for salt water use. I ride a lot of salt and use it every 2-3 times after riding to try and keep potential corrosion at bay. Lots of opinions about those kind of products and the effectiveness - I'm a believer in that it can't hurt...

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[Almost_nick]

Thanks guys! I feel much more at ease, I always flush with Salt Away after every time I ride, so I think everything will be okay.

I will post an update once I figure out what's wrong with the ski. Hopefully nothing major, and I think I am going to rebuild the carbs while she is down... can't hurt and its not expensive to do.

 

[TheBuzzard]

any recommendations?

first check for spark. if it has spark, you could just keep it running and flush it out by squirting gas or starting fluid in the carbs. if it don't have spark, its probably the CDI since it ran died and ran some more. if it was the stator, it would have died and not started again. if the stator is bad, it could have been caused by the Bendix coming apart and cutting wires or the stator just died. best and cheapest would be a carb / fuel delivery problem. check for spark.
I've had skis die in salt water and not got them going again for a couple weeks. its not like salt water disintegrates the motor instantly LOL you aint going to notice nothing

 

[player1]

you dont need to flush it, its wont matter long term. We have pulled down engines that didn't get flushed at comps due to being on beach over night, not an issue at all.

 

[Sanoman]

Any updates @Almost_nick

 

[jeremy chambon]

first check for spark. if it has spark, you could just keep it running and flush it out by squirting gas or starting fluid in the carbs. if it don't have spark, its probably the CDI since it ran died and ran some more. if it was the stator, it would have died and not started again. if the stator is bad, it could have been caused by the Bendix coming apart and cutting wires or the stator just died. best and cheapest would be a carb / fuel delivery problem. check for spark.
I've had skis die in salt water and not got them going again for a couple weeks. its not like salt water disintegrates the motor instantly LOL you aint going to notice nothing

Glad some one with some sense spoke up.