Just bought a 1985 js 550. I'm going to give you a little background info so you know what I am working with. You can skip through the next paragraph in italics if not interested about the story behind it.
So the ski ran fine when I went to look at it. Fired right up and ran STRONG, excellent throttle response and idle. So I bought the ski took it home hooked it up to water and ran it for a good 5-10 min to make sure it was pumping water and everything was hunky dory. Fired it up probably 20 times since I bought the thing, and wouldn't you know it 3 days later when I take it out to ride (@ the boat launch I might add) I press the green button to take off and get a nice loud click! So two hours later I narrowed it down to the starter. After running the hot wire directly to the starer and bypassing the solenoid the starer wouldn't not click or move or do anything. END OF STORY
So I pull the starter from the engine. Put it on the vise and check it with a battery to see if it spins, and I get no response from it. My next step was to take the case apart and inspect the internals and when I took the first bolt out nasty black water pours out, not good.
Called a few shops, they want $150 to rebuild it.
Called kawi dealer they want $400+ for new OEM.
Looked on ebay, aftermarket starters everywhere going for $68!
So my MAIN question is, how are these aftermarket starters? Anyone use them/have trouble with them?
My second question is when re-installing do I just stick the starer back in and bolt it up? Or do I need to re align the teeth on the gears or anything?
My third question is how in the world does water get into the starter? I inspected the flywheel case and there seems to be no water in there. Looks very clean, nice and shiny. I will note that one of the gaskets on the starter was pretty crummy when I took it apart, I would classify it as failing. That is the only reason I can think of how water got in there.
And finally, what are the odds that the jetski finally dies when I get to the boat launch, and how in the world was it starting with all that water in the starter in the 1st place!?!?! :smashfreakB:
So the ski ran fine when I went to look at it. Fired right up and ran STRONG, excellent throttle response and idle. So I bought the ski took it home hooked it up to water and ran it for a good 5-10 min to make sure it was pumping water and everything was hunky dory. Fired it up probably 20 times since I bought the thing, and wouldn't you know it 3 days later when I take it out to ride (@ the boat launch I might add) I press the green button to take off and get a nice loud click! So two hours later I narrowed it down to the starter. After running the hot wire directly to the starer and bypassing the solenoid the starer wouldn't not click or move or do anything. END OF STORY
So I pull the starter from the engine. Put it on the vise and check it with a battery to see if it spins, and I get no response from it. My next step was to take the case apart and inspect the internals and when I took the first bolt out nasty black water pours out, not good.
Called a few shops, they want $150 to rebuild it.
Called kawi dealer they want $400+ for new OEM.
Looked on ebay, aftermarket starters everywhere going for $68!
So my MAIN question is, how are these aftermarket starters? Anyone use them/have trouble with them?
My second question is when re-installing do I just stick the starer back in and bolt it up? Or do I need to re align the teeth on the gears or anything?
My third question is how in the world does water get into the starter? I inspected the flywheel case and there seems to be no water in there. Looks very clean, nice and shiny. I will note that one of the gaskets on the starter was pretty crummy when I took it apart, I would classify it as failing. That is the only reason I can think of how water got in there.
And finally, what are the odds that the jetski finally dies when I get to the boat launch, and how in the world was it starting with all that water in the starter in the 1st place!?!?! :smashfreakB:
