Need some help diagnosing a weird SJ electrical problem

[Baja 252]

Sorry this is so long, but I want to give all the details. I'm working on an 08 SJ with Zealtronic Plug and Play, 701 eEbox, very nice and clean ebox, not all hacked up . Ran great last fall, winterized it put it away for winter.

Got it out today, battery wouldn't take a charge. It only had 3 volts, so I bought a new battery, it tests fine.
It still won't crank. Unplugged both of the S/S switch wires and ohm tested both circuits in the S/S switch and all tested good. Opened it up to be sure and the contacts look like new. Still no crank.

Opened up the e-box (nice and dry) and found the brown wire coming from the starter solenoid was pinched, not broken just pinched pretty good. Starter solenoid was original and had some corrosion on it, so I went ahead and replaced it with a new OEM solenoid I had. That also replaced the pinched wire. Same problem no crank.
I checked all grounds in the ebox, battery and enging, cleaned them and tested them and all are good. The fuse is good and red power fuse wire has 12volts. If I jump the solenoid in the ebox it cranks. So some where between the S/S switch plug right outside the Ebox and the new brown solenoid wire I must have an issue.

I unplug that brown wire in the ebox (wire coming from start switch plug) it should have 12 volts when you hit the start button.... and it does.
If I touch the other end of it to the + battery cable ,it should crank and it does.
Here is the strange part, when I plug the brown wire back together (like it should be) It will not crank and the 12 volts I had when I tested it unplugged, is now gone..... 0 volts. Solenoid never clicks or nothing. The plug looks fine and is tight. This doesn't make sense.

What am I missing?

 

[Quinc]

When you hit the start button do you hear a click in the ebox? Try Unpluging the blk/white wire from your start/stop switch and see what happens. If it works try using a thicker lanyard that lifts the kill button up more.

 

[Baja 252]

I unpluged white and black same results. Lanyard works fine. No click at all, unless I jump the solenoid, then it cranks.
The brown wire from the S/S switch supplies the solenoids power. It's so strange that there is no voltage on that brown wire when it's plugged in to solenoid, but unplug it and you get 12v when you hit the start button.

 

[mthomps]

If i read this right you have not tried a different s/s.

 

[Austin_landers]

Your start stop switch or wiring in that circuit will not carry the electrical load . That is why you have 12v with brown disconnected but drop voltage when connected. The circuit does not have enough continuity to carry the load required to operate the starter relay . Jump the brown and red at the start stop connector with a paper clip , if it cranks your start stop is bad/ dirty contacts. If it still doesn’t crank you need to start testing from the fuse.

 

[Harbor]

I unpluged white and black same results. Lanyard works fine. No click at all, unless I jump the solenoid, then it cranks.
The brown wire from the S/S switch supplies the solenoids power. It's so strange that there is no voltage on that brown wire when it's plugged in to solenoid, but unplug it and you get 12v when you hit the start button.

Are you by chance using a volt meter for voltage tests ?

Reason I ask is I got mislead using just voltage or ohms in my circuit testing, I now also test for current when applicable….

Sounds like you may have some voltage but no current on the brown wire. ?

At this point I’d load test the circuit using a halogen head lamp bulb. Basically you make a test light using an automotive halogen head lamp bulb.. I can post a pic of mine later.. (bulb, wire, T-pin’s as my probe tips)

Service info shows the fuse feeds the red wire in start stop switch and the s/s switches put that 12v onto the brown wire heading to your solenoid..

So I’d load test at s/s connector, red wire wire, e-box side, connector disconnected, (point 3 in diagram) test lamp hooked to battery ground and touch the red wires connector, see if lamp illuminates brightly ? Be carful the bulb gets hot and can melt soft material… if it’s bright, test the black solenoid chassis ground, (point 1 in diagram) wire disconnected from solenoid, test the circuit, test lamp hooked to battery positive and probe the black that feeds the solenoid.. if it’s bright as well, the voltage drop is in the start stop switches…

If either of them are dim or no light, then the vintage drop is on the supplie side of b+ or b- and you’ll have to more pin point tests at position 4 and 2 in diagram to further isolate the issue…

I had a starting issue during the pandemic like yours, it was not fun to trouble shoot and it was intermittent

 

[Baja 252]

Yes, I'm using a volt meter. What your saying makes sense and it would explain why it tests fine, but then doesn't work. I'll make up a test light and test things again. Thanks

 

[SN.VS]

This sounds like you’re having a very similar issue that I dealt with a while ago. Here’s the thread

Super Jet - Super jet no crank electrical issue

SOLVED, I found the issue to be corrosion on the brown wire in the white connector. Thank you all for the help you guys are awesome! I had a feeling it would be something simple haha

www.x-h2o.com

Turned to be corroded pin in the white/clear connector right before the ebox


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Baja 252]

That’s one of the first things I checked, and it checked out OK.
I kind of found the problem.
Harbors lightbulb idea worked really well it’s amazing that a wire can have 12 volts, but yet will not light up the lightbulb. I was able to check all the connections inside and outside the box and narrowed it down to the brown wire, going from the the engine compartment to the start stop switch. Obviously, this wire goes through the pole, and it is not possible to really figure out where the bad spot is.
The best and simplest thing to do was to order the new harness only from Jet Maniac and replace all of it. That will replace all of the wires, give me a new connectors and new switches inside the start stop switch.

 

[mthomps]

I know its not "the right way" but this is why I dont even bother with a meter anymore and just try to keep sh** to swap out on hand. Youre taking it apart either way.

Electrical gremlins made me want to switch from jet skiing to rock collector enthusiast at one point.

 

[MarjorieBryan]

Sorry this is so long, but I want to give all the details. I'm working on an 08 SJ with Zealtronic Plug and Play, 701 eEbox, very nice and clean ebox, not all hacked up . Ran great last fall, winterized it put it away for winter.

Got it out today, battery wouldn't take a charge. It only had 3 volts, so I bought a new battery, it tests fine.
It still won't crank. Unplugged both of the S/S switch wires and ohm tested both circuits in the S/S switch and all tested good. Opened it up to be sure and the contacts look like new. Still no crank.

Opened up the e-box (nice and dry) and found the brown wire coming from the starter solenoid was pinched, not broken just pinched pretty good. Starter solenoid was original and had some corrosion on it, so I went ahead and replaced it with a new OEM solenoid I had. That also replaced the pinched wire. Same problem no crank.
I checked all grounds in the ebox, battery and enging, cleaned them and tested them and all are good. The fuse is good and red power fuse wire has 12volts. If I jump the solenoid in the ebox it cranks. So some where between the S/S switch plug right outside the Ebox and the new brown solenoid wire I must have an issue.

I unplug that brown wire in the ebox (wire coming from start switch plug) it should have 12 volts when you hit the start button.... and it does.
If I touch the other end of it to the + battery cable ,it should crank and it does.
Here is the strange part, when I plug the brown wire back together (like it should be) It will not crank and the 12 volts I had when I tested it unplugged, is now gone..... 0 volts. Solenoid never clicks or nothing. The plug looks fine and is tight. This doesn't make sense.
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What am I missing?

One possible explanation for the behavior you are seeing is that the connection is not making good contact when the plug is connected, which is causing a break in the circuit. This could be due to a problem with the plug itself or with the contacts inside the plug.

To further diagnose the issue, you could try bypassing the S/S switch by connecting the brown wire directly to the battery positive terminal and seeing if the engine cranks. If it does, then you know that the problem is somewhere in the circuit between the switch and the wire.

 

[JC-SuperJet]

So did the new Start/Stop Switch Harness fix the problem 100%?

What is the end of this Story?

Need to close this Thread with a proper resolution....

 

[Baja 252]

Yes, the new start stop switch harness fixed the issue.
I cut the protective covering off the old harness, and the wire insulation at the spot where it goes through the pole bracket was kind of roughed up a little. Stripping more insulation off in that spot. I found two wires that had some corrosion on them.

I’ve never seen or heard of this before, and I don’t think it was damaged from wear and tear because the protective coating around the harness was fine. The only thing I can think of is the wire insulation in that spot, or maybe the whole harness wasn’t the best, or had some scrapes on it before it was assembled, and then of course, moisture eventually penetrated the insulation and corroded the wire.

Ski is back running great. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions.