Ski won’t start

[Justinv3k11]

Purchased this ski yesterday morning. Ran when the guy jumped it and started it. Brought it home and I have been trying to get it to run but it won’t. It has spark, air, and fuel. What could my issue be? I adjusted the timing to the proper setting but for some reason it won’t turn over. Any ideas?

 

[mthomps]

I would start by jumping it yourself. Does it crank slow?

 

[E350]

Per @mthomps post above, what do you have?

1. No crank, no start condition?
or
2. Crank, no start condition?

 

[hornedogg79]

Good strong battery? starter seem strong? Dump fuel in the carb, hold the throttle open and crank. Js550s like to be manhandled. Timing works great at 25degrees so depending on which flywheel you have, (21,25,28) your stator may have been adjusted for 25. A choke works great to pull fuel through the system. You can also use your hand over the carb or put a plastic bag over your flame arrestor and crank.

 

[Justinv3k11]

Okay thank you. I have good strong battery power, cranks. But doesnt sound like it wants to fully start. Doesn’t even sound like it wants to try. But the starter will engage.

 

[Justinv3k11]

Crank no start, has a new battery. How can we tell which flywheel we have and how to set it to 25°? we tried all the tricks, doesn’t have a choke but does have a primer. Is there a good way to check if the Ebox and stator are good?

 

[Justinv3k11]

Per @mthomps post above, what do you have?

1. No crank, no start condition?
or
2. Crank, no start condition?

#2

 

[mthomps]

The guy jumped it to start the ski. Start there by doing what he did and see if it starts.

 

[E350]

@mthomps wants to know: Did it crank faster when the seller jump started it than when you crank it with battery only?

Also, a tip I learned long ago, tell the seller not to start an engine (jet ski, automobile, snow blower, mower, etc.) before you arrive. You would like to be able to put your hand on the head and feel that it is cold when he or you start it. Its ok if he has to do something (like choke it) to start it, but you need to know what he is doing to start it.

Are you and the seller at the same altitude/elevation?

Pretty ski BTW. Those are standard (original one-design) Windsurfer 1980's Tequilla Sunrise sail colors.

 

[hornedogg79]

Flywheel will be stamped between timing marks. No stamp = 25.
Stator ohm test specs

 

[Justinv3k11]

I would start by jumping it yourself. Does it crank slow?

We jumped it, cranked fast

 

[Justinv3k11]

@mthomps wants to know: Did it crank faster when the seller jump started it than when you crank it with battery only?

Also, a tip I learned long ago, tell the seller not to start an engine (jet ski, automobile, snow blower, mower, etc.) before you arrive. You would like to be able to put your hand on the head and feel that it is cold when he or you start it. Its ok if he has to do something (like choke it) to start it, but you need to know what he is doing to start it.

Are you and the seller at the same altitude/elevation?

Pretty ski BTW. Those are standard (original one-design) Windsurfer 1980's Tequilla Sunrise sail colors.

Thank you! And the seller started it for the first time in front of us. And it went. We also jumped it and it will crank fast but won’t go. We are around the same elevation as the seller. Both the seller and I live in colorado. Not sure what altitude the jets are for

 

[ECXJ5280]

This is my ski, finally set up an account. Thank you for the help so far everyone! It was cold when we got there. He hadn’t started them before we got there. All he said to start he gave it no throttle with a few pumps of the primer. Ski is originally from sea level, seller was from ~1000ft higher elevation than currently. Don’t know if he changed the carb from specs at sea level. I set the carb to stock specs and no difference. Would attaching a video of it cranking help diagnose the issue?

 

[ECXJ5280]

Used this picture to set the stator. Aligned the tick mark with the mark in the case. Would this have been the correct way to do it?

 

[ECXJ5280]

Picture:

 

[ECXJ5280]

It has a Primer? Well there's your Problem.

Not really. Just kidding

Set the Stator back to the original position where it ran.

You changed the Static Timing and now it doesn't run. Hummm...

Fair point haha, I’ll go over what hornedog sent and give an update.

 

[ECXJ5280]

The reason I changed it is because the original owner said the woodruff key broke. I read that sometimes that can jack up the timing and so I hooked up a timing light and it didn’t seem correct.

 

[ECXJ5280]

Update. Swapped the ebox and stator off of a running ski. Only difference is the stator came off a ski with a 28° flywheel instead of 21° which I had on mine. Still using 21° flywheel. Not sure if that makes a difference. Timing was set to stock position. Compression is 100psi in both cylinders, tested with two different compression testers. It will crank over but will not fire. Noticed gas coming out of the pulse line while trying to start. Only thing I haven’t done is test all connections with a multimeter. My guess is maybe the compression is way too low but it ran when I bought it. Anyone have ideas?

 

[ECXJ5280]

Also noticed this. The box in the middle was missing from my ebox. My ebox is on the top, lower ebox is for reference. Not sure what this is, I was told it had something to do with the rev limiter as that was removed from my ski but the wiring diagrams I have found have not shown that. It ran without that box but I'm curious why it wouldn't be installed.

 

[ECXJ5280]

Replace and secure the Pulse Line if it's leaking. Carburetor Fuel Pump works off of this Pulse Signal. Weak or No Signal due to Leak is no good. Also, same as an Engine with a massive Air Leak.

Put everything back to where it was running.

100 psi will support combustion. 90 psi or less is the limit.

Ok I will swap all the electronics back to how it was before. We had fluid coming out the end of the line because it was disconnected from the carb (and spark plugs removed) in an attempt to clear the cylinders if they were flooded. I just wasn't sure if it was supposed to send fuel out of that line. Thank you for the advice!